Danny Devito's 'Matilda'

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“Matilda” directed by Danny DeVito demonstrates how elaborating on both the psychological effect on the child and the various parenting methods and how it affects mental development of the infant. Warmth, shown through affection, touch or nurturing gestures, and responsiveness, or how sensitive a parent’s interaction is with the child, are key aspects for child attachment. However, infants only become attached to a few people, such as the mother and close relatives, derived from social interactions with the infant’s attachment figure. Through attachment, organizational changes occur in an infant’s behavior as brain function and cognitive awareness develops. There are several different phases of attachment, each representing the mental, social and cognitive abilities of infants. In phase 1, which is from birth to three months, for example, attachment is shown through social gestures, such as smiling, crying and babbling. The second and third phase, which is from three months to six months and six months to three years respectively, on the other hand, represents how infants develop key motor and sight abilities, as …show more content…

According to Daniel Siegel’s article “If I had bad parents, will I be a bad parent too?” children with non-secure attachments often have a “sense of uncertainty” with others. Her relationships with the other schoolchildren and with Mrs. Honey, demonstrates that Matilda, despite her age, not only is self-confident, but also does not show any sense of anxiety and insecurity. While reading books could have been a mental escape for her to get away from her familial issues, Matilda also doesn’t show signs of separation, as she prepared the adoption papers long before her acquaintance with Mrs. Honey. This supports the idea that a child’s personality and behavior is multifactorial, a combination of genetics, environmental and developmental

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