“We need to talk about Kevin”

Lynne Ramsay directed the film “We need to talk about Kevin” which has been chosen as the stimulus for this creative response. Nature versus nurture is the main issue depicted through the adolescent boy, Kevin. The intriguing debate between nature versus nurture arises as it questions which is the dominate force that determines the characteristics of an individual. “Mummy was happy before little Kevin came along, did you know that?” (Time: 00:31:00) Eva, Kevins mother, believes that he is a burden, she was a blissful traveller experiencing various cultures before he had come along thus she resents him for the inconvenience he has brought. “You know, you can be kind of harsh sometimes” Kevin says.

“You’re one to talk” Says Eva
“Yeah, I am, I wonder where I get it” (Time: 01:07:00)
This scene expresses that you are able to inherit these types of characteristics through genetics.

The creative response for this stimulus has been presented in a creative art piece. The art piece addresses the issue of an expectant mother’s emotional state through her pregnancy and the affect that it has. Studies have shown that being in an emotional wreck will harm the unborn. Eva, throughout her pregnancy has resented Kevin, which inturns creates a child that inherits these emotions. The idea is an extension of the Nature versus nurture theme, which is more dominant. In Kevin’s case, I believe that nature has been the dominant role for his emotional distress. Not to say that nurture did not play a role, it was that Kevin’s uncontrollable characteristics took a toll on Eva’s mental state which leads to her uncontrollable outbursts of emotions.

The film portrays that, no matter the amount of nurture you give to a developing child, sometimes the nature is just too overpowered to overcome. The end scene shows Eva asking Kevin, what the reasons were behind his devilish crime, he replies, “I use to think I knew, now I’m not so sure.” This demonstrates how overpowering ones nature can be. He does not understand his actions, was he born this way or the way he was brought up? How could he kill his father, someone throughout the film that he actually showed affection for?