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Individualism vs. Collectivism in A Beautiful Mind
Introduction
A person cannot live outside of society, outside of the collective. But simultaneously, for harmonious development and happy life, it is important to preserve individuality. A Beautiful Mind of Ron Howard was conceived as a film biography of the mathematician, Nobel Prize winner John Forbes Nash. The main character acts as an individualist and tries to fight a huge system that does not share her values. The question of what is more important, the collective or the individual is one of the most difficult questions of social psychology.
Collectivism
A team is a group of people connected by a common cause, goals, attitudes, and values. Collectivism is a worldview in which the interests of the group become more important than the interests of the individual. But, as a rule, common interests coincide with individual ones. Otherwise, the individual leaves the team participation in the team is voluntary. When making decisions, a team member focuses on the consequences for a significant community. He participates in the lives of other people and can ask for help or advice himself (Biddle 2020). Collectivism gives rise to a sense of duty among the participants. Life in a team involves observing its traditions and norms. The collectivist cares about the team more than about himself.
Individualism
Individualism is a worldview in which the individual and his interests come first. Individualists recognize their involvement in social groups but do not depend on other participants. The only exception is the family as a group and a collective. But even then, more often, parents and relatives cannot influence the choice of an individualist, for example, in matters of study, work, social circle, etc. Otherwise, individualists prefer to act alone, make decisions independently, set their goals, and follow them. Individualists are emotionally detached from other people, and prone to seclusion (Biddle 2020). They can listen to another persons opinion, but they will still act in their way.
Collectivism and Individualism in A Beautiful Mind
The Plot of the Film
So, the film tells us about the life of the brilliant mathematician John Nash, who advanced a generation from his contemporaries and made many discoveries in his work on discrete mathematics. All his life, he was friends with Saul, a wonderful guy and a loyal friend. Responsive and always finding how to help John in a difficult moment, either with a word, advice, or something else. Then John began working for the government and deciphering the secret codes of the Russians. Once already a married and respected man working for the state and extracting information about the USSR, John Nash was surrounded by terrible KGB agents who turned out to be orderlies from a local psychiatric hospital. It turned out that childhood friend Saul, his niece Marcia and security agent William Parcher are all schizophrenic hallucinations, and Nash himself is an insane person, essentially disabled.
The Main Characters Individualism
The films main character is mentally ill, although he does not realize it himself. Nashs individualism is manifested in trying to convince everyone that KGB agents are real. Moreover, Nashs character is also replete with bright features of selfishness. He is straightforward and always says what he thinks. In the film, he speaks out: I have to polish my manner of communication to make it acceptable to others. It is difficult because I am inclined to direct transmission of information, which often leads to disastrous results& . Consequently, this once again confirms the craving for the individualism of the main character, and schizophrenia only worsened the situation.
Importance of Individualism and Collectivism
Individualists in the Group
Exploring this topic in the context of A Beautiful Minds film, one can think about what is more important individualism or collectivism. This is a rather controversial issue since both concepts should ideally be present in the team. Therefore, the team should have a team spirit the team members should have common goals, values, and similar opinions on the main issues (A Beautiful Mind, 2001). However, individuals views are important for this teams upward movement; each team member should have their own opinion and offer ideas and solutions to the problems that have arisen. In the film, the viewer observes the situation one against all. In such an atmosphere, the opinion will not be considered since one person with a different view from the collective on all issues does not have authority and has no value.
Disadvantage of Individualism
In the film, John Nash is a closed and closed teenager; he does not communicate with his classmates and even attends lectures because he considers it a waste of time. Consequently, there was not a single person with whom he could easily contact and find common topics for conversation. Therefore, John Nashs mind creates hallucinations so that such people are at least in his head. Perhaps if he had been more friendly and open, his complication could have been avoided more. However, the individualism of the main character did not allow this to happen because he considered himself right in everything. From all this, we can conclude that sometimes individualism blinds us and does not allow us to face the truth. However, John Nash is a victim of circumstances because he is mentally ill. As it turned out in the end, he had a serious stage of schizophrenia; and the main symptoms of schizophrenia are voices in his head, isolation, and hallucinations.
Differences and Similarities
Both individualists and collectivists have their justice. If for the former it boils down to the thesis: justice is to row to yourself, then for the collectivist, social justice exists at a high, almost normative level (Biddle 2020). It is impossible to say unequivocally what is better for the individual: collectivism or individualism. A lot depends on the characteristics of the team. If it is cohesive and well organized, it positively impacts the personality. A group in which participants respect common goals but also do not forget about personal needs is useful.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the balance of collectivism and individualism is important. The team should be to contribute to the full development of the individual, the disclosure of its potential, and contribute to the teams development. In the film, the main character John Nash does not have this very balance. For the collective, his individualism turned out to be a danger to himself. Therefore, collectivism and individualism should be in harmony and exist in balance. It should be noted that it is difficult to determine unambiguously whether individualism and collectivism are good; moreover, their modern interpretations are not a radical negation of each other. Therefore, it is quite justifiable to consider them as a spectrum limited by absolute individualism and collectivism, between which there are many intermediate positions.
Works Cited
A Beautiful Mind, directed by Ron Howard, performance by Russell Crowe, Universal Pictures, 2001.
Biddle, Craig. Individualism vs. Collectivism: Our Future, Our Choice. The Objective Standard, 2020.
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