Prime Movie Critique Paper Example

Introduction

Prime is a sophisticated film that seeks to portray love from the perspective of family, kin, friends, and professionals. Prime features Rafi Gardet, a 37-year-old lady who is coping with the effects of a troubled divorce, and Dave, a talented 23-year-old young man who is at the beginning of his painting career (IMDb, 2005). Dave accompanies his friend Randall to watch a movie where he is introduced to Rafi by his friend. Rafi and Dave grow interested in each other, and shortly afterward, they fall in love. Dave is quick to point out that age should not be a factor in love and that they should continue seeing each other. They further realize that Dave is a Jew while Rafi is not. However, their differences come to haunt them later as they battle internal and external forces.

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Rafi visits her therapist, Lisa, with whom she confides her struggles during her divorce process. Rafi informs Lisa of her new-found love and explains her intentions to settle down with him. From her descriptions, Lisa realizes that her client, Rafi, is dating her son, Dave (Ebert, 2005). She acts against her profession to stop the lovebirds as she argues that Dave should not marry an old non-Jewish woman.

There is evidence of violations of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and National Organization for Human Services (NOHS) code of ethics. The NASW and NOHS codes of ethics define the social worker's responsibilities to clients, colleagues and practice settings (NASW, 1994). Further, it details how they should behave as professionals and their obligations to the social work profession.

Conflict of Interest

There is evidence of a violation of the conflict of interest code of ethics when Lisa realizes that Rafi is dating her son, Dave. Lisa had encouraged her client to pursue her new-found love with the 23-year-old young man. However, when Lisa realized that the new lover was her son, she went against her previous advice (IMDb, 2005). She was faced with the dilemma of choosing sides; she had to choose to either support her client to marry her son or go against her client. Ultimately, she sided with her client. Per the NASW code of ethics, I would only advise on the challenges of Rafi and Dave's relationship and leave them to find the best way out.

Privacy and Confidentiality

There is evidence that Lisa broke the privacy and confidentiality code of ethics when she discussed her client's details with Dave. During the therapy session when Rafi told Lisa about her sexual encounters with Dave, Lisa informed her that Dave was her son. Later that evening, Dave called Lisa, his mother, and confronted her. During this call, mother and son discussed issues about the former's client whereby the former asked the latter not to get into a relationship with Lisa (Ebert, 2005). This is a clear infringement of the privacy and confidential ethic. To avoid going against the rules, I would acknowledge informing my client that she was dating my son but would invite the two of them during the next therapy session for counseling.

Derogatory Language

The NASW code of ethics requires that social workers shouldn't use derogatory language either in verbal or written communication regarding their clients. Lisa, when advising Dave not to date Rafi, used derogatory language to describe Rafi. She described her client as old and non-Jewish and insisted that she does not fit the bill to date, Dave. This is in contravention of the code of ethics that governs the social work profession. When advising Dave on a similar matter, I would steer clear of such utterances and instead, ask Dave to review his decision.

Termination of services

Lisa failed to honor her contract with her client, Rafi, once she learned the latter's romantic relationship with her son. Lisa decided that she would not offer her services to Rafi and ended the sessions without notice (IMDb, 2005). This is in contravention of the ethics which determine that Lisa should have informed Rafi in advance about her decision or refer her to another professional therapist. If it were me, I would notify Rafi of the conflict of interest in her case as she was dating my son and refer her to another therapist.

Advocate for minorities' rights

According to NOHS standard 16, social workers should advocate for the rights of the minority members of the community who are discriminated against (Wark, 2010). Lisa went against this standard when she discriminated against Rafi due to her religion and age difference. Rafi was 14 years senior to Dave and a non-Jew. Lisa and Dave were both Jews. Lisa discriminated against Rafi for asking her son not to marry an old woman who doubled as a non-Jew. I would desist from discriminating my client based on her age and religion. I would advise Rafi and Dave on how to manage their cultural differences.

Contravention of the code of ethics is a serious crime punishable by law. Professional social workers are required to adhere to the rules governing the social work profession and respect their clients. Even though Lisa opposed the relationship between her son and Rafi, she should have followed the legal procedures to explain her resistance to their relationship.

References

Ebert, R. (2005, October 27). Prime Review. Retrieved from Roger Ebert: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/prime-2005

IMDb. (2005). Prime (2005) Plot. Retrieved from IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387514/plotsummary?ref_=tt_stry_pl

National Association of Social Workers, Washington, Dc. (1994). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. NASW Distribution Center.

Wark, L. (2010). The ethical standards for human service professionals: Past and future. Journal of Human Services, 30(1), 18-22.