An Analyis of "Big"

Penny Marshall's 1988 smash hit Big is an exercise in examining the trials and tribulations of the man-child. In this romantic comedy, we meet Joshua (played by Tom Hanks) - the leading character we first meet as a thirteen-year-old boy - who wishes to become an adult. A carnival arcade genie grants his wish, and Joshua grows into the form of a man overnight. He quickly finds himself lost in the very adult world of New York City, where he must take on a high-stakes job, encounter romance, and even pay his own rent.

Throughout Big, we see dramatic character development in Joshua, who slowly learns through trial-and-error how to maneuver the adult world he has suddenly been thrust into. This narrative film uses linear chronology to drive the story forward and, during the course of events, we learn that - deep within our adult bodies - there is still a child in all of us.

Big Plays Out on a Romantic Comedy Stage

Penny Marshall chose to use the ever-popular vehicle of the romantic comedy to tell the tale of Big. It is clearly obvious why. While there are many other venues for telling this same story (drama and horror genres come to mind), we all can relate to humorous awkwardness we faced when dealing with some rather scary life concepts as young people: getting a job, paying the rent, and coping with the adult world to name a few.

We all (at least in hindsight) can laugh at our first encounters with romance. That is what romantic comedies, like Big, do - help us to smile (and laugh) at the unfolding of a romantic relationship between two people.

In fact, much of the comedy in Big comes from watching the immature Joshua awkwardly deal with his fledgling feelings toward his attractive work colleague, Susan (Elizabeth Perkins). The humor in it all stems from Joshua's anguishing discomfort with courting Susan - much like his earlier encounter with popular classmate Cynthia (Kimberlee Davis) at the carnival.

As both an adult and a child, Joshua exhibits the youthful insecurity that many, young and old alike, endure when dating - especially those we feel are "out of our league." Susan is a standout in the workplace, but only as a grown up - and after some rather embarrassing moments - does Joshua finally beat out the competition and find himself in the arms of the "popular" girl.

Joshua's Growth is Measured by More Than Just Height

It is in Joshua's growth throughout Big that we witness his tremendous character development. Though his early days as a thirteen year old in a man's body come with tremendous pressure on the young boy, he quickly adapts to his newfound reality and emerges into a well-adjusted trooper who learns the ways of his daily corporate environs (a major New York toy company), dealing with shopping, hailing cabs, making everyday adult errands, and developing his relationship with Susan.

We see this character development flourish in glimpses. While his first days and nights in New York City play out on a very juvenile level (and his school friend, Billy [Jared Rushton], helps Joshua adapt to New York life during the early Big Apple scenes in the film), Joshua begins to grow. As soon as Joshua earns his promotion to official toy tester in the MacMillan Toy Company think tank (what thirteen-year-old would not love that job?) he becomes very engrossed in his high-paying job and truly enjoys life as a career man.

He grows closer to Susan as the two begin spending more time together in his colorful apartment (which appears to have been filled with furnishings straight out of a Toys-R-Us catalog) sharing moments playing games and bouncing on his trampoline with her.

After the two share an intimate moment, it becomes quite clear that Joshua has outgrown his fear of talking to the opposite gender. However, all of Joshua's growth comes much to Billy's chagrin; as Joshua becomes increasingly more involved in his work and mature social life in Manhattan, he no longer finds much interest in hanging out with his schoolyard chum from New Jersey.

Authority Figures Rule No Matter How Big We Get

One of the most interesting concepts of how the child in us always remains is that we never outgrow the watchful eye of authority figures and threat of domineering peers. The young Joshua (David Moscow) is faced with an intimidating gym coach (Allan Wasserman) and everyday constraints his mother (Mercedes Ruehl) and father (Josh Clark) set for the young boy. Perhaps the protagonist's biggest nemesis as a youngster is Derek (Mark Ballou), the boy who steals from Joshua any chance of getting to know Cynthia better.

Even as a grown up, he finds he still cannot escape subordination from people like his amicable but superior boss, MacMillan (Robert Loggia) and a host of other supervisors and managers whom Joshua encounters on a day-to-day basis. If Joshua faces intimidating peers in school like Derek, he finds that such competition still exists in the adult world, as seen in Paul (John Heard) - the man with whom Joshua must compete for Susan's affection.

Big as a Narrative

Big, being a narrative film, is a story that touches many of its viewers for several reasons. Perhaps its greatest strength as a tale is that is relates to the dream many people had when they were young: to suddenly become a grown-up. Why do so many youngsters have this dream?

Like Joshua, they seem to think the stresses of childhood - school, bullies, and a preset bedtime all go out the window upon becoming an adult. However, as Joshua learns, those childhood stressors quickly become replaced with higher-stakes demands like a career, romance, and keeping a roof over the head.

As we see in the film, that childhood dream of suddenly becoming an adult can quickly turn out to become a nightmare without the years of maturing that we undertake in our adolescence and early adult years - years that we would grievously skip if, as young children, we, like Joshua, woke up one day to find ourselves suddenly in the body of thirty year old.

However, Joshua's experience is not all bad. While he finds himself ill-prepared to handle the adult life early on in Manhattan, his pre-adolescent mind actually bodes quite well for Joshua in his career and romance. MacMillan is quite impressed with Joshua's youthful instincts for toys, and Susan is swept off her feet by Joshua's refreshingly childlike sense of fun and daring.

Through Joshua's story, we see and relive experiences that touch all of us in both childhood and adulthood - love, work, fear, burdens, and responsibilities - and realize that the path that leads between our lives as kids and those as adults is merely a road to a bigger body, for the core aspects of life really never change. We are as adults often the same people we were as children, and many of us continue to carry on into our adulthood the same desires, hopes, and dreams we held dearly as children.

Time Marches Forward in Big

The film employs a linear chronology. While this is common for many films, this technique seems to serve a poetic quality in Big. We, after all, grow and mature on a linear basis.

Each of our experiences, mistakes, and encounters in life prepare us for the next - which is very much the case with Joshua throughout the course of the film. Big is devoid even of flashbacks, so from the moment the film begins, our sense of time and space is very realistic - the hands of the clock move forward.

The only jarring aspect of the film's linear chronology comes when Joshua returns to the form of a thirteen-year-old boy. While we expect to see a person grow up (even if it is overnight), we do not anticipate Joshua to "shrink down." Perhaps the notion behind this plot outcome is to portray the dream many adults have - becoming a kid again.

Joshua is a young man who therefore embodies the fantasies of both children (growing up) and adults (recapturing youth). That the film maintains linear chronological fashion even during the transformation of Joshua returning to childhood symbolizes how we, even as adults, are still capable of feeling as young as we wish to be, if only we release ourselves to our whimsy.

Big Portrays the Similarities of Childhood and Adulthood

The moral of Big is that childhood is so very short. The big bad world of adult life can be scary. Yet so, too, is childhood a microcosm of the adult world we eventually grow into, if ever more innocent. Romance can be a nerve-wracking proposition that we can look back on and laugh about.

Ultimately, for all the comically painful pitfalls of youthful romance, we never lose the tender memories of a first crush, first dance, or first kiss. Life moves forward linearly and, through each of our experiences, we become stronger and wiser for the falls and fears we once suffered. Just as Joshua's character develops in the film, so do we. That is, after all, what life is all about: growing up.