Narrative Essay, Rain Man Is A 1988 Movie Review / Analysis

Movie Review/Analysis
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Movie Review/Analysis
Rain Man is a 1988 movie that was directed by Barry Levinson. Levinson is indeed a genius because few directors, if any, have managed to create such a masterpiece. A significant portion of the world’s population would rightly argue that disabilities are stressful, and so are the daily financial problems people often find themselves in. Combining these two successfully is no mean feat, and Levinson deserves a lot of credit because he not only proved cynics wrong but also made sure that he won the hearts of many critics. One critic by the name Elliot Panek had the following to say about the movie: “This is a quiet, understated gem of a film, one that richly rewards the patient viewer with an unforgettable emotional experience.” However, other reviewers also felt that Hoffman (Raymond) and Tom Cruise (Charlie) gave their best in the film. For example, Emma Cochrane said, “Hoffman and Cruise give signature performances in this thoughtful, and hugely enjoyable, classic.” Everything in the movie gelled well and the actors completed the director’s prowess.
The movie tells the story of two brothers, Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise) and Raymond (Dustin Hoffman). The two were completely different and also had different personalities and perceptions about life. On the one hand, Charlie was a despicable, unlikable, and materialistic individual who only thought about himself. He was driven by the desire to make money and everything had a price for him. Conversely, Raymond was an autistic individual who had a high-functioning brain as well, as an excellent memory recall. However, he was not in touch with the world and seemed to understand less or even take notice of what people are doing. Raymond was also afraid of change and always adhered to strict routines. He was oblivious to the world or their views of him and most of the time never understood what was said to him. The two brothers were separated while they were young and it is the death of their father that finally brings them together.
After learning about the death of his father, Charlie decides to postpone his vacation with his girlfriend, Susanna. However, when he arrived and sought to know the contents of his father’s will, Charlie realized that his father had only left him the 1949 Buick convertible and the house. The bulk of it which is $3 million went to a trust fund which was to be distributed to someone. Being money-minded and materialistic, Charlie decided to employ his amateur detective skills to determine the individual behind the trust. Charlie was always defiant and rebellious since his childhood days, and even in his mid-twenties, he still behaved like a spoilt child albeit industrious. When Charlie finally comes to discover that he has a brother, he asks the question “Why didn’t somebody tell me I had a brother?” which permeates the movie. While doing all this, Charlie’s main goal was to get half of his ‘rightful’ inheritance, but as the movie progresses, he moves through different stages of perception and finally comes to understand and perceive life from a different angle than before. After meeting Raymond, Charlie devices every trick he had on his sleeve to get the doctor to agree to release half of the inheritance money. When everything fails, he kidnaps Raymond, and they set out on a cross-country car trip. Initially, Charlie remains the same egotistical yuppie, but gradually, it becomes apparent that his time with Raymond changed him as well as his perception of life and wealth.
How the Six Moral Stages Are Exhibited In the Movie
One of the main ethical dilemmas in Rain Man concerns or relates to the treatment of Raymond. While he is gifted immensely especially when it comes to mathematical calculations, he is extremely rigid, and fears change. Having never met or interacted with autistic people, his younger brother Charlie does not know how to treat him and thinks that it is treatable. In the movie, Charlie is easily irritated by Raymond’s oddities as well as habits mainly because Raymond expects the same treatment that he was accustomed to at the mental institution. What Charlie fails to realize is the fact that his brother was having an intangible effect on him and the angrier he got at him the closer he got to fully understanding him. By analyzing certain instances as well as the Character of Charlie in the film, the correlation of the movie with the six moral stages will be exhibited.
Lawrence Kohlberg says that based on the value of human life, the six stages are as follows:
1 The value of human life is confused with the value of physical objects and is based on the social status or physical attributes of the possessor.
Charlie was materialistic yuppie who thought money was everything. As a matter of fact, he was a workaholic who was driven by his desire to make a lot of money and become rich. As the movie starts, Charlie is seen trying to buy his way out of a crisis. The phrase ‘everybody has a price’ seemed to have been Charlie’s mantra. He knew how to work people and having developed such a trait, it is no surprise that he tried to do the same thing with Raymond’s doctor. To him, everything had a value including people and therefore, when pushed to a corner, he knew that just like in his line of business, he could place a value and then employ his negotiating skills.
Additionally, Charlie becomes interested in knowing the truth about his father’s inheritance because he knew that $3 million would indeed elevate him to a higher social status. He employs his detective skills and eventually finds his brother Raymond who is nothing like him. First of all, Raymond has autism which in Charlie’s world is an outcast or a misfit. Consequently, he could not speak well or was socially awkward which on many occasions irked Charlie. To Charlie, people were not supposed to be like Raymond. Due to his state, Raymond was of lesser value and the fact that their father decided to leave him his entire fortune troubled Charlie.
2 The value of human life is seen as instrumental to the satisfaction of the needs...