Behavioral psychologist Maslow divides human needs into five categories: physiological needs, safety needs, emotional and belonging needs, respect and self-actualization needs, and they are arranged in order from a lower level to a higher level.
First, let’s analyze another old white man, Waller, in addition to the protagonist in the day of whereabouts. He was a bit grumpy and insecure. He proposed the robbery of the vault. He wanted to make a fortune. The big ones, to ensure their old age and make themselves more secure. There is a clip in the film where he asks why the male protagonist Forrest lives on the opposite side of the cemetery. The male protagonist said that there is no reason, but just where he lives. The comparison with the male protagonist here also shows that he is an insecure person. He has higher requirements for the environment. Only by meeting the required environment can he feel comfortable and satisfy his sense of security. For him There should be no such thing as a cemetery where you live. There is also a clip where Sunset helped three people to chat in a tavern. Waller talked about some of his childhood experiences. His biological father left him, and his stepfather was not friendly to him. This may be because of his insecurities. source.
The male protagonist forrest is obviously not an insecure person. He can climb down the sheets from the third floor window of the juvenile control office. He dares to sail on the sea with a paper boat, and he dares to make bold in front of the police. He acted without fear of being shot, and he dared to do other things that violated the rules of society without fear of punishment.
The film also confesses that the male protagonist has been married, but he is not even sure if he has a background with children. This is a portrayal of the male protagonist's relatively low emotional and belonging needs.
The film depicts the protagonist’s polite gentleman's attitude during robbery from multiple angles, which shows that the protagonist is a person who respects himself and others, and his self-esteem needs are also very low.
The first three needs of the male protagonist are very low, so the last need arises-the need for self-realization. The male protagonist has an extremely strong need for self-realization, so he will robbery over and over again, but not for money.
In fact, this film does not make us blindly muster the courage to pursue the life we want. Instead, it tells us that you must recognize your own needs and meet the needs you lack, and you will be happy. Just like the female protagonist, under the leadership of the male protagonist, sneaked away with a bracelet and then returned to pay, the female protagonist can accept that the male protagonist is a robber, which means that the female protagonist's return here to pay is not entirely based on self-ethical requirements. , But to a certain extent because the heroine does not have a strong need for self-realization, she does not have to go beyond the rules to achieve self-worth like the heroine. The needs of the heroine should focus on emotion and belonging.
However, when a person is extremely deficient in a certain psychological need due to certain past experiences, what we have to do is not to satisfy it, but to treat our own psychology, so that our own psychological needs are as close to the normal level as possible. Because it is very difficult to meet this extreme psychological need. When it cannot be met, you will fall into pain. If you are paranoid to meet it, you may pay a huge price.
We return to the title, what makes us give up on ourselves? For most Chinese people, it is the lack of safety and respect that makes us give up ourselves. Later, when we have the opportunity, we will discuss what causes the Chinese people's general lack of security and respect.
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