Ordinary People Psychological Analysis

Student’s Name

Institution

Course

Date of Submission
 Ordinary People Psychological Analysis
More than four decades since it was first aired, Ordinary People (Paramount pictures and

Redford, 1980) is still one of the most rated movies because of how entertaining it is and how

psychological views are depicted clearly. The film is about an upper-middle-class family in

Chicago dealing with the death of their eldest son (Buck) and the subsequent suicide attempt by

the younger son (Conrad). The movie shows how the family deals with the grief of one of their

own, and psychological theories are covered as each individual of the family deals with the

situation in a different way. The psychological theories depicted in the film are developmental

theories, cognitive theories, social-psychological theories, and behavioral theories. The family in

the movie has the challenge to deal with how they feel about each other. The main characters in

the film are Conrad, the surviving son, his father (Calvin) who is an attorney in Chicago, and his

mother (Beth) who is a perfect housewife who is loved by everybody and is dedicated to

ensuring her family’s survival. Other characters to note are Dr. Berger, Conrad’s therapist, and

Karen, Conrad’s friend from the hospital (Guest, 1982).

Humanistic theory, according to Chibnall (1999), explains a person’s behaviorin terms of

their feelings. The theory argues that one will show different behaviors when they have different.

For example, a person will behave positively when they have positive feelings, and they will

behave negatively when their feelings are negative. However, the theory does not completely

explain the dark side of humanity since some people have dangerous behaviors even when they

are happy. This theory best explains Conrad’s behaviors after the death of his brother. Conrad

shows signs of post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor’s guilt due to the death of his brother.

He believes that he caused his brother’s death. As a result, Conrad attempts suicide by cutting his

wrists, but his suicide attempt fails when his father discovered him before he bled out. Due to
Conrad’s guilt, the humanistic theory of psychology is depicted in the film. Conrad’s life is ruled

by fear and low self-esteem as he thinks he is unloved, especially by his mother. Throughout the

movie, he shows suicidal tendencies which began after the accidental death of his brother.

Conrad’s survival of the boat accident which claimed Buck’s life caused him to feel guilty and

caused his suicide attempt.

Sigmund Freud postulated that a person behaves according to their subconscious mind in

the psychodynamic theory. According to the theory, a person’s subconscious mind has an ego

that has an influence on how they behave. In explaining this theory, Freud argues that a person’s

ego will choose who to associate with, and whether to be friendly to a person or not. In the film,

this theory of psychology can be connected to how Conrad’s mates at school treat him

(Eberwein, 1983). However, after his suicide attempt and subsequent hospitalization in a mental

hospital, his situation becomes worse. Nobody at school wants to socialize with him and his

mother, according to how he feels, hates him. Psychodynamic theory of psychology explains the

behavior of an individual as a result of their subconscious mind. How Conrad is treated by his

schoolmates can be explained using this theory, as they subconsciously distanced themselves

from Conrad because of his suicide attempt, and the fact that he was from a mental hospital.

Generally, there is no particularly good reason to avoid Conrad, but he suffers simply because

his mates think he is mentally ill. However, Conrad eventually gets a friend, although their

friendship ends tragically.

Another theory of psychology that explains a person’s behavior is the development

theory. According to this theory, from childhood, a person develops new behaviors as they grow,

while they retain their old behaviors. During childhood, a person’s behavior is influenced by

their parents and as they grow, they develop the same similar characteristics as their parents.
Throughout the film, Conrad does not talk of his experience in the mental hospital. Also, when

he gets out of the hospital, he decided to let things flow and figure out his problems naturally,

which of course doesn’t work. According to Duncan et al. (1986), Conrad is fairly reserved and

has trouble opening up to people. Conrad’s behavior is similar to Beth’s, who also has trouble

sharing her problems. This weakness is clearly shown when Beth gets angry when Calvin tells

someone that Conrad is seeing a therapist. Therefore, Conrad’s behavior is most likely

influenced by her mother during his growth.

The cognitive psychology theory postulates that a person’s behavior begins from their

mindset. The way a person perceives and processes things will determine how they behave. Once

a person knows and is convinced of something, their actions will be according to their

convictions. In Ordinary People, Conrad has personality problems where he even questions his

own existence. Dr. Berger tries to impart the principles of cognitive theory of psychology to the

troubled young man (Aburatani, 1990).

Biological psychology theory defines some people’s behaviors in terms of their ancestry.

According to this particular theory, a person’s behaviors are impacted by their DNA, genes, and

other hereditary factors. Conrad’s mother, Beth, is depicted as a cold, loveless mother in the film

because he hates his son and she not only makes no attempt to make up with her son but also

thwarts all efforts by Conrad to mend their relationship. However, thinking deeper into her

behavior, she goes through grief although she acts indifferent. Beth is sad about the death of

Buck and she gets angry when Conrad tries to kill himself, but her way of expressing her grief is

unconventional. However, when we meet Beth’s mother in the movie, we can compare her

character to Beth’s because she is also unsympathetic to Conrad’s situation. Therefore, the

biological theory of psychology is depicted here. It can be argued that Beth’s behavior is
inherited from her mother because it is very unlikely for someone’s mother and grandmother to

be indifferent when they have a near-death experience like suicide in Conrad’s case.

According to Sigmund Freud’s psychodynamic theory, a person may have a superego

that has an impact on their moral compass. Superego may make people behave in an illogical

way towards their family and people close to them. Beth is unfeeling towards her son (Chibnall,

1999). She went on vacation when Conrad was in the mental hospital and not once did she visit

him. She does not talk to her son and she thinks any interaction with Conrad is unnecessary.

Furthermore, she gets angry when her husband tells Conrad “good morning”. Calvin notices how

great the distance between his wife and son is and wonders what is wrong with Beth!

Beth is very cautious of how other people view her. She wants everyone to describe her

as the ‘most perfect and wants to make her life look as perfect as possible without any blemish.

That’s why she gets so disappointed when her son attempts to kill himself. She knows that

people will have negative views of her, and consequently, she tries to distance herself from her

son to make her look as if she was uninvolved in Conrad’s actions, and she makes her son feel

unloved. It is because of this reason that she left Calvin when she found out that Calvin had

negative views of herself (Insdorf, 2004). She considered herself to be a failure because her own

family had negative views of her. Here, Beth shows the biological theory of psychology. She

portrays the natural need of every human to be loved. Therefore, she brings out the natural

response of every human when they need to be loved by trying to bring out her ‘best self’

everywhere else away from her home.

Calvin is a middle-aged attorney grieving two losses. The first loss is of his father figure

and his mentor, Arnold Bacon, who abandoned him after Calvin got married although being

warned otherwise by his mentor. He is worried that whatever he was warned against by his
mentor may happen and prove his mentor right. This makes him very lenient towards Conrad and

does not wish to discipline him harshly (Aburatani, 1990). He tries everything to try to resolve

issues between his wife and son relentlessly because he fears that his son may feel abandoned by

his parents. This shows that a person may be affected by what their parents believed and live

their lives in fear because of what they are taught by their parents, thus showing the

manifestation of the psychodynamic theory of psychology, which argues that people behave

according to how their subconscious mind guides them, and it is often how they have been taught

by important people in their lives.

Maybe it is because Calvin’s mentor is responsible for his current lifestyle due to his

financial help to Calvin that Calvin tries to make Conrad’s life better through money. That is

why he buys Conrad a new car for Christmas, trying to make him feel loved but he only manages

to worsen the situation by making Conrad think that he is being bribed for his parent’s failure to

love him. It is because of how Calvin treats Conrad that he pushed his wife away from him.

Calvin thinks of how Conrad’s attempt om his own life came at a time when his focus was not on

his family, but Beth thinks he worries too much. Calvin always has a sense of responsibility

towards his wife and son. After what Conrad has been through, he feels that Conrad should be

loved by his parents and his family should have cohesion among themselves (Duncan et al,

1986). This is the hereditary theory of psychology which proposes that people inherit natural

instincts and behaviors depicted by their forefathers. Everyone has a natural responsibility to take

care of and love their young ones which are shown by Calvin.

While Calvin hopes that Beth who had left without informing anyone of her departure

would return, he discovers that her departure has left his son and himself closer than before. He

discovers that his wife was the wall between him and his son and with her gone, he finds out that
they are happy and are having honest conversations. Although Calvin has lost many people in his

life, beginning with his mentor, his older son, and finally his wife, he gains a positive because he

gets closer and gets to know Conrad better. This is the beginning of the cognitive theory of

psychology which explains people’s behaviors as a result of their life experiences and their

mental developments with time (Bandura, 1999). For sure, Calvin will handle the situation

differently if he ever finds himself in a similar situation because of improvements in his mental

development as a result of his past experience.

The behaviorist theory of psychology explains a person’s behavior and connects it to the

immediate environment around the individual. According to this theory, a person learns their

behavior through interactions with the environment. In addition, an individual’s behavior may

change as they change their environment. In Ordinary People, Dr. Berger’s treatment of Conrad

can be tied to this theory. Dr. Berger welcomes Conrad to his office at night and lets the young

man talk about everything he is going through. Dr. Berger also agrees to be friends with Conrad

to show Conrad that he is important and build doctor-patient trust. The doctor is well aware that

when Conrad gets better they will rarely meet but he still agrees to be Conrad’s friend as

responsible for his profession. It can be argued that Dr. Berge’s behaviors towards Conrad can be

explained as his routine behavior while on duty or towards his patients (Guest, 1982). Therefore,

it can be deduced that Dr. Berge’s treatment of Conrad is due to his environment at his

workplace.

In conclusion, although the film Ordinary People was released decades ago, the

psychological theories portrayed by the actors in the film are in support of the theories studied

over the years. The use of a middle-class family is to represents the majority of the society in the

film, and the scenes actually happen in real-life situations in many families. Every family has
their own problems and Ordinary People gives a suggestion on what to avoid and what to do for

families’ survival. Conrad and his parents are a depiction of how real-life families have trouble

connecting with each other due to minor issues. However, Conrad’s experiences prove that

sharing the problems helps.

 References.
Aburatani, J. (1990). Psychological analysis of ordinary people and the structure... Journal of

Advertising Research, 30(2), 47-52. https://elibrary.ru/item.asp?id=1534964

Bandura, A. (1999). Social cognitive theory of personality. Handbook of personality, 2, 154-96.

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781410609519-11/cognitive-

perspectives-psychology-william-winn

Chibnall, S. (1999). Ordinary people. British Crime Cinema, 97.

https://books.google.com/books?

hl=en&lr=&id=jwyGAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA97&dq=ordinary+people+film&ots=

TMtP24XH-F&sig=3nzeBRFfYH-Iyvv9PiUtFHN_CjI

Duncan, K., Beck, D., & Granum, R. (1986). Ordinary People: Using a popular film in group

therapy. Journal of Counseling & Development. https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1987-

05211-001

Eberwein, R. T. (1983). The Structure of Ordinary People. Literature/Film Quarterly, 11(1), 9.

https://search.proquest.com/openview/1aae518e0e554c19a786bb13b3fb026e/1?pq-

origsite=gscholar&cbl=5938

Guest, J. (1982). Ordinary people. Penguin. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?

abstract_id=2158601

Insdorf, A. (2004). Ordinary people, European-style: or how to spot an independent feature. In

Contemporary American Independent Film (pp. 43-50). Routledge.

https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203312964-11/ordinary-

people-european-style-spot-independent-feature-annette-insdorf
Paramount Pictures Studios and Redford Robert, 1980, Ordinary People film.

https://www.amazon.com/Ordinary-People-Donald-Sutherland/dp/B0012B1C3A