Analysis of Ordinary People In the movie Ordinary People, the Jarrett family seem like the overall typical suburban family. From the outside they put on this fake persona, although they are highly dysfunctional. Beth and Calvin Jarrett as well as their son Conard are suffering from the lost of their other son Buck. Conard takes extreme measures and tries to end his own life, because he can’t handle the guilt and loneliness anymore. In the beginning of the movie, the family is trying to get back to normal whenever Conrad comes back from the psychiatric facility. Conrad starts to see a new psychiatrist, Dr. Berger, and he helps him realize why it is so hard for him to adjust back into the social norm. Throughout the movie, there are many scenes where the Jarrett family could have used psychological learnings to help them join together as a family. …show more content…
Because she doesn't want anyone knowing her family is less than perfect, she has trouble talking about her sons. Whenever Beth and her husband Calvin were at a dinner party, they put on their smiling faces and talked about the neighborhood drama. At one point Beth overheard Calvin talking to one of their friends about Conrad visiting a psychiatrist. She quickly came over to end the conversation. After that party, she told Calvin that she did not discuss him telling people about her sons illness. She also has a bit of a temper and raises her voice multiple times throughout the movie. Beth needs to learn how to master her emotions by: knowing her emotions, managing her emotions, motivating herself, recognizing others emotions, and handling relationships. If Beth went through the five step process she could have learned how to bond with her family and accept what was going