Whale Rider - Of Pride and Prejudice

In every generation, there arises the quintessential chief of the Maori people. A male first-born child who is said to claim its descent from Paikea, the whale rider who was originally from Hawaii. This is the pretence upon which Witi Ihimaera builds his novel around, upon which this film is based.

The film starts itself off with feelings of death. Death of a mother and child, death of a relationship between father and son, death of a male lineage. It is here that a little girl named Paikea emerges from the sorrow surrounding the family, and from here on little Pai does everything within her power in order to be part of her tribe and accepted by her grandfather.

The entire film revolves itself around the relationship between Koro and Pai, this grandfather and grand-daughter duo seem to have a close affiliation with one another in the beginning of the movie, but as it progress we see that Koro has not lost his yearning for a strong male to follow in his footsteps, and soon begins the quest to find a suitable heir amongst the young boys in the Maori village.

But at each trial, it appears that the only one to prevail is little Pai. She can fight, recite the chants of her people, and was able to claim back the tooth of a whale that none of the other boys had managed to do before.

And yet with these triumphs, the only one unable to see Pai's potential is Koro himself, he still trusts that a first-born male would succeed himself in becoming the next chief of the Maori people. And it isn't until the beach is littered with the bodies of humpback whales who seem to want to die along the coast, and he sees Paikea riding a whale like the Paikea of legend, that Koro changes his mind about little Pai becoming the next leader of his people.

Patriarchy 

A social structure where males are considered to have dominion over females, has stemmed its way from evolutionary psychology (Walby, 1990). In patriarchies, males are considered to have a monopoly on power while females are expected to submit to the same power.

While this may have made more logical sense in the days of our cave-dwelling ancestors where brawn superseded any other skills we may have had during that time, this is hardly the case in our current century. This is the foundation on which Social Darwinism theory is based off of. Dickens (2000) expounded rather boldly on the topic saying that, the biological differences in both sexes are what has contributed to the differences in how society treats either gender, and although many disagree to it, the treatment of males and females has been designed to have males come out as the superior gender.

Today most of the world has given females the same human rights as males, the right to education, to drive, to enter a male-dominated vocation, and to vote. But one thing seems to have remained constant since the time of cavemen to today, is that males make better leaders than their female counterparts. No evidence has yet to prove if leadership qualities are based on a biological pre-disposition, and it is only lately that we are understanding the role of the matriarch in the family is as vital than that of the patriarch. 

In the film, it is almost shameful to see how the other members of the Maori tribe blindly follow their leader without any thought of why it is compulsory for their leader to be male. They allow Koro to act in the manner that he does and no one stands up to question the legitimacy of their leader or his decisions. It is for that reason that I had really enjoyed the character of Nanny Flowers; wife to Koro and grandmother to Pai, she seems to not only hold her own during the course of the film, but to also aid her family in pushing the boundaries of their backward ways.

It is no surprise that after years of blindly agreeing to follow male leaders simply on the fact that they were born as males, many theories have come to disprove patriarchy and social darwinism for a more egalitarian view of the sexes. Bloodworth (1990) had done just that in her debunking of patriarchism for the idealism of feminine authority. Her work stated that society needed to not just work on the idea of equal opportunities, but also a change of mindset of females being considered somehow inferior to males due to nothing more than biology. In as much as society is progressing to not consider race or religion as measures in determining one's merit, so must we do the same when taking gender into consideration.

That is not to say that females are entitled to have anything more than a male would, females should have to prove their worth at being as good as or even better than males at any particular field. Paikea never thought that she was entitled to become the chief simply because she was born into a particular family, in fact she made she that she worked harder and succeeded in whatever tasks she was made to accomplish. She never saw herself as anything of less worth simply because she was born female instead of male, she only saw that being chief meant looking out for the welfare of her people and took joy in keeping the customs and traditions of her tribe.

References:

Bloodworth, S. (1990). The poverty of patriarchy theory. Socialist Review, 2, 5-33.

Dickens, P. (2000). Social Darwinism: Linking evolutionary thought to social theory. Open University Press.

Walby, S. (1990). Theorizing patriarchy.

Forget Paris - A Realistic Charm

Only a few movies have the magical ability of making a well-known city as a character as opposed to being a setting. In this Billy Crystal film, Paris is shown as not only a romantic destination, however it is portrayed as a fantasy world that everyone yearns for and has a struggle getting out of. This movie strikes a chord not only with people involved in a romantic relationship, however it connects with everyone who has a fantasy of their own bliss and happiness and reminds them that it is not going to be excitement and fun all along. 

This movie also had a realistic attempt at portraying an adult relationship with lots of humour in it’s narrative. It didn’t feel like a romance that was tragic even though Mickey and Ellen’s relationship did go through natural ups and downs, mainly due to the brilliant story telling technique of Billy Crystal. There are many romance films out there that just kind of depresses the audience at the end of it, this movie smartly doesn’t do it.

Mickey and Ellen were a classic example of how people find love in a magical land and realise later on that the initial sparks do not sustain a relationship but commitment does. They navigated their relationship by making sacrifices along the way, only to realise that they are losing themselves and their passion.

 

It is easy to see how Sternberg's (1986) Triangular Theory of Love is connected to this motion picture with each segment of Intimacy, Passion, and Commitment playing a role in the relationship of Mickey and Ellen.

In the beginning of their relationship, Passionate love seemed to be the main component of their relationship. An excitement and newness that is commonly associated with butterflies fluttering in your belly and a sexual desire for one another. Mickey and Ellen were practically joined at the hip during their initial courtship but this form of love seemed to fade once the newness had morphed into familiarity and ungratefulness. This is commonly associated with partners who engage in Romantic Love defined with a deficiency of commitment and a short lifespan to whomever partakes in it. What partners in a relationship should strive for is Consummate Love which contains all three aspects including, intimacy, passion and commitment as the ideal standard to which a relationship should adhere to. Not easily attained, but worth the effort in order to achieve a lasting and fulfilling relationship.

More recently, Parker (2001) had applied his theory of marriage into a longitudinal study to showcase what items were most commonly attributed to a fulfilled and successful heterosexual marriage, meaning to imply that those intending to marry should adopt these values in order to consider themselves as happy and fulfilled in their marriage. 

Parker (2001) went on to state that marriage was hardly a bed of roses as most of us are led to believe, instead he used the analogy of a diamond who had to endure oppression, stress, and all with no relief. But in the end its the diamond and not the coal that ends up being beautiful and precious to all who behold it. 

In the same manner, Mickey and Ellen's relationship is all the more beautiful for having gone through the struggles and in the end still choosing to love one another despite everything.

Watching this movie also made me relate it to the Investment Model found by Caryl Rusbult (1998). Commitment can be sustained if the investment grows. Which means the reward in a relationship must be much more than the cost and attractive alternative.

Commitment = Investment + (Rewards - Costs) - Attractive Alternatives

In this movie Ellen portrayed this theory very much. She and her ex-husband were separated for a while and she couldn't make up her mind on whether she wants to divorce him or not because there were no attractive alternatives available but there is a lot of cost which lead to the separation. Things changed when she met Mickey (attractive alternative) she made up her mind and got married to him. It was easier for her to break the dilemma when she had a better option waiting for her. Same goes when she was separated from Mickey because of the increase in the cost but she got together as she realise the cost gets higher with separation (they were more devastated and miserable) and the attractive alternative (going back to Paris) was worthless. So she decides to get back together with him.

References:

Rusbult, C. (1998). The Investment Model Scale. Personal Relationships. Retrieved from http://carylrusbult.com/documents/60_RusbultMartzAgnew1998_PersonalRelationships.pdf

Parker, R. (2001). Why marriages last. Family Matters, 60(28), 30. Retrieved from https://aifs.gov.au/publications/why-marriages-last/export

Sternberg, R. J. (1986). A triangular theory of love. Psychological review, 93(2), 119.

Awakenings – A Miracle of Science & Hope

There are not that many films to date where it provokes emotion from its audience irrespective of the number of times a person has seen it. I for one have watched this film once before and was quite surprised to find myself feeling strongly emotive in as much so as the first time I had seen the film years before.

Awakenings had reminded me of another of Robin Williams films, that being the remarkable story of Patch Adams. A tale of how rigid the medical profession can be and how clinically they treat those under their care. I was also reminded of a novel I had read not so long ago, Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keys, who shares a similar plot line of that in Awakenings but from the viewpoint of the patient and not the doctor as done in this film.

The film Awakenings, is one that I believe transcends time, in order to relate a change in the perspective of its audiences to look at the manner in which we live life and to question why we do the things that we do.

In the film, Dr. Sayer; played by Robin Williams, was very much passionate in creating a change in the lives of the catatonic patients under his care. He would do just about anything in order accomplish this and in the end his wish was fulfilled.  

However as the film progresses and patients had recovered their wakefulness that they had lost for many years, the patients wished for more than could be supplied by the caretakers at the hospital they resided in.

Huitt (2004) had expanded on this using Maslow's infamous hierarchy of needs which states the list of needs any human needs to obtain during the course of his life, ranging from the physical needs to self-actualisation. The patients who had previously been so dependent on the care of the hospital workers and whatever family they had left, were now moving past the needs of their physical body and were instead attempting to fulfil the other needs that they had never before felt the need to fulfil. The need to be independent, to form relationships, to learn, and to love.

Similarly Alligood and May's (2000) study on the nursing theory of personal symptom of empathy, had highlighted another perspective changing theme in the film, that of caretakers not being able to see their patients as anything more than whom they care for, unable to see them as people.

To anyone who has ever had the opportunity to be a caretaker, having the ability to distinguish between taking care of a patient's physiological needs while still treating them as people worthy of respect and dignity, is not one that is easily attained. This commonly results in frustration and the intense need for independence of the patient, and yet we are unable to see this patient as anything more than the sum of their illness.

This film also calls into question certain things that we in the psychological community might not have otherwise contemplated. 

The conundrum of, should we change the way things are simply because we have the means to do so?

And are we ready to deal with the repercussions of them?

If there was a single thing I would take away from this film to be adopted into my own life, it would be the changed perspective I now have over the concept of liberty and independence, things we so freely take for granted.

It is so easy to complain and live within the realm of our weaknesses, but we should not neglect the fact that there is always a silver lining to any dark cloud, should we only take the time to find it.

References:

Huitt, W. (2004). Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Educational psychology interactive. Retrieved from http://tabacco.t-a-b-a-c-c-o.org/?p=2314

Alligood, M. R., & May, B. A. (2000). A nursing theory of personal system empathy: Interpreting a conceptualization of empathy in King’s interacting systems. Nursing Science Quarterly, 13(3), 243-247.

Cinema Paradiso – A Tale of Time and Passion

As per Stephen Covey’s words, I would like to begin with the end in mind. Throughout the 155 minutes of the film, the single most affective and defining moment personally for me was when Cinema Paradiso came crashing down to make way for a parking lot. That moment symbolised the end of an era for the protagonist. The glorious childhood that was spent in a world of camaraderie and a land of fantasy that manifests itself within moving pictures. This hit me straight in the heart as it was a fine thread that played on the emotion that was nostalgia. The inducement of this emotion can be witnessed throughout the film. As I watched the film, bits and pieces of my own memories growing up as a child flashed in my head and that helped me connect to the movie even better. It also reminded me of scenes from a TV show and a film that showed the significance of closure.

                Underneath the background music of Ennio Morricone and the beautiful town of Sicily, the simple story of a boy who navigated childhood with a friend he found in an older man was told with humour, love and the beauty of time. The lead character, Salvatore or affectionately known as Toto by his friend Alfredo, lead almost 20 years of his life vicariously through the silver screen. He learned about heroism, love, comedy and empathy from the movies that he watched as well as the human interactions that he had in the cinema. As a psychology student, I could see that he Toto did not really grow up until after he had a failed attempt in a romantic relationship and participating in compulsory military service. This sort of build a sense of identity in him so that he could discover his meaning and destiny in life with the unique mentorship of Alfredo.

Erik Erikson’s Psychosocial Stages of Development

                Based on the film, I observed that Toto went through two stages in Erikson’s stages of development theory. Those stages were Identity vs Role Confusion and Intimacy vs Isolation. I would estimate that the adolescent Toto was about 18 years old and these two stages were pertinent to his development at that point of time. They also had an impact on his life as we witness the older Toto from the very beginning of the film to the ending scenes.

Identity vs Role Confusion

                This is one of the most crucial development period in a person’s life. This is when an individual actively seeks out their purpose in life and builds their identity within society (Erikson, 1968). A failure when figuring out one’s identity may result in role confusion. Toto took the advice from Alfredo to never return to Giancaldo or contact anyone and told him to be focused on his goal. Toto wanted to be a film maker and pursued it wholeheartedly. He became a successful director and was a revered and respected member of the society. This can be observed in the conversation that takes place during Alfredo’s funeral procession between Toto and Ciccio, the second owner of Cinema Paradiso who invests his lottery winnings after the fire accident. He addresses Toto by his real name with respect than calling him Toto simply because he was somebody right now. However, humble Toto asks to be called by his nickname like back then.

 Intimacy vs Isolation

                As social beings, we seek intimacy with people besides our family members for long term commitments. This search for a life companion happens to everyone at the young adult stage. The failure of this stage will result in avoiding intimacy and also fearing commitment as well as relationships (McCrae & Costa, 1997). This evident with Toto, as we look into the conversation he has with his mother towards the ending of the film.

                It is obvious in the video clip that he is still not over with his first love, Elena, as he reminisces about her while watching the projection. His mother points it out very clearly that he doesn’t have anyone who loves him in his life. His relationships never lasted and they were quick fixes. This displays the effect of his failure in achieving an intimate relationship which brought him to isolation. The director also cleverly uses Toto’s huge apartment to show not only his success or wealth, however, it is also used to symbolize the loneliness that he feels.

                There were various instances of psychological concepts that were portrayed in the film. The scenes in the cinema hall was a story by itself. It portrayed the behaviour of audience members in a cinema within the post-World War II era. Prejudice was shown when one man in the cinema constantly spits at the people who were seated below the balcony. Racism was planted in young children’s minds by parents. Acceptance towards a member of the society who was mentally ill. Marlboro cigarettes being sold in the cinema during a John Wayne film, which reflects on brand association and a smart pop culture reference.

                Some of the interesting scenarios in the film were a mother nursing a baby in a public place which did not seem to be an issue for people of that era. A couple who fell in love while watching a horror movie. Another couple engaging in sexual intercourse. Teenage boys masturbating to an arousing scene from a movie. A man who finds the cinema as a perfect place to sleep. A teacher who gives a very harsh punishment to a student who could not remember the time table.

                The cinematic experience of watching this film was unique to myself. I have never watched an arthouse film let alone a European one ever in my life. As the film progressed, although I felt the pace could have been slightly faster, I actually realised that the slow narration served its purpose of inducing nostalgia. As I watched other people in the hall who were watching the film, I could not help but feel connected to them and a sense of warmth spread in me knowing that everyone is experiencing this film for the first time and they connect to it. From hearing the uproar of laughter to hushed sobbing and tears trickling down their faces, I felt at peace that we were still able to empathise with fictional characters.

                I found the whole experience to be novel because it is so rare for anyone to reflect while watching a movie and be aware of things that take place in a cinema. This movie in particular raised a sense of curiosity within myself because of the setting of the film. It simply made me wanted to look at others and observe how they reacted to such a film, and this made me smile more than once.

                Overall, this was not only a film that had a passionate story, it also connected with the audience with its simplicity and proved that human emotions despite barriers of time or language, is ultimately universal. Cinema Paradiso was indeed a cinematic paradise.

Interesting stuff to watch:

In the Director's Cut, Toto actually meets his first love Elena when he returns to Giancaldo. Check out the clip if you want to see more :)

   

References: 

Erikson, E. H. (1968). Identity: Youth and crisis. New York: Norton.

McCrae, R. R., & Costa Jr, P. T. (1997). Personality trait structure as a human universal. American Psychologist, 52(5), 509.