Movie Psychological Analysis of "a Bronx Tale"

​The movie A Bronx Tale begins a tale of a child in middle childhood. During this period of development (ages 6-12), children face key developmental tasks such as engaging in social activities, expanding their knowledge and understanding of the physical and social worlds, continuing to learn and expanding their concepts of gender identity, develop a sense of values, learn communication skills, reading and writing, give and take, learn how to accept people who are culturally different, and learn physical skills. In the movie, the boy Cologero is faced with a major dilemma whether to be the rat or to keep quiet, which forces him in a way to ponder and understand the physical and social world he was living in especially after the shooting he witnessed. He had to decipher his values in his decisions he had to make as he was still growing and learning his concept of identity in the world around him.

​Cologero finds out that there are consequences to his decisions. When he decided not to rat, his father snapped at him telling him he did a good thing for a bad man. Cologero's parents, especially his father, were what Diana Baumrind termed Authoritative parents. Authoritative parents establish high goals for their children, yet they are accepting and allow their children to explore while maintaining firm limits to help scaffold and structure their children's environment. Cologero's father Lorenzo made sure Cologero understood the importance of staying in school and making the right decisions. Though he was firm in discipline, he also encouraged Cologero to explore while keeping him safe.

​Cologero's decision found him confused, as he had to make a choice in a split decision that would impact him for the rest of his life. When he did not rat on Sonny, he made a decision based on survival and perhaps belonging. He wanted respect from Sonny as he respected and admired Sonny. This demonstrates Choice Theory. Choice Theory states that everything we do can be explained in terms of our attempts to satisfy our basic needs which are survival, love and belonging, power or achievement, freedom or independence, and fun. Choice theory is a socially based theory that says we need people to satisfy our needs of love and acceptance and I feel that Sonny also finds the need to be loved as well as accepted.

​Sonny's need for love, I believe, stemmed out in a relationship that he embarked with Cologero. Cologero accepts Sonny's attempt to nurture and encourage him in his growth. He views Sonny as a role model. From that point on in the movie Cologero experienced individuation. Individuation is the separating from our family system and establishing our own identity based on our experiences. Although individuation is a term used in adolescence, I believe Cologero matured early in this sense, probably due to his early childhood experience. Cologero swayed away from his father's upbringing though not completely, as he decided he could learn a