Radical Adjustments: The Life & Times of Marilyn Reed Lucia

Radical Adjustments profiles psychiatrist Dr. Marilyn Reed Lucia, who in the 1950s raised four children while completing a medical degree (one of 4 percent in her class who were women), despite social expectations that she subsume her personal ambitions in order to care for her family. Filmmaker Tom Weidlinger moves chronologically from Lucia's abusive, Depression-era childhood through her early college career (which ended with a psychological breakdown), marriages, and later successful pursuit of a degree and career in psychiatry. Along the way, Lucia was expelled from one college because she was pregnant (although married) and encouraged to divorce a husband so she could focus on her professional life. Lucia grew particularly interested in child development and she became a pioneering advocate for child care centers where parents' interactions with their offspring could be observed. She also advanced other then-radical ideas, particularly after her third son was born with a severe facial deformity (at a time when many such infants were left to die in hospitals). Lucia's story is enriched here by her own comments and interviews with family, along with home movies and archival photos. Fascinating and inspiring, this portrait is highly recommended. Aud: C, P. (M. Puffer-Rothenberg)