If you think this film is about how to cultivate little geniuses, then don't expect it.
I have been thinking about the meaning of TS standing on the podium and saying the three points: the first point is thanks, which is easy to understand. The second point is that I briefly explained my invention, which is understandable. The third point, he told very carefully how his younger brother died, with guilt and deep nostalgia.
Why?
Later I realized that in the eyes of the child, no matter whether he is a prodigy or not, what he cares about is never honor, money and attention, or even his achievements. What he cares about is only the affirmation of him by his family.
He envied his brother's approval from his father, and he hoped that his father's hat could be buckled on his head, which was much better than receiving an award! But his father ignored him, his mother ignored him because of his brother's death, and his sister basically didn't understand him and laughed at him, and even the family dog liked his brother more.
The film is to describe their family's life from the perspective of TS, father's daily routine, mother's progress in insect research, and sister's dissatisfaction and complaints over and over again. TS's scientific research is not deliberate, it happens naturally in his life, as if this is not painful homework boring research, this is a kind of game.
And when he decided to accept the award, left the family and went to Washington alone, and finally "be at the mercy of others", he didn't really know what it meant, he was simply worried that he would never see his parents again. And when his parents appeared in front of him, he felt that jumping on his father's back and putting the hat on his head was the real meaning of receiving the award and life.
For a child, parents are his gods, and their affirmation is the most important.
This reminds me of an episode that I will never forget from my own experience: in the third year of high school, during the sprint stage, I often stayed up late, and my father also worked overtime at night to earn money to save for my tuition. Every night when he came back, he would always stand behind me and watch me study quietly for a while. Once, he touched my head with his hand, said nothing, and went to sleep. I instantly felt a great warmth, and in that warmth there was affirmation, concern, touch, and my father's love for me—the words he never said to me, but it was all in it.
View more about The Young and Prodigious T.S. Spivet reviews
