Note: This article was originally published in Technician on January 12, 2009.
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Button's disabilities aren't really that big of a deal
At least, that seems to be the message promoted by Hollywood’s latest entry into Oscar-season, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Based on the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the film follows a man (Brad Pitt) with one unique attribute: he ages backward. However, based on how he’s treated by other characters, this really isn’t anything out of the ordinary.
Indeed, most of the people that meet Benjamin don’t realize his peculiar state of being. His friends and family don’t seem too interested in even asking what it’s like to grow younger. The only person who seems to give it the attention it deserves is his one true love, Daisy (Cate Blanchett), and that’s because it could have catastrophic effects on their relationship. Director David Fincher and writer Eric Roth seem much more concerned with telling a story about how other people affect Benjamin, rather than on how he and his condition affect others.
Roth is perhaps best known as the writer behind another film about a man with a unique condition: Forrest Gump. Structurally speaking, Benjamin Button is virtually identical. Boy has condition. Boy meets girl. Boy can’t be with a girl for a while. Boy has some extraordinary life experiences. But even though both films deal with similar ideas, they are two vastly different pieces of work.