Throughout the movie "Parenthood," countless psychological principles and theories are illustrated. This is especially evident within the males of Gil's family. Many characteristics exhibited by Gil (played by Steve Martin), Gil's father, Frank (played by Jason Robards), and Gil's son Kevin (played by Jasen Fisher) appear to be common or inherited within the three of them. This brings to light the nature vs. Nurture debate: why are these characters similar? Is it because they were raised in similar environments? Is it because they inherited their personality traits? Is it a combination of both?

Kevin, nine years old, is the oldest of three children in Gil's branch of the Buckman clan. Kevin is a pretty imaginary child, evidenced by his choice in birthday party format and his predisposition towards video games. He is also a seemingly caring person, but has much difficulty behaving in school. At one point in the movie, a counselor calls Gil and his wife into his office to tell them that Kevin is "special" and has trouble concentrating. The counselor proceeds to diagnose Kevin as suffering from Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). "ADD is a psychological term applied to anyone who meets the DSM IV diagnostic criteria for impulsivity, hyperactivity and/or inattention. The diagnostic criteria are subjective and include behavior which might be caused by a wide variety of factors, ranging from brain defects to allergies to giftedness" (http://borntoexplore.org/whatisadd.htm).

Kevin's reaction to this news is one of disarray, confusion, and loneliness. He feels different than most other children his age. His confidence drops to a new low. Perhaps much of this is due to the fact that he is in the stage of his life in which he is quite vulnerable and searching for identity. Around the age of ten is the prime time for self-esteem development (Erikson, pp. 123-4).

Another theory on Kevin is that he may not have a learning disorder at all; he may just be "slow to warm up," as Chess and Thomas would say. "Slow to warm up children" "tend to be less cheery, less regular in their sleep and eating, and slower in adapting to change. These children (are) wary of new experiences, and tehir emotional reactivity is moderate" (Weiten, pp. 431). In other words, Kevin may have been just a bit slower than others as far as thinking and other processes go.

Gil is one of the most interesting characters in this movie. He is a compassionate, hard-working parent and businessman. However, he falters in some crucial areas of parenting.

Gil has difficulty distributing an adequate amount of attention to his kids, in part, because his job is quite demanding. However, when it is revealed that Kevin may have a learning disability, he becomes willing to commit more time towards his family. The attention he once denied his children, however, may have severely impacted their futures, because they are at such a critically tender stage in their lives.

On the positive side, Gil exhibits an extremely high amount of creativity and imagination for a person his age. In long moments, such as watching a baseball game or a play, he will daydream about eccentric situations. Another instance of his creativity is evidenced by how he saved his son's birthday party. The cowboy that was supposed to go didn't show up, so he dressed up as one and impressed all of the children with his impressions.

As far as personality goes, Gil seems to be like Kevin in that he is slow to warm up. At the end of the movie, Gil's grandmother tells a story about rollercoasters. Gil's wife understands the analogy but Gil is lost. Finally, at the very end of the movie, he understands it.

Frank is also an interesting personality. He is a loving but inconsistent father, who has trouble continually performing his fatherly duties. He seems either wrapped up in his own life or in his son Larry's life. He doesn't seem to attribute much attention towards Gil, in the least.

Frank loves certain hobbies, especially things having to do with cars. He is very proud of an antique car he has rebuilt and maintained. Perhaps this car reminds him of his younger days and allows his imagination to run wild.

As far as Frank's personality goes, he seems to be "slow to warm-up," like his son and grandson. It takes him a long time to realize and admit to Gil that he isn't perfect. For a person who is a quick learner, it wouldn't take that long to figure that out, all the more evidence supporting the former.

So the question at hand is "Are these people products of their environment or products of inheritance?" A case can be made for both sides.

Much evidence points to nature as the lead influence on the movie character's lives, respectively. For instance, there is considerable evidence connecting attention spans with genetic and biological inheritance. Many people believe that certain chemical imbalances can be passed down from generation to generation. One such imbalance is ADD, the inconsistent chemical being seratonin.

Another common natural feature is the element of creativity within each generation. Intuition has also been linked in some cases with genetic disposition. Of course, however, if this gift is never touched on by nurture, it most likely won't become utilized or known (Watson, 212).

Also, there is the obvious element of lacking attention. Frank Buckman denied his family, especially his son Gil, equal and unbiased attention when they were growing up. Perhaps as a product of this, Gil grows up to become a successful but overly committed businessman, who pays an unhealthily small amount of attention to his family. Again, from this lack of attention, Kevin may contract his attention deficit disorder. If this pattern holds true, it wouldn't be surprising for Kevin to neglect his children in some way have them turn out like his predecessors.

However, a strong case can be made for nurture as the reason for these characters having the personalities they do. The three characters all seem to have grown up in a suburban, middle-class lifestyle. They may have learned certain personality characteristics from the generation before them. Also, one can argue that if moods are so dictated from the environment, so is one's personality.

My viewpoint on this entire debate is that we are all products of a combination of environmental and inherited factors. If a person has a biological defect, they may have a predisposition to a state of mind, such as depression. However, a person in a negative environment would also have a disposition towards depression.

The same holds true for the Buckmans; they may very well be products of inheritance, but also similar environments. There is no definitive way to uncover the ultimate truth. However, each of the three aforementioned characters exhibits characteristics similar to the others. Passing these common attributes off as random occurrences would be illogical and stem from nothing but denial; there is definitely a correlation between the three characters and their upbringings.