Growing Into Life

Garden State, which is directed by Zach Braff, is the story of Andrew Largeman, a twenty-something guy who has been heavily medicated for the greater part of his life who has to return to his hometown to deal with the recent death of his paraplegic mother. Garden State is one of my favorite movies because it deals with many different themes including death, family dynamics, and relationship issues. This movie was released in a limited capacity in 2004, but has gained quite the following since its release on DVD.  The story is relatable to many people who have problems with their family or with relationships.

                One of the big issues in this film is the fact that our main character, Andrew Largeman, is halting the use of his medication for depression while returning home for his mother’s funeral. Andrew was prescribed this medication when he was still a child because it was thought that he was the cause for his mother’s paralysis from the waist down. Andrew was put on the medication by his father to stabilize his mood and then sent away to a boarding school. Andrew continued to use this medication into his adult life until the point his mother died. Once he stops taking all of his medication, he starts to breaking away from his shell of a life and actually starts living. He meets a girl named Samantha, who is played by the wonderful Natalie Portman, who causes him to start doing things he has never really done before. Andrew had been so numb from all of the medications that he had never really had a chance to deal with all of these emotions that had been conjuring inside of him. In a very moving scene near the end of the movie, he has a talk with his father about the death of his mother and how he feels about the whole situation. Andrew gets to let out all of the emotions he never got to let out when his mother had first been injured. This is a very cathartic experience for Andrew and it allows him to move on to a productive life that he had been denying himself before. One thing the audience can take away from this plot point in the movie is the fact that you should not bottle up your emotions. It is important to communicate with others about the issues that weigh on your soul. You cannot medicate your problems away because they will always end up surfacing at some point down the road and it might be at a time you are not prepared to deal with the issue. Communication is the key to this movie because Andrew could not make a better life for himself until he had talked things out with his father and received closure. This is just one of many instances that communication is used as a tool of empowerment in this movie. Communication can help heal things within yourself as well as start new journeys with other people.

                At the beginning of the movie, Andrew Largeman is a single man basically sleepwalking through his dismal life in California. While at home in New Jersey, Andrew goes to see a specialist about his headaches and going off his medication, at which point he meets Samantha in the waiting room. Samantha is a loveable girl who has a penchant for lying, but is good willed. Andrew and Samantha start forming a wonderful friendship and relationship. Samantha is the person that Andrew first confides his deepest and most secret thoughts to. Andrew is finally himself for the first time in his adult life and he has a person that he can share that experience with. Samantha allows him to blossom into a normal person by just giving him someone he connect with and feel comfortable around. Andrew has never had this in his life because he has always just been in a zombie state due to his medication. This aspect of the movie is another thing the audience can use as equipment for living. It is not only important to have the capacity to communicate with others as discussed above. It is important to have someone in your life with which you are comfortable talking about your personal problems. You cannot be sure exactly how much weight you are carrying around with you until you share what you are carrying around with another person. You could be surprised at how much lighter you feel after knowing that someone else is aware of what you are going through and is willing to help you through it.

                At the end of the movie, Andrew is about to board a plane to head back home where he can straighten up his life and prepare for a new life with Samantha. He needs to put his relationship with Samantha on hold where he can everything in his life together. He thinks it would not be fair to get into anything too serious with her when he is still so screwed up. Samantha starts objecting to this idea because she does not want Andrew to leave. She believes that any changes that need to be made, they can handle together. Andrew believes he is doing the right thing so he boards the plane. While on the plane, he come the realization that Samantha is right and he does not want to spend another moment of his living in his numb world. He wants to experience every moment from that point on with this amazing lady that has changed his life in dramatic fashion. Andrew and Samantha have a touching reunion with the movie leaving their fate up to interpretation. Viewers could watch this and realize that if they have a significant other, they should make sure both of their views are taken into consideration. A relationship can only last if the couple can communicate effectively.

                Garden State changed my life the first time I watched it and it still never fails to inspire me in some way.  Zach Braff wrote and directed a movie that shows the importance of communication within the context of a family as well as a relationship. You can watch this movie to learn how to apply some of these things to your own life, or you can watch it just because it is a wonderful movie. 

Convenient Persuasion

In the Al Gore documentary An Inconvenient Truth, which is directed by Davis Guggenheim, the fear of global warming is drilled into the mind of the viewers. Al Gore was in line to become the next President of the United States of America, but ended up losing it in a complicated voting controversy. This man was well liked and respected by many and he put out a film at a point in history where people all over, but Americans in particular, were uneasy about their futures. This filmed capitalized on that fear and grew into a phenomenon that is still referenced often in our culture today as a strong point on the side of people warning everyone about the impending disasters due to global warming.

Mr. Gore uses his status as a celebrity in his own right to bring attention to an issue that he believes needs to be taken very seriously. This film would not work nearly or become as successful as it has been if Al Gore was not the one presenting this information. These facts and slides could have easily been delivered by any number of scientists in the scientific community. The reason people pay attention to this issue in this movie is because the information is being delivered by someone they are familiar with and has a strong likeability factor even if you do not always agree with his position on certain policies. People do not want hear a nearly two-hour presentation on global warming and the issues that could come about from it. People want to hear a former presidential candidate as charming as this one talk about something in a passionate manner. It is very interesting to see the types of things you can get people to pay attention to just because a celebrity is involved. That is a very important lesson to take away from this film. When you are at home and you are flipping through your television channels, try stopping on something on one of the educational channels and ask yourself if you would watch that program if George Clooney was presenting it to you. You could also apply this type of thought to any business you decide to go into. If you are trying to market a product, know what your audience wants to see in order more expertly market to them. An Inconvenient Truth was just an expertly marketed film that gave the audience something to hook their interests.

This film masterfully plays on all of the fears that people have today. Everyone knows that the weather has been off for some years and whether that is due to human beings mucking up the planet with their industrialization or if it just a natural part of the Earth’s pattern of development is still hotly debated. When Al Gore is delivering his message to the audience, he uses many different effect methods to conjure up fear. Gore likes to show slides of what places looked like in the past and then a slide of how “global warming” has completely destroyed the former majesty of that same area. Gore makes light of any argument against his own argument and chooses to use a fear based plan of attack to scare people into believing his presentation. Since Gore was nearly the next President of the United States, he is trusted by most people and is well trained in the art of public speaking. He uses that training in public speaking to weave his words together in such a way the audience doesn’t even realize they are being swayed to his until they are already firmly there. He knows how to deliver a speech so he does not make the mistake of pushing his point too hard. He gives the illusion that he is just laying out the scientific facts and it is your choice whether or not you do anything about the issue. After hearing his presentation, though, you feel almost stupid if you do anything but agree with his points because they were so clearly explained in a very compelling manner. Gore knows that most people don’t have many facts about the very complicated issue of Global warming. He uses this lack of knowledge as a way to gain the upper hand on the issue. This is just like what is explained in Social Judgment Theory. When you are trying to persuade someone on a certain issue, you focus on the people who do not already have a firm stance on the opposing side of the issue. It is much easier to persuade someone to your side when they do not have a side to begin with. That is pretty much the position Al Gore is in with this movie. Most people did not really have an opinion of global warming prior to this movie so the minds of the audience were just waiting to be molded by this celebrity figure. That’s not to say that everyone who watched this movie bought into this view. It is just easy to see how people could be easily swayed when they do not have anything else to which they can really compare. If there is anything you could learn from this that could help you in life, it would be the art of persuasion. If you would like to persuade a person, it is best if you go about the persuasion in a gradual manner which allows you to win over the person a little bit at a time. Also, it is very fortunate if the person you are trying to persuade does not already have an established stance on the subject they are being approached about. Davis Guggenheim and Al Gore have a specific audience in mind that they hope to convince to believe in this issue.

An Inconvenient Truth uses many tactics to persuade the viewers to look at the issue from the side of global warming believers. Al Gore uses his expert communication skills to frighten the audience and persuade them to believe in everything he is preaching to them. You could look at the tactics in this movie and perhaps avoid being persuaded like this or even utilize them for your own needs.

The Art of Relationships

The film (500) Days of Summer, which is directed by Marc Webb, is the story of boy meets girl. The story is twisted from Hollywood convention, though, when the narrator tells the audience at the beginning that the boy and girl will not live happily ever after. Instead of being a grand love story, this movie is a story about love for a period of time in the lives of our characters.

Tom is our leading man who has grand aspirations when it comes to the concept of love and being in love. Summer is our leading lady who does not believe in love or being in love. Despite this inherent obstacle, these two characters begin a relationship after a series of encounters at work. The movie chronicles their relationship in a nonlinear fashion showing points of the beginning and the end of the relationship to give the audience a peak at what made this couple work at first and subsequently end.

This movie is full of issues relating to relational dialects and relationship issues. The audience can gain equipment for living from this film by exploring how this relationship is portrayed. Summer makes it clear from her first interaction with Tom outside of work that she is the type of person who doesn’t believe in true love. Tom cannot believe that Summer is serious and chooses to believe that she will change her mind in the long run. Tom and Summer enter into a relationship where Tom is certain that things will lead to the type of fantasy love that he has dreamed about his whole life. This leads to issues including integration and separation. Tom’s ideas threaten Summer’s sense of independence from the relationship. Summer just wants the type of relationship where she can have fun with Tom and go out and do things with him without the notion that it will lead to anything too serious. The relationship is doomed to fail because Tom and Summer have conflicting ideas concerning relationships. Tom thinks that Summer will eventually choose to give up some of her independence and settle down with him like he has always dreamed his life would go. Since Summer is set in her convictions, Tom loses “me-we tug of war” which hurts the relationship in the long run. Audiences can look at this film and take away many things about the construct of relationships. It is clearly show that the two people that are entering into a relationship must not be on completely opposite pages in regard to what they want out of the relationship. Also, it would be a grave mistake to think that a person can change another person’s mind about an important life decision. People cannot begin relationships under the assumption that they are going to get more out of the person than what they agree upon at the beginning.

Another issued addressed in the film is the relational dialect issue of stability and change. It is believed that stability is strived for in a relationship. At the same time, variety is needed in the relationship to keep things from getting bland and too predictable. In the case of the movie, Summer is mostly in the relationship for the crazy, spontaneous things she can do with Tom. She has no aspirations to start living in any kind of relationship that gets to stable and long term. Tom, on the other hand, enjoys the unpredictable things that he and Summer do when they are out, but mostly wants to have that dream love that he had ingrained in him ever since he was young. The spontaneous parts of Tom and Summer’s relationship are the part of the relationship that worked the best. Summer was getting what she wanted out of it and Tom was having fun around a girl he thought he would end up with for the rest of his life. As the film plays out, it is shown that a relationship cannot survive on crazy adventures alone. Sometime in relationship there is going to come a point where the couple must decide to part ways or settle down together. At least, that is the belief in the modern world. Audiences can see from this movie that spontaneity and stability have to exist hand in hand for a serious relationship to work out in the long run. Relationships need to have moments of reckless abandon to keep things exciting and interesting. You do not want to get bored with this person you are deciding to spend your time with for the time being. Letting loose can be one of the key points in the reason for the longevity of relationships. Also a thing that has to be considered to go along with this is stability. It is all well and good to have fun adventures, but stability has to be attained if a relationship is going to get serious. If all you want to do is have a little fun, you can most certainly just rely on having crazy nights with your partner. There must be a discussion amongst partners to make sure that is what both people want out the relationship. You do not want to end up like Tom trying to change Summer to believe in what he believes. Stability can gives two people in a relationship a sense of comfort that can lead to a more satisfying and rewarding relationship. All of this just depends on what is desired from the relationship.

(500) Days of Summer shows many interesting issues regarding relationships and how people react when they are in relationships. The subject of relational dialects can be discussed at great lengths when approaching this movie. Tom and Summer have fun in their relationship, but in the end they are not what they needed for one another at the time in their lives when they were together. Relationships must be examined carefully and not rushed into if you are planning on having something serious.