Film "Gifted". Does childhood need a child prodigy?
Or maybe there are children who do not need to spend time playing catch-up with classmates and drawing with chalk on the pavement? Maybe the components of the "childhood" of special children may be different?
Childhood is a special period in the life of every person. This is the first word "mom", the first steps, the first toys, the first friends. This is a vacation in the yard and cycling with the guys. These are the first fives in school and the first failures. Praise and punishment of parents, first love and disappointment. This is the time when you want to become adults as soon as possible, when you dream of becoming an astronaut, when summer is a whole infinity. Childhood is the beginning of a long journey where we learn a lot and sometimes stumble. But, in spite of everything, each of us recalls our childhood years with special warmth and awe.
Are there any children who have no childhood? Those who are deprived of the opportunity to play cakes in the sandbox, play hide and seek with their peers, make friends and quarrel, and then make up again? Or maybe there are children who do not need to spend time playing catch-up with classmates and drawing with chalk on the pavement? Maybe the components of the "childhood" of special children may be different?
We suggest using Yuri Burlan's system-vector psychology to disassemble the wonderful film by Mark Webb "The Gifted", which shows the story of a young Mary with unique mathematical abilities.
Little genius
Mary Adler is only seven years old. She is raised by her uncle Frank, who replaced both of her parents after the death of her mother, Diana. The poor girl committed suicide when Mary was only five months old.
Diana was a great mathematician who devoted her entire short life to solving one very important equation. The owner of the sound vector, she was driven by the idea "by all means to find the answer to the most important question in life." For a person with a sound vector, this is a question about the meaning of life, even if he is not aware of it. Interest in the exact sciences is always based on the desire to unravel the "formula" of the Universe and its purpose, to understand the root causes. What am I born for? What am I doing in this world? What will happen after death?
Diana carried herself away with the most complex calculations, believing that, having proved the equation, she would feel that she had not lived her life in vain. But that didn't happen. The equation has been proven, but the meaning of life has not been found. And Diana dies. The sound depression is too deep. During such periods, the material world ceases to be of value for the sound engineer. He unconsciously feels the separation of the body from the soul, blames the body for the pain he is experiencing. Falsely believes suicide will bring relief.
Even a newborn baby Mary cannot keep Diana in this world. Misunderstanding of his own mother, the indifference of the child's father, the pain of loneliness and uselessness - all this finally knocked down the young woman.
Evelyn
Listening to Evelyn and Frank's memories of Diana, we can assume Diana's rather cold relationship with her mother Evelyn. The mother was unable to create an emotional bond with her daughter. A person with the skin-sound vector ligament, which Evelyn possesses, often has a tendency to completely subordinate his life to the service of the idea. He is so immersed in her that the rest of his life fades into the background for him. Evelyn is like that. She tried to realize her skin ambitions to be a famous scientist and gain fame thanks to a great discovery in her daughter.
But fully devoting herself to this idea, she did not become a close person to her daughter, with whom Diana would share her girlish secrets. We can assume that little Diana had almost no sense of safety and security, which every child receives through the love and warm attitude of his mother.
Diana's visual vector demanded love, and soon she fell in love with a neighbor's boyfriend, who was mowing the lawn on their site. Her mother could not calmly watch the girl ruin her great mathematical future because of youthful love. She did everything to separate the young. For Diana, breaking up and losing her only emotional connection meant the end of her life. Even then, in her youth, she wanted to commit suicide. It was a visual attempt that usually has nothing to do with sonic suicide. Then they managed to save her.
However, after a few years, she still takes her own life, leaving her daughter in the care of her brother. The film does not detail the story of Diana's relationship with her child's father. One thing is clear - he left her as soon as he found out about her pregnancy and never wanted to see his daughter.
A special childhood
The fact that Diana got to the bottom of the truth in solving one of the most complex equations, she decided not to tell anyone. Evelyn always wanted a photo of her daughter to hang at the university next to the world famous Grigory Perelman, who proved Poincaré's hypothesis. As a mathematician herself, she saw in her daughter a future Nobel laureate.
Raising Diana in isolation from the usual children's fun, teaching her rapid counting and surrounding her with smart books, she did not give the girl the opportunity to socialize. After all, no matter how brilliant a child is, he must develop in society. After all, in the future he will be able to get full realization only among other people.
At the training "System-vector psychology" Yuri Burlan talks about the importance of the development of all vectors of the child. Sometimes parents make a big mistake, focusing on his intellectual abilities, for which the upper vectors - sound and visual - are responsible. At the same time, they forget about the development of the lower vectors, for example, skin, anal, and in fact they are responsible for adaptation in the outside world. Subsequently, the child, becoming an adult, cannot find his place among other people, remains alienated from the life of society and unhappy.
Burying herself in books, little Diana went even deeper into her sound shell, without acquiring the skill to build connections with other people. This is what became the germ of her future depression. She focused her thought on mathematics, but this is not enough for a modern sound engineer to realize sound properties.
The path of self-realization in science has already been passed, the needs of a modern sound engineer are greater than comprehension of the laws of the inanimate world. There is a growing desire to comprehend the main thing - human nature, and without contact with the world, with people, this is impossible. Diana did not know how to build connections with other people and felt deep loneliness, as evidenced by her strong desire for Mary to have a different childhood. She wanted her daughter to find friends. In her mind, only this could make her happy.
Small family
Loving Uncle Frank becomes a real father for Mary. The biggest fear he talks about is his inability to make the girl happy. He devoted himself to raising his niece. He did not marry, changed his place of residence and work. He used to be a professor of philosophy at the university, and now he just fixes boats, living in a small coastal town in Florida. Not maintaining a relationship with his mother, who had nothing to do with her granddaughter, he himself brings up and teaches a smart girl beyond her years at home.
However, at the age of seven, Mary still has to go to school, where she feels extremely uncomfortable. At home in silence, she was much more comfortable. Firstly, loud conversations and shouts of classmates at recess bring obvious discomfort to any sound engineer. Second, the little girl finds out how difficult it is to build relationships with classmates.
It is important to understand that the first thing a small, even a genius, must go through is a kindergarten. It is here that kids learn to communicate with each other, begin to rank in the first society in their life. Adaptation at school is much faster and easier if the child attended kindergarten. Mary didn't have that.
Moreover, the girl sees that she is very different from her classmates. She is bored in class, because she has long studied the entire school curriculum. The fact that there is a special girl in the class is noticed by her teacher Bonnie at the very first lesson. The baby can easily solve mathematical examples, and then easily add and multiply four-digit numbers in her head.
We systematically understand that Mary's giftedness provides her with a sound vector, which is found in only five percent of people. The little sound engineer potentially possesses a brilliant abstract intelligence that allows him to perform the most complex calculations in his mind and learn the laws of the universe.
Unconsciously, little Mary is drawn to what she enjoys, for which she was born. She asks Frank to buy her a piano, as many sound musicians have a desire to play and create music. She picks up smart books because she enjoys focusing on solving problems. In these moments she realizes herself, she lives a full life. But Frank wants to give the girl the opportunity to be an ordinary child. And this means an ordinary high school and communication with classmates.
He intuitively understands that the girl needs more communication, and in an attempt to save Mary from repeating the bad fate of her mother, he refuses to send the girl to a school for gifted children. At this moment, the girl's grandmother Evelyn unexpectedly bursts into their measured life. She is sure that "genius people move humanity forward, they have a special responsibility and mission that cannot be abandoned for entertainment." Wanting to become the child's guardian in the hope of trying to raise a great mathematician again, she begins a legal battle with her son.
Court
During the long meetings, Frank still cannot find a common language with his mother. Evelyn intends to go all the way and uses all means in a skin-like manner. She buys testimony from Mary's biological father, who comes to court with the intention of taking the girl to him. However, after refusing, he does not even come to visit Mary.
Having also a visual vector, little Mary lives with emotions. At seven years old, she is fully developed to give her feelings, her love and care to others. So, she rescues one-eyed cat from the trash can Fred, who becomes her best friend. She is sincerely attached to her neighbor Roberta, with whom she spends every Saturday. She takes pity on her classmate when he is offended by other children, and stands up for him. Mary so longs for real parental love, but here her own father does not even want to meet her. Father's unwillingness to see her becomes a real blow for the little girl.
In a desire to show the baby how everyone was happy when she was born, and how everyone still loves her very much, Frank takes the girl to the hospital. Here in the waiting room, she witnesses how families rejoice at the birth of a child. This is a really touching moment in the film. No words are needed here. Education of visual senses happens by itself, and happy Mary, clapping her hands, sincerely rejoices with everyone.
Looking at Frank's relationship with his niece, we notice how close they are. Not every parent succeeds in becoming such a close friend to their child. The fact is that mentally Frank and Mary are very similar. Both of them have both sound and visual vectors.
Sound conversations about faith, the creation of the world and God against the backdrop of the sunset strengthen their emotional and spiritual connection. This moment of inexplicable unity of Mary and Frank moves to tears. Common life, trust, love and care for each other make their family inseparable. However, there are circumstances under the pressure of which Frank nevertheless agrees to give Mary to a foster family, where she should be provided with the best care.
Betrayal
Frank is confused, he is tormented by doubts, but trying to think sensibly. Bonnie's skin-visual teacher tries to support Frank. Her sympathy for the guy and his niece makes her part of this story. Who knows, maybe in the future she and Frank will be able to develop a serious relationship?
After much deliberation, he still refuses custody of the girl and agrees to her move to a foster family. He is allowed to see his niece. But, not understanding the complexities of adult life, Mary refuses to see her uncle. How could he give her to strangers? He broke his promise to her never to part with her, which means he betrayed her.
The feeling of resentment due to the admitted injustice occurs only in people with an anal vector. Family and home are their main value. And here Mary loses her family and trust twice. Breaking the emotional connection with Frank brings the baby so much pain that she closes off from him. And in this spiritual emptiness, her grandmother, Evelyn, appears. She bribes the girl with care and uses the foster family's guest house to teach math classes with Mary.
Quite unexpectedly, on the one hand, and very touching, on the other, the situation with the rescue of Fred's one-eyed cat is woven into this story. Bonnie finds out that the cat was in an animal shelter. She informs Frank about this, and it changes the whole plot of the drama. If the foster family got rid of the cat, it means that he was interfering with someone. The only person he knows with a terrible allergy to cats is Evelyn.
Frank instantly realizes that his mother will not stop and, under the guise of a foster family, will take Mary's upbringing and education into her own hands. He understands that Evelyn does not care about the girl's fate, that she is insincere in her promises. With a fierce desire to get Mary back, he brings his mother a completed research paper with Diana's proven equation. Confusion, devastation, or maybe hidden joy and pride for her daughter - what does Evelyn feel at that moment? Why didn't her daughter tell her about the discovery so many years ago? Why did you ask to publish the results only after the death of the mother?
Seeing the handwritten pages Diana crossed out with the calculations she has worked on for years, she swallows tears. But remaining restrained and unshakable, Evelyn wasted no time calling the university. The surname Adler will still be immortalized in the scientific world of mathematicians!
We look through the system glasses
It is good to see that in the end of the film, the young heroine is doing very well. Frank realizes that he cannot ignore the girl's talent. Then they manage to find a middle ground: combine study and research along with communication with peers, scouting trips and games in the schoolyard. And we understand that Mary has a great future and that they will always be close to Frank.
The film "Gifted" is a touching drama about the love of loved ones, about raising children according to their innate abilities, about sometimes difficult relationships in the family. Actor Chris Evans transforms so perfectly into his character Frank that the viewer has no doubts about the sincerity of every word he said. Little McCain Grace amazes with her natural play. It can be assumed that McCain herself has a sound-visual connection that helped her so deeply understand and show the audience the inner world of a gifted girl.
An excellent script by Tom Flynn, as if taken from life, harmoniously selected music by Rob Simonsen and, of course, the brilliant work of director Mark Webb himself - all this comes together in a really kind and deep picture.
With the help of knowledge of system-vector psychology, the viewer does not just follow the storyline, but lives life together with the main characters. Realizing the true motives of behavior, understanding the psyche of each character, the viewer can achieve indescribable pleasure from watching this picture.
Moreover, it is thanks to systemic thinking that it becomes clear that giftedness is in every child, the main thing is to know how to reveal it. Then it will be possible to preserve their childhood and help them grow up to be happy people who can do what they love.
