The film The Age of Adaline begins with Adaline Bowman, the main character, purchasing fake identity cards in San Francisco. Adaline has a dog back in her apartment, and therefore, when she gets to the apartment, it greets her. The essay writer dog is special to Adaline since, in her 107 years of existence, it is the same dog Adaline has raised. Adaline was born in 1908 on New Year’s Day and later got married. Adaline had a child but later became a widow, and while driving to her parent’s house, she had an accident and died in the frigid waters as it was snowing. The essay summarizes the film and discusses two concepts of lifespan development: cognitive and personality development and the film’s impact on understanding the development of aging adults.
Unexplainably, Adaline is struck by lightning and comes back to life. Since then, Adaline has remained 29 years old forever. Adaline’s daughter grows older, but Adaline is still young. In one instance, Adaline’s identification card is taken away from her by a police officer since it shows that Adeline is in her late 40s while Adaline is physically younger. Adaline later escapes and decides to run from reality for the rest of her life. Adaline, however, explains to Flemming, who understands and bids Adaline goodbye.
While running from reality, Adaline and William meet. William had proposed to Adaline, but Adaline left William on the park bench because Adaline was not aging. When they meet again, William begs Adaline to stop running, but Adaline replies she does not know-how (Musik, 2021). Adaline lives and starts driving in the woods (Musik, 2021). While in the care, Adaline calls Flemming and informs her that she is ready to stop running. When Adaline turns around, a tow car hits her, and she dies. However, Adaline is taken to the hospital and saved by the EMT (Musik, 2021). When she wakes up, Adaline finds Ellis in the room. Flemming later arrives, and Adeline tells Flemming that Ellis already knows the truth. Later, Adaline learns that the defibrillator and hypothermia in the car accident allowed her to experience the normal aging process as she started growing grey hair.
The lifespan development theory describes the process of human development that involves from birth to death. Growth is not experienced only physically but also emotionally, with cognitive, psychological, and social consequences (Rauvola & Rudolph, 2022). Although Adaline has unageing beauty in the film, she is tired and wants to keep running her whole life. The film, therefore, raises concerns about the importance of the development theory (Rauvola & Rudolph, 2022). When one does not age, it affects the psyche of the person. The critical situation of lifespan development is the brain and its multidimensional growth. As the years continue, Adaline grows tired of living her life as she is judged and does not fit in the community. Therefore, Adaline has a cognitive impact even though she is immortal.
The film increases understanding of the development of aging adults since it helps explain the importance of every stage in the stages of aging. The sets include independence, interdependence, dependency, crisis management, and end of life (Rauvola & Rudolph, 2022). These stages impact environmental, behavioral, physiological, and psychological changes. Adaline is happy when she sees gray hair. Adaline was tired of living young and wanted to explore the next stage of life that would allow her to grow old and die.
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Secondly, the other aspect is personality development. Emotionally, Adaline had already started aging, and although she seemed young, her psychological status was old (Rauvola & Rudolph, 2022). According to the lifespan development theory, both negative and positive trajectories cause the behavior of different people of the same age. It changed my perspective because I believed that endless living is enjoyable (Maree, 2021). However, this is not the case since aging involves all aspects of human development; although the skin may not age, the other functional parts may deteriorate in their activeness.
There is the aspect of immortality where people live forever. Although people are not living a lifetime, scientists show that further research and advanced technologies allow human beings to be immortal (Maree, 2021). It will involve processes such as the replacement of organs, environmental controls, modern prevention of diseases, and genetic engineering. However, the science is believed only to be discovered after 2035 (Maree, 2021). Although Adaline lives a lifetime, she has something missing, and in the lifespan theory, this is the importance of emotional growth in human beings. There is no scientific explanation for Adaline’s ability to live for a lifetime.
I would recommend anyone to watch and analyze this movie since it helps present different scientific advancements that have not happened, hence challenging for understanding lifespan development. Also, through the film, one learns the importance of every stage in the lifespan development as missing one step leads to the incompleteness of a human being. The movie is entertaining and still allows the viewer to think critically and analyze the scientific explanation behind Adaline’s life.
References
Maree, J. G. (2021). The psychosocial development theory of Erik Erikson: Critical overview. Early Child Development and Care, 191(7-8), 1107-1121. https://doi.org/10.1080/03004430.2020.1845163
Musik, D. (2021, January 27). The age of Adaline subs indo (Full Versi). YouTube. https://youtu.be/VDazmtKkfYo
Rauvola, R. S., & Rudolph, C. W. (2022). Integrating lifespan development theories. Age and Work, 114-131. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003089674-9
