Whale Rider (2002)

Even though this movie did not truly capture my attention until I was starting to look forward to Paikea using her power, it is still very unique and definitely different from the other genres we have watched so far. Whale Rider captures the mystical aspects of Maori tribe's culture, in which Paikea is able to hear a calling from their ancestors and thus are destined to lead her tribe out of the miserable state they were in. From their ancient story to Paikea's ability to communicate with whales, it showed us something beautiful yet unexplainable, and allowed us to take a glimpse of how their people connect with and appreciate the beauty of nature.

"The chosen one"

This is... out of topic, but I found Paikea (Keisha Castle Hughes) in Game of Thrones :D

Something about the movie fascinated me, and once I searched more about Maori people after I went back, it became clear that I was attracted to their cultural symbols such as the carvings, tattoos and even handicrafts. The aesthetics were amazing, and radiated a calming aura so I often feel soothing whenever I look at them. Their tattoos, for instance, are complex, sacred, and represent different social status. Below are some extra readings for those who are interested to know more:

Carvings:
http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/whakairo-maori-carving

Tattoos:
http://www.zealandtattoo.co.nz/tattoo-styles/maori-tattoos/

As what was discussed in class, the film portrayed quite a few instances of cognitive dissonance, commonly applied to when an individual's attitudes and behaviors contradict each other (Ciccarelli & White). The most apparent portrayal of this dissonance is shown between Koro and Paikea, in which Koro despised her in the beginning of the movie because she survived instead of her twin brother, who was supposed to lead their tribe once he grow up. However, we see glimpses of Koro's love as the movie progress, from the way he fetches Paikea to and from school, to how he showed dismay when she was leaving with her father. Despite his love, he also realized that it is his duty to uphold his tribe's tradition (no women allowed as chief) and to regain its time of glory, thus he condemned Paikea for the tribe's misfortune and was enraged when he found out she was learning taiaha. It is very obvious that Koro's love and his hurtful behavior towards Paikea contradicts each other, but due to his responsibilities as chief, he may be able to rationalize his behavior as an attempt to protect his people, thus reducing the dissonance and enabling him to further dismiss his grandaughter's feelings right until the end of the movie.

The next character who showed cognitive dissonance is Paikea's father, who still cares about his tribe but display an overwhelming urge to escape from the village. Even though he loves his family, he does not wish to be tied down by their old traditions and stay in that little village for the rest of his life. He told Koro he had been to numerous countries doing exhibitions and running his gallery, indirectly informing the audience about his love for freedom and artistry. Similarly, Paikea herself also has a love-hate relationship with her grandfather as she repeatedly defies his orders and learned the skills of a chief in secret, even though she respects him very much as a person and yearns for his affection.

Koro's inconsistent attitude towards Paikea may have contributed to her problematic attachment style, as seen in several instances where she craves his attention even after being given the cold shoulder. Psychalive (2016) mentioned children with caregivers who provide inconsistent parenting styles may very likely develop an ambivalent/ anxious attachment styles, in which they are confused, insecure, but clingy and desperate at the same time. In Bowlby's phases of attachment as well as the mechanism of internal working model of attachment (Pietromonaco & Barrett, 2000) might be able to explain why Paikea feel a certain need of affirmation from her grandfather. This is because phase four of attachment shows children reflecting others' feelings to form their own actions (Santrock, 2008). It is very likely that Paikea did not have a secure and consistent attachment pattern with Koro, as well as having the impression that he did not like her at all, thus contributing to the mental representation that explains the deteriorating relationship as mainly her fault for being a girl. So, Paikea tries desperately to prove to herself as well as to Koro that she, too, can accomplish something only the boys are supposed to do (aside from the fact that she hears whales calling her and for being the chosen one).

Speaking of which, it made me a little sad seeing how the patriarchal community Paikea lived in caused her to be the center of (unreasonable) blame and a victim of dysfunctional love. She grew up without a mother, and her father spends more time travelling than taking care of her. Adding to that, her grandfather hates her for being who she is. There are multiple instances in the movie where Paikea engaged in self-blaming, saying everything will be fine if she had not been born a girl. To be honest, this blatant gender discrimination had me on my nerves for quite a while as it is something I find especially hard to tolerate. While I understand the circumstances and pressure from his community as well as his own sense of responsibility did not allow Koro to break tradition so easily, telling myself that did not make my dissatisfaction ease any less. This unease stayed with me all the way until the end, even though the lively sight of their tribe members coming together is very heart-warming, I could not help but think about the incident(s) that made Koro change his mind. Did it really have to end up with Paikea risking her life for him to realize the truth that was presented in front of him all along? He was true, everything was a sign, a sign that led up to the whales being sent to them so the true leader of their tribe will reveal herself because he was too stubborn to admit it.

I am sorry this blog entry has been quite an emotional one, as I truly feel for Paikea being a victim of gender discrimination. It really breaks my heart every time I see her tear up but did not dare to defend herself against her grandfather who was far more stronger and powerful, as well as the (unfair) rules of their community which has been their psychological support and belief for decades.

References:
Ciccarelli, S. K., & White, J. N. (2015). Psychology (4th ed.). England: Pearson Education Limited.

Pietromonaco, P. R., & Barrett, L. F. (2000). The internal working models concept: What do we really know about the self in relation to others? Review of General Psychology, 4(2), 155-175. doi: 10.1037111089-2680.4.2.155

Psychalive. (2016). Understanding insecure attachment - part 1: Ambivalent/ Anxious attachment. Retrieved from http://www.psychalive.org/understanding-ambivalent-anxious-attachment/

Santrock, J.W. (2008). Life Span Development (14th ed). NY: Mc-Graw Hill

Strictly Ballroom (1992)

This week's blog entry will be about Strictly Ballroom, so far my favourite movie out of the four we have watched.

Since it's a rom com, allow me to first post up a few close-up shots of our main protagonists being all lovey-dovey together.

We were told the director, Baz Luhrmann has a visually exaggerated filming style, and I very much agree with it after experiencing the exuberant atmosphere in Strictly Ballroom. From stunning costumes to vivid colours, the whole movie screams "lively". This is especially so for the dance choreography which had me entranced, as I personally love watching people dance and find their body movements extremely beautiful.

LIKE THIS

AND THIS

AND THIS WITH THE SUBTLE PRODUCT PLACEMENT

What I learned from this movie (aside from the fact that Spanish sounds amazing) is the importance of courage. It is a recurring theme in the movie, from the beginning when Fran overcame her fear and inferiority to approach Scott so she could dance with him, to the end when the couple performed Paso Doble steps despite opposing views all around them. These are things that require one to step out of his or her comfort zone and take that little extra step that majority of people are not willing to take. Besides, the characters themselves also kept on emphasizing on this point, in which the phrase "Vivir con miedo es como vivir a medias", meaning a life lived in fear is a life half-lived, was repeated multiple times throughout the movie. 

Strictly Ballroom portrayed fear as an element which halts success, most evident example would be Scott's father, Doug Hastings, who used to be a ballroom champion but had his talents buried as his partner was too afraid of breaking the norm. The main antagonist, Barry Fife, persuaded Shirley Hastings to switch partners for her competition so they can afford to continue operating their dance studio and to be accepted by the dance community as "a part of them", which Doug failed to do due to his unconventional "crowd-pleasing" dance moves. This begs another question that many of us constantly ask ourselves: reality or dream? Do we choose to pursue what we want and risk not being able to support ourselves, or compromise with life and live the rest of it in peace and a hint of regret? Or is there another way where we can have the best of both worlds? Of course, the answer varies from one person to another, but to Doug and Scott, the right thing to do is almost definitely to have faith in yourself and do what you believe is right.

Speaking of courage, another major topic that can be discussed points to the famous "conformity, obedience, and compliance" social psychology trio (I will address the three terms separately down below). Scott's character is shaped from the very beginning of the movie, a non-conformist who wishes to break free of the status quo and try something new without being restricted in a tight little frame. It is just as what was discussed in class, dance is a form of expression, and the irony resides in the multiple rules and restrictions put upon those ballroom dancers, requiring them to follow a strict guideline in order to win while what they were doing was supposed to be free and genuine. The director might have picked ballroom dancing because of this contradiction. In a supposingly free and expressive field where, ironically, fixed sets of rules are used as a basis of evaluation, is there any room for innovation, creativity, and breakthroughs?

Scott and Liz lost in the opening scene because of his "crowd-pleasing moves"

1. Conformity

Conformity refers to a change in attitude or behavior of a person to cope with either real or imagined group pressure (Myers, 2014).This phenomenon can be justified through two generally categorized factors, namely normative social influence and informational social influence, with the former used in order to be accepted by the majority and be seen as normal, and the latter used to obtain information from the norm about situations that one is unfamiliar with (Ciccarelli & White, 2015). As mentioned above, Shirley Hastings (Scott's mother) was afraid of being different and chose to not dance with her husband in the Pan Pacific Grand Prix, as she wanted them to keep their jobs so they can be accepted by the dance community and survive on their dance studio. It clearly reflects a fear of failure as well as fear of being different, as their livelihood was on the line and the risk outweighs the potential reward. When it came to Scott, the same cycle repeats itself whereby everyone tries to convince him to be like the majority, especially Barry Fife whom was worried about the Federation losing profit as nobody knew how to dance Scott's new steps, and thus nobody can teach it except for him. 

2. Compliance

Compliance refers to "behavioral conformity by the target to the source’s requests or demands" (Delamater & Myers, 2011). When considering compliance, the fundamental concern is about producing a particular behavior from the target, irrespective of whether the target’s beliefs and attitudes change (Delamater & Myers, 2011). Barry Fife is a master of manipulation, and often uses his tricks to make others do what he wants. His first victim (as far as we know, anyway) was Doug, whose wife was tricked to partner up with another man causing him to miss his chance at the Pan Pacific Grand Prix. Next, he tried to convince Scott to give up his dance plans by making up stories about Doug and Shirley, guilt-tripping Scott to not pair up with Fran. Even though Scott showed unwillingness and struggled through his decisions, he still complied to Fife's wishes before the truth was revealed to him by Doug.

3. Obedience

At the mention of "obedience", the infamous Milgram's obedience experiment might have crossed most of our minds. Indeed, Strictly Ballroom used a similar mechanism in which Barry Fife, the prestigious figure of the Federation, often has his way by having others obey to his status. For instance, he arranged for Scott's dancing partner, planned the Grand Prix's winner, and have everyone agreed to not include any new steps in the coming competition.

Additionally, there are also a few extra points about the movie that I found interesting and would like to cover:

1. why the heavy makeup on certain characters?

While I understand that ballroom dancing may require one to stand out as much as possible, thus the heavy makeup and resplendent gowns, it suddenly occurs to me the director might have wanted to emphasize on the contrast between Liz's group of people and people like Fran and Scott, the former loud, confident, and just-like-the-others, while the latter different but comfortable in their own skin.

2. Fran's transformation

Pretty much sums up my thoughts

I personally don't agree with the common romance plots of the "ugly duckling transformation", seems as if the ultimate goal of all characters, man or woman, is to become physically attractive as that is something that comes with success. Fran may be becoming more and more confident in herself, thus the change in her appearance and style of dressing, but her initial shabby image compared to how she looked like in the end kind of left a sour taste in my mouth. Even though we know for a fact that attractive people might have an upper hand at life as they are generally perceived to be better people or have better abilities (Miller, 2014), what about individuals who are not physically attractive but also wants to achieve success?

Last but not least, a personal tribute to the last scene, where nobody gives a damn about rules on the ballroom floor and just danced together to their hearts' content. That might be what Baz Luhrmann was trying to tell the audience all along, that dancing is best experienced in fun and enjoyable times.

References:

Ciccarelli, S. K., & White, J. N. (2015). Psychology (4th ed.). England: Pearson Education Limited.

Delamater, J. D., & Myers, D. J. (2011). Social Psychology (7th ed.). USA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Miller, R. S. (2014). Intimate Relationships (7th ed.). NY: McGraw-Hill.

Myers, D. G. (2014). Social Psychology (11th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Eat Drink Man Woman (1994)

Admittedly, it took a lot of extra time figuring how to approach this blog entry as it wasn't as straightforward as the other movies we watched. "Eat Drink Man Woman" focused on four separate storylines which were kind of all over the place at first glance, but then everything came together in the end to present to the audience a simple yet heart-warming conclusion.

The movie starts with a scene of Master Chu preparing his weekly Sunday gathering dinner with his three daughters. The family dynamic and interaction seemed distant at first, as the second daughter, Jia-Chien, was shown to be at odds with both her father and her eldest sister. She was the rebellious child who wanted to get away from home, while the eldest Jia-Jen assumed the responsibility of taking care of their father at the expense of her own happiness. The contrast between both sisters, as well as the youngest Jia-Ning who was carefree and innocent (*spoiler* this was what I initially thought but now I beg to differ), reminded me of Alfred Adler's birth order theory, in which the order a child is born will have a profound and lasting effect on his or her psychological development.

According to Adler, first-borns are generally high-achieving, responsible, conservative, competitive, and organized (Gilmore, 2016). They also crave attention as it is seen as something taken away from them when they were no longer the only child. Meanwhile, the middle child is the one who often lacks a sense of belonging and will seek attention from friends instead of family members, while the youngest are often the most agreeable and are generally more open to new experiences (Gilmore, 2016). Jia-Jen demonstrated all traits of being an eldest child during the first part of the movie, as shown from her conservative dressing style as well as her intention of not getting married to stay with her father and take care of him; Jia-Chien did not feel belonged in her family mainly due to her father not recognizing her ability to become a chef, and sought comfort from a man who is committed to another woman; Jia-Ning on the other hand was the friendly and adventurous daughter who was not afraid of trying something new (quite literally).

An element from the movie that had me thinking was the fact that every character experienced a dramatic change as the story progress. Jia-Jen went from a reserved high school teacher to a fashionable woman who got married on a whim, and Jia-Ning got pregnant with a man whom she has only met for a few times, contrary to her initial image of the innocent youngest child. Jia-Chien's change was the most shocking as I never thought she would be the one to stay behind while everyone, including their father moved on with their lives. Speaking of their father, even though I personally kind of predicted something going on between him and his to-be wife when she confronted him about his packed lunch, until now I still couldn't fathom if the arrangement is simply for entertainment purpose, or to portray Master Chu's desire to finally live the way he wants to live instead of living for the sake of others (taking care of his daughters and the restaurant for example). This also shows that humans are not one-dimensional characters with a single set of personality as we change and adapt to things that happen around us.

Also, this is a movie about family. Even though most of the time it shows the three daughters living their separate lives, the scene in the end where Master Chu and Jia-Chien reconcile over their dinner table sends us a message that family is irreplaceable. This theme actually strings the whole story together, Master Chu, a typical Asian parent who lacks the ability to verbally communicate his love to his family, used a more subtle approach to gather his children every week by preparing large feasts for them to enjoy. He reminded me a lot of my own father who never spoke of love, but will always support his children with actions and effort an outsider will never bother to invest in.

Despite being a light-hearted and motivational (to some extent) movie, it has a lot of loose ends left untied. For instance, why did Jia-Jen lied about her having an ex-boyfriend when she actually didn't? and what happened to Jia-Ning's friend when she found out their relationship? The most unsettling question is what happened to Auntie Liang? Since Master Chu and Jin-Rong eventually got married, I will just have to assume she cut off family ties with her daughter, judging from her massive breakdown at their dinner gathering. But hey, what can I say, real life is sometimes even more unpredictable and unexplainable than this movie, so might as well just accept it as it is and not fuss over it too much.

References:
Gilmore, G. (2016). Understanding birth order: A within-family analysis of birth order effects. Undergraduate Journal of Humanistic Studies, 3, 3-8. Retrieved from https://apps.carleton.edu/ujhs/assets/gracegilmore_birthorder.pdf