Have you by any chance seen the movie "Captain Fantastic" The purpose of this article is precisely that, so check it out!

Summary of the movie "Captain Fantastic

We begin our reflection with a brief synopsis of "Captain Fantastic" to give you a reminder of the plot. The film was released in 2016 and was a great success, even receiving an award for Best Director at Cannes.

In the wilderness

The film tells the story of Ben (Viggo Mortensen), a man who lives in the forest with his six children. Thus, in a wilderness environment, the family has a strict routine that contemplates physical and intellectual strengthening in the development of children and adolescents.

A different creation

Even the youngest children read complex literary works, such as Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita". Furthermore, they are stimulated to give elaborate opinions on the subject.

As far as the emotional side of this family is concerned, everyone is haunted by the absence of the mother figure, as she is hospitalized due to the severity of a mental illness.

The turning point that changes the script

When this woman passes away, the family is forced to move from the jungle to civilization in order to attend the farewell ceremony.

Obviously, The contrast between the hitherto known reality and the new reality that presents itself leaves traces in everyone.

Analysis of the movie Captain Fantastic

Now that we will do some analysis on recurring themes in "Captain Fantastic", It is worth remembering that we may cover parts of the plot that are considered spoilers.

In this context, we remind you that this is a text that assumes our readers' knowledge about the movie, so if you haven't seen the movie yet, please do so (the feature is available for viewing in the Netflix catalog).

A utopian society under threat

What first usually catches the viewer's attention in the film is how secretive Ben's family intimacy is. In the plot, it becomes clear that he and his wife were people who idealized a lifestyle away from the influences of the capitalist system that rules the United States.

Together, they built for their own marriage and for their children an unattainable reality. However, the strict rules ensured the expected results from the children. In this way, they learned remarkable skills:

• hunting,
• literacy,
• critical sense,
• cooking,
• among many others.

Therefore, the contact of this utopian, socialist society with capitalist reality is truly threatening.

The positive threat

However, it is worth remembering that this threat also has some positive points.

Without contact with the world outside the forests, Ben's eldest son would have little chance of knowing love or reality at a prestigious university. This is an opportunity that, in turn, offers a range of relevant professional possibilities.

In this way, The question remains how much a utopian society can satisfy, since it is limiting in many ways.

How real is this utopia and how much can parents limit their children's access to the outside of the boundaries they have imposed?

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The Dangers of Abusive Parenting

The last question above serves as a hook to address fatherhood in "Captain Fantastic".

It is appropriate to say that most parents want the best for their children. However, in the movie, The wishes of parents for their children go beyond the limits of the will of an individual human being, and this is problematic.

Even though we have children who are teenagers and old enough to start taking responsibility for their own decisions, Ben's annoyance and control stand out. Thus, they generate questions about the limits of parental interference in their children's lives.

It is important to understand that the upbringing of children should aim at autonomy in life choices. In other words, at the age of Ben's eldest son, this teenager should be able to make decisions and assume the consequences of his choices.

Without this autonomy, children are trapped in a relationship of dependence on their parents that is not healthy. In this way, love, professional, and emotional relationships suffer.

The search for social balance

Regarding the contrast between life in isolation and life in society, the discussion we come to by watching the film is: is it possible to achieve some degree of balance?

In this context of hypothetical balance, there is privacy so that personal matters are protected in the family intimacy, but there is also a healthy contact with the collective to supply emotional needs that go beyond the family limits.

The answer to this question is not obvious, as the extremes of isolation and overexposure are more evident. However, this question offers much material for discussion.

Moreover, thinking about the possibility of a balance can be interesting in order to try to apply balanced versions of this contact both in everyday life and in raising children.

The value of freedom

Finally, the discussion about the value of freedom in "Captain Fantastic" is remarkable. There is freedom in Ben and his wife's choice to move away from their families and the society in which they lived to start their own family in a private setting.

Furthermore, it is also the couple's right to have their children in this environment, and to raise them according to the values they believe in.

However, There is a fine line that divides the freedom of the parents and the freedom of the children, especially when some kind of abuse affects the children.

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In this context, is total isolation an abuse, is the deprivation of the collective experience also an abuse? These are questions that are more relevant to our society than they seem.

Education at home - homeschooling

Nowadays, discussions about education in the home are becoming more and more frequent. Groups of parents, convinced that their values will be distorted by the collectivity at school, prefer to educate their children at home. Are they right or wrong?

Education in the homeschooling Does it replace a formal education? Does it violate the children's right to a broader education?

As we have already said, this kind of question is not simple to answer. However, the movie "Captain Fantastic" sheds light on these questions, making us think more about them. So, just for this kind of reflection, the film is already worthwhile.

Captain Fantastic: Final Considerations

We hope that, with this brief discussion, we have shown the depth of the reflections present in "Captain Fantastic.

We know that they generate many discomforts, but the discomforts are important for us to review our thoughts. So let us reflect: do they make sense or do we want to cling to them too much? Deep down, this is a reflection that the protagonist also needs to make.

To read other reviews like this one from "Captain Fantastic" However, for more in-depth analysis on themes that are present in the film, such as human behavior and parenthood, enroll in our complete psychoanalysis and EAD course. We are waiting for you!