Teenager Health: Finding Your "-Ness"; You, Me and Dupree

Teaching Teenagers Lesson in Self Awareness and the Loyalty of Friends

Searching for your “-ness”. So goes the morale of the story in the heartfelt comedy, You, Me and Dupree.  In psychology, finding your "-ness" may be similar to defining who we are as people.   For each person, the "-ness" will be different and unique.   In a world filled with teen pressures, teaching a teenager to find and embrace his or her "-ness" may be the key to avoiding peer pressures.

Starring Kate Hudson, Matt Dillon, Michael Douglas and Owen Wilson as Dupree, the friend we all love to hate and can’t live without. The story line is heartfelt as a newlywed couple struggles to deal with the daily drama associated with….well….being a newlywed. In walks Dupree, a lifelong friend of Carl Peterson played by Matt Dillon. With every intention to make spread joy and happiness wherever he goes, Dupree finds himself in the middle of many quandries almost leading to the loss of his friends. But, in the end, it is his friends who may suffer the loss.

Dupree. A person who enjoys life; almost too much. Carefree to his approach with life, Dupree, in his 30’s, is perceived as an individual who does not understand the concept of adult responsibility nor the aspect of stability. As the movie progresses, we see Dupree’s continual, unintended, throes which inevitably lead to his demise of the day. What is not seen, but felt, is the love Dupree has for his friends. As each dilemma passes, we begin to feel the sense of loyalty and passion Dupree has for his friends and what was once a person we found irresponsible, becomes the person we wish we were….carefree. It is through this relationship development, that we begin to trust Dupree with even our own hearts and willingly accept Dupree’s final moment in which he proudly states he has found his “Dupree-ness”.