Cultural diversity in the Film Away From Her - Assignment Example

Relationship, age and cultural diversity portrayed in the film “Away From Her” Movie Reflection Paper on the Movie “Away From Her” Relationship, age and cultural diversity portrayed in the film “Away From Her” Movie Aging is a process that comes to human as natural as wanting to be loved or to love. The way different societies treat the elderly reflects how they perceive aging. Different cultures perceive aging differently (Mehrotra and Wagner, 2008) but in many societies, it is viewed as a ‘prestige’ stage. The stage is seen to be characterized by wisdom and an aura of mystic. The movie ‘Away From Her’ conjures the process of aging on the pillars of true love and mental status. The story shows the effect of Alzheimer disease in a normal, love-filled life and almost surreal romantic life of an elderly couple. ‘Away From Her’ portrays in it in a most vivid and mature perspective of a Western society. It also shows the challenges of love through which a Western-cultured married couple goes. This is portrayed by the couple Fiona and Grant, a couple living in rural Brant County where the wife, Fiona suffered Alzheimer’s disease and the husband felt sorry for his past indiscretions when Fiona lost his memory and got close to another resident in the nursing home. The movie depicts an almost spiritual experience of love that is very true and tender yet so painful. Such spiritual experience may be seen as familiar aspect that is common in marriages that last to the age of maturity. Character Ethnicity and Aging Status There is an aspect of regret that is portrayed in the character of Grant. Grant is the husband of Fiona who used to have marital indiscretion and now felt regret when his wife lost her memory to Alzheimer and begun to get close to another man named Aubrey. He was very hurt when Fiona felt depressed when Aubrey was removed from the nursing home. Instead of getting frustrated or showing negative reactions, Grant instead exercised maturity as he still showed love for his wife despite the incident and resonates with the audience when he strives to look after his wife. He is ready to stand up for his wife and take care of her. Even if he felt that his wife is denying him that chance to take care of her and is sad that he will not be there for her, he still continued to pour in support for his wife’s well-being. His maturity and social conditioning among Westerners to be with their wife for sickness and health also made Grant to remain supportive of his wife and even arranged for her to see Aubrey so that Fiona will not feel that depressed for missing Aubrey. The movie also portrays Grant as a wealthy man who has prepared himself well for retirement. Through reflection, he is portrayed as a professor who lives a comfortable life. The movie starts with him and Fiona enjoying their time together in old age. The movie does not depict them as struggling to get through. Grant is comes out as educated and at ease with the learned generation. He stands out as someone of noble standing in the society and who has reasonable understanding of issues. One may observe this when he visits Fiona after Aubrey has gone back home, and finds her in a worse state and something noble of arranging the two to meet so that his wife’s depression will be abated. Themes and Issues Presented The Main theme presented in relation to old age and care is love. The movie ‘Away From Her’ focuses on the theme of love, which is explored in its twisted and normal notions. In my society, the elderly play a big role in our lives in molding, imparting knowledge, correcting and showing us how to love. They present a common factor with which family members can identify. In relation to love, infidelity is addressed. Infidelity, of which Grant committed during their early marriage is unthinkable to other societies. The film however showed the universal theme of love and support which a spouse should give to their husband or wife whatever the circumstances. Role of men and women is a theme addressed in the movie. Fiona realizes that it is not the role of her husband, Grant, to take care of her. Despite Grants insistence that she should remain at home, she insists that she is more suited to be in a nursing home rather than burden him with the responsibility of taking care of her. Saudi society is a patriarchal, where man is the head and the woman performs the supporting role. Western society requires a man to be there for his wife, provide for them and take care of them even in times of sickness. Fiona’s Alzheimer highlighted this aspect among society where Grant has to be supportive of his wife’s wishes to get well which is expected of him by society. Cultural Expectations: Similarities and Differences The social codes, beliefs and standing in Western society prescribe that couples should be supportive of each other until old age and death. They are also expected to remain faithful to each other and to stay monogamous in their marriage. In the film, Grant committed infidelity and felt guilty about it later in their marriage and especially when Fiona was getting close to another resident in the nursing home. Grant’s infidelity did not have any serious consequences and was considered as common among Westerners. This is however unthinkable in Saudi society where men will have sexual relationship with other women out of wedlock. He can marry another woman but not have sexual relationship outside marriage. The film also shows that the strongest bond in western society is between a man and a wife. This is showed by Grant where he supported and took care of her even if hurt him to see his wife rejecting him and getting close to another man (man). This close relationship does not extend to parents, brothers or other extended families. In other societies however, particularly in the Middle East, family does not only mean husband and wife. It includes particularly the parents, brothers, sisters and relatives. To some extent, even the whole community. This is nowhere to be found in the film and is reflective of the western’s point of view about families. The film also portrayed how good health is very important among western societies. While good health is also important to my society or any other society, this is more emphasized in western societies as what we can see in the film where people goes to a great length to remain healthy. It also shows how health can pose a challenge to relationships In devout western society, the senior members or the ones who are old are held in high esteem. Their roles are expected to be that of imparting knowledge and advice to the younger generation (Mehrotra and Wagner, 2008). In many Western communities, adjustment to old age is not set and many still continues to work because children leaves home when they find a job or have a life of their own. We can deduce this in the film where the concept of family was just between Grant and Fiona. As seen in the movie, Western society has many challenges when it comes to the aged as they are left alone and most of them are enrolled into nursing homes and only visited occasionally by family members. They are made to feel like a burden to their children and to the society. In contrast, the Middle Eastern society adores the aged and provides for them as a way to seek God’s blessing. Children are encouraged to stay with their grandparents who will impart knowledge and guide them to live a more fulfilling and blessed. Reference Mehrotra, C.M., and Wagner, L.S. (2008). Aging and Diversity: An Active Learning Experience. London: Routledge, 2008. Print. Read More