Question
Please watch the movie and write a reflection paper address all the point in rubric and then write your feels about this movie “Ben is Black”.
Answer
Ben is Back Movie
Ben Back tells a story of love between a mother and her son, Ben. Ben returns home from a rehabilitation center to spend Christmas with his family. In a twist of fate, Ben’s 24 hours from rehab becomes a nightmare for the whole family, especially For Ben’s mother. Throughout the film, she struggles to keep Ben away from drugs. Ben’s actions reveal he has an impulse control disorder. His inability to control his impulses and focus on evaluating the situation at hand while avoiding actions that are harmful to his life.
Some people have sufficient self-control while others can have severe difficulties in controlling themselves; hence, harming others and violating other’s rights. In this movie, Ben shows a pathological lack of self-control because he is unable to control his opioid drug addiction.
. His addiction began when his doctor prescribed painkillers as a teenager and continuously increased his dosage. Among the drugs he’s taken are oxycodone and heroine. His constant struggle to remain calm and away from any drugs is a result of years of drug abuse
After his sponsor encourages him to go home for the holidays, his mother cautiously welcomes him back to the family on the condition that he doesn’t leave her sight.His stepfather struggles to welcome himand comments that he could have been in prison for all he’s done if he were black. His sister is against him coming back and doesn’t believe that he has changed his old ways.
Everyone receives him with skepticism. While his family is accommodative at home, his neighbors and friends areinsensitive that he is a recovering addict and gravitate their conversations to his troubled past. One friend tells him he thought Ben was dead.
The barriers thatBenencountersare his insecurities and inability to deal with issues from an old neighborhood and people from his past. For instance, he encounters a family whose daughter died of an overdose after he introduced her to drugs. He also meets a girl he used to sell drugs to who offers him to get high with her for the last time Ben isn’temotionally and psychologically ready for these encounters and as a result keeps seeking solace in drug use.
Another obstacle for him is dealing with his lying tactics. He fools his family into believing he iscured.. When his mother takes him clothes shopping, Ben lies to her about not doing drugs anymore. However, behind closed doorshe opts to take them.His lying is an obstacle to his recovery since it doesn’t allow his family to help him.
After Ben completes a drug deal, he is rewarded with drugs. He feels terrible about everything he’s done and in desperation decides to take them. His mom finds him lying on the ground, overdosed, and gives him medicine to counteract it. Ben is unable to contain his impulse and doesn’t overcome his barriers alone. It was too early for him to leave the rehabilitation center.
The actor who plays Ben perfectlyinterprets what a person diagnosedwith impulse control disorder and drug addiction feels. He struggles to accept he hasn’t recovered and is tempted by every opportunity to get high. He also feels remorse from his past decisions that have harmed his family. The actress who plays Ben’s mother perfectly shows how the family of drug addicts suffer and struggle to help their loved one. His family shows skepticism but do what they can to help him.
After watching the film, I felt I had a glimpse into what individual suffering from impulse disorder and drug addiction endures. While the film spans 24 hours of struggle against drug addiction, the flashbacks are enough to discern Ben’s anguish. It is difficult to discover all the things he’s done to get his fix of drugs when his addiction could have been avoided as a teenager. The film is a reflection of what we have seen in clinical because it shows, in detail, the struggles of a person with this mental health disorder.
