Chariots of Fire (1981)

Personal Movie Rating: 70%

Here is my thought on the movie "Chariots of Fire" (1981):

*WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT*

The film "Chariots of Fire" tells the story of two athletes, Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross) and Eric Liddell (Ian Charrleson), in the 1924 Olympic. In the film, Abrahams was a Jew experiencing anti-Semitism from the staff in the University of Cambridge where he studied in. He had an extreme passion in running, and he wanted to achieve victories in numerous running competitions. Abrahams ran because  he wanted to prove to the people that even though he was born a Jew, he was as good if not better than other English men. Abrahams wanted to use his achievement in running to 

break down the English men's bias and prejudice towards the Jews. On the other hand, Liddell was a devoted Christian born in Scotland, who wanted to work as a missionary in China. Even though Liddell's sister, Jennie Liddell (Cheryl Campbell), disagreed with Liddell's idea to become an international runner, Liddell decided to go ahead anyway as he saw it as a chance and opportunity  to glorify God before he became a missionary in China.

Both Abrahams and Liddell were motivated to run in different ways. As a Jew, Abrahams was treated in an unfair manner as compared to other English men. The bias and prejudice he received all this while motivated him to win a gold medal in the Olympic. In order to achieve his target, Abrahams stopped contacting his girlfriend, Sybil Gordon (Alice Krige),  so that he could focus solely on his training. This indicates that Abraham's high motivation led to his strong control over his own behaviors. Also, Abrahams didn't receive any support from the University of Cambridge officials as they show disapproval towards Abrahams's decision to hire an external coach, Sam Mussabini (Ian Holm), to train him. The officials thought that the decision to hire an external coach would taint the reputation of the university. Regardless, Abrahams was able to succeed without the support of his university's officials as he was highly motivated to reach his goal. 

Liddell, on the other hand, was motivated to run not only for himself but also for God. He believed that winning running competitions was a way to honour God. Liddell's love and devotion for God motivated him to put in a huge amount of effort and time in the field. He also quit his rubgy team so that he could focus on his training as an international runner. Even though Liddell wanted to win a gold medal in the Olympic, he didn't forget that the reason why he ran was to glorify God. As such, Liddell refused to run when he realized that the heat for his 100-metre race was held on Sunday. He refused to run as his Christian convictions didn't allow running on the Sabbath. Instead, Liddell chose to switch place with another runner in the 400-metre hurdles that didn't take place on a Sunday. In the end, Liddell won a gold medal in the race. Not only that, his religious convictions made headlines around the world as well. This indicates that one is capable of reaching his/her goals as long as he/she stay motivated all the time.

In a nutshell, the film shows how two people from different backgrounds can be motivated in different ways to work their way to the top. The take-home message of this film is that we must always search for the key motivation that drives us to reach our goals and achieve success in life.

Schindler's List (1993)

Personal Movie Rating: 92%

Here is my thought on the movie "Schindler's List" (1993):

*WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT*

The film tells the story of a German businessman, Oskar Schindler (Liam Neeson), in the World War II era. In the beginning of the film, Schindler moved to Poland so start up his own business. In order to make sure everything runs smooth, Schindler socialize and made friends with some important personnel in the Nazi party. Schindler's connection with the Nazi party grew stronger over time, and that gave him the opportunity and advantage to employ Jewish people as low-wage workers in his factory. However, after witnessing the suffering of the Jewish people caused by the Nazi party, Schindler began to develop compassion towards the Jewish people. He spent all his money to bribe the officers in the Nazi party, so that he could use the excuse of hiring the Jewish people as factory workers in order to save them from the concentration camp. He continued to protect the Jewish people until the war ended. The Jewish people expressed their gratitude towards Schindler by giving him a signed statement attesting to his role saving Jewish lives. The final scene of the film depicts the Jewish people saved by Schindler, also known as the Schindler Jews, showing their gratitude towards Schindler by paying tribute at his grave in Jerusalem.

One of the themes of the film is evilness. The Nazi army were extremely brutal and cruel while treating the Jewish people. In the film, the Nazi army gathered the Jewish people in the Krakow Ghetto while waiting for the completion of the Plaszow concentration camp's construction. Once the camp was completed, a Nazi lieutenant, Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes), gave the order to liquidate the Krakow Ghetto. Many Jewish people were killed during the process.  The remaining Jewish survivors were then moved to the concentration camp. The Jewish people were treated badly in the concentration camp. The Nazi army forced all the Jewish people to strip for a naked medical checkup in broad daylight. The Jewish people were treated as if they were animals ready to get slaughtered. In addition, Goeth brutally mistreated his Jewish maid and randomly shot down Jewish people from the balcony of his house. To sum it up, Goeth and his troops kept the prisoners living in constant fear for their lives.

The question here is why did the Nazi army did the aforementioned evil things in the film? Milgram's study found that most participants in the study followed the instructions of the experimenter to induce electric shock. This indicates that most people follow directions or command of authority figures out of obedience. Hence, there is a possibility that the Nazi army were merely following instructions of their superiors to carry out all those inhumane treatment of the Jewish people. In addition, the Stanford prison experiment showed that the participants who were assigned the role of the "guards" became more sadistic and cruel over time. As time passed by, the treatment of the "guards" towards the "prisoners" became even worse. This indicates that sometimes people might get too immersed in certain roles. Therefore, it is possible that the Nazi army's evil acts were merely due to their over commitment towards their jobs.

To sum it up, it remains unsure what is the actual reason that explains why the Nazi army did all those terrible things to the Jewish people. Even if the Nazi army did all those things simply for the pleasure of it, no one can actually say that what they did were evil. Good and evil are extremely subjective individual constructs, and they have had different definition throughout history. Good and evil are merely constructs created by ideological shifts.

Sybil (1976)

Personal Movie Rating: 62%

Here is my thought on the movie "Sybil" (1976):

*WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT*

The film "Sybil" tells the story of Sybil Dorsett (Sally Field), a girl who suffered from dissociative identity disorder (DID) that was deeply rotted from her childhood abuse. In the film, Sybil had 16 different personalities, which include that of a baby, teenage girls, young boys and so on. Each of these personalities were different from each other, and yet, they shared certain personality characteristics that were similar with that of the main personality, Sybil. Dr. Cornelia Wilbur (Joanne Woodward), a psychiatrist, helped Sybil understand more about her illness, and helped her to figure out the source of her DID, which was caused by her childhood abuse. Through hypnosis by Dr. Wilbur, Sybil finally met her other personalities and learnt how to embrace them. Soon, Sybil recovered her memories and went on to live a full and happy life. 

In the film, Dr. Wilbur took the psychodynamic approach in handling Sybil's case. She believed that the cause of Sybil's DID was deeply rooted in something that had occurred when she was a child. Dr. Wilbur tried to integrate all Sybil's fragmented personalities into one person by bringing her repressed memories to consciousness through hypnosis. It was possible that Sybil repressed some of her memories or experiences during her childhood as they were too stressful or painful for Sybil to cope with. Also, more than half of the DID patients were abused when they were young. Hence, based on the psychodynamic theory and recent records, it was justifiable for Dr. Wilbur to use hypnosis as the main treatment for Sybil.

However, hypnosis may not be the best solution to Sybil's problems, as it might influence the outcome validity if not used properly. When a person is in a hypnotic state, he or she may be influenced by the psychiatrist's leading questions, which might distort his or her actual memory. In the film, Dr. Wilbur kept asking Sybil and her other personalities about their childhood memories. In particular, Dr. Wilbur kept asking about what Sybil and her other personalities remember about their mother, as she assumed that Sybil's DID might be caused by her abusive mother. Dr. Wilbur's insistence on Sybil's childhood memories may have caused her to miss out on other possible factors or causes that precipitated Sybil's DID.

Even though the film was based on a true story, the technique used by Dr. Wilbur in Sybil's diagnosis may be flawed. Future therapists should be more cautious when using hypnosis on DID patients.

The Sixth Sense (1999)

Personal Movie Rating: 84%

Here is my thought after watching the movie "The Sixth Sense" (1999):

*WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT*

People Enjoy Horror/Thriller Films for Several Reasons

The film "The Sixth Sense" tells the story of a child psychologist, Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis) and his patient, Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment). After spending some time together, Cole told Malcolm his secret, which was that he saw dead people walking around like the living ones as they were unaware of their deaths. Malcolm thought that Cole was delusional and considered about dropping him. However, he soon realized that Cole might be telling the truth after remembering a patient in the past who might have had the same ability as Cole. Malcolm suggested to Cole that he should try to talk to the ghosts and listen to them. After some hesitation Cole decided to give it a try. He helped a ghost to deliver a videotape to her father, The tape revealed that the ghost was poisoned and killed by her mother. What Cole did has prevented the mother from doing the same thing to the ghost's sister. Since then Cole learned how to live with the ghosts he saw. After learning that Cole no longer needed his help, Malcolm decided to return home and reconcile with his wife, Anna (Olivia Williams). When Malcolm was talking to the sleeping Anna, she dropped Malcolm's wedding ring, which he suddenly realized that he hasn't been wearing. Malcolm remembered the ghost stories told by Cole, and he realized that he was actually dead the entire time he was working with Cole. After telling Anna that he loved her, Malcolm was finally done with his unfinished business and free to leave the world of the living.

There are many horror/thriller films aside from "The Sixth Sense". People enjoy these films for several reasons. One of the reasons is that the stronger the negative emotions experienced by a person while watching horror films, the higher the likelihood that he or she will enjoy the film genre. According to the carthasis theory, horror films provides pleasure by offering emotional release and temporary escape from the actual world full of work problems, financial problems, relationship problems and so on. In other words, horror films provide a safe channel for some people to express their negative emotions. For instance, some people might scream or jump while watching certain scenes of horror films. In addition, another reason why people tend to enjoy horror films is because of the predictability of story lines. In horror films, there are a lot of predictable cliches such as the non-White character always die, inept authorities, the girl who has sex with a guy always wind up dead and so on. There is also no question about who the bad guy is as well. Hence horror films appeal to people who like control as they can predict how the films progress. Furthermore, people enjoy horror/thriller films because they teach people how to manage terror. While watching horror films, people learn to suppress their feelings, fake their calmness, or cling on to others to seek for protections. These are ways to cope and adapt to one aspect of life, which are skills that may be useful in the actual life in the future. 

I am a big time horror/thriller films fan. I always enjoy watching horror/thriller films in the cinema because the screams and reactions from the audiences always make me feel better (*evil smile* hehehe). Hence, I hope Dr. Goh will show more scary/gory/creepy films in future classes. 

Whale Rider (2002)

Personal Movie Rating: 60%

Here is my thought on the movie "Whale Rider" (2002):

*WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT*

Different Generations Face Different Challenges in Different Psychosocial Stages of Life

The film "Whale Rider" tells the story of a Maori community struggling to find a new successor to lead the tribe. The current chief of the tribe, Koro (Rawiri Paratene), was disappointed and dissatisfied with the fact that the his sons showed no interest in taking over his position. Koro was worried that he might be the last and final chief of his tribe. Even worse, Koro's grandson died at birth, and the only succession option left was his granddaughter, Paikea (Keisha Castle-Hughes). However, due to the tribe's past tradition that only allowed males to take the role of the chief, Koro refused to accept Paikea as his successor. After Paikea succeeded at the traditional task of retrieving the whale tooth, Koro finally approved of Paikea and declared her as the new chief of the tribe. 

The film depicted the different challenges faced by different generations in different psychosocial stages of life. First of all, Paikea.  In the film, Paikea was in the stage of industry vs inferiority. In this stage, she faced challenges at developing her sense of competence. At this age, Paikea's major source of self-esteem was her peer group. She felt the need to gain approval by doing things that were valued by the tribe. However, due to her gender, Koro didn't include Paikea in his cultural school to train a new leader. Hence, she wasn't in the best circumstance to develop her self-competence. Luckily, Paikea's grandmother, Nanny (Vicky Haughton), always provide support whenever Koro tried to put her down. Furthermore, Paikea's uncle, Rawiri (Grant Roa), and friend, Hemi (Mana Taumaunu) taught her the traditional stick fighting technique even though Koro prohibited her from attending the lessons. Due to the support from her families (except Koro) and friend, the increase in Paikea's self-competence led to her becoming the new chief of the tribe. 

On the other hand, Koro faced challenges in another stage that was different from that of Paikea. Koro was in the stage of generativity vs stagnation. At this stage, Koro's main concern was to find a new leader who is capable of leading his tribe. He volunteered to teach the young boys at his cultural school in order to prepare them to be competent enough to lead the tribe. In addition, it might be possible that Koro faced challenges in the stage of ego integrity vs despair as well. Koro was dissatisfied with the fact that none of his trainees were competent enough to become the new chief of the tribe. For a short period of time, Koro tried to avoid other people as he was disappointed with himself. This indicated that he felt dispirited or dejected due to the fact that he was unable to achieve one of his major goals in life. 

Forget Paris (1995)

Personal Movie Rating: 66%

Here is my thought on the movie "Forget Paris" (1995):

*WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT*

Bad Communication Can Destroy a Marriage

The movie "Forget Paris" tells the love story of Mickey Gordon (Billy Crystal) and Ellen Andrews Gordon (Debra Winger). In the movie, Mickey met Ellen when he was handling his father's funeral in France. Mickey and Ellen fell in love with each other after spending a week together in France, Ellen got a divorce with her ex-husband and quit her job in France, so that she could marry Mickey and live together in LA. But this is not where the movie ends. "Forget Paris" is not your typical romance comedy as it does not end with the typical "happily ever after" scene. Instead, it tells the story of what happened after the "happily ever after" scene, which is the scene where Ellen moved to LA with Mickey. After the honeymoon period of their marriage, Ellen and Mickey realized that things didn't turn out as they had hoped. Both of them were different in many ways, which include personality, values, career goals and so on. As a result, disagreements and conflicts arose. Things got even worse as both Ellen and Mickey adopted bad, dysfunctional communication styles while interacting with one another.

 One of the bad communication styles adopted by Ellen and Mickey was criticism. Criticism is different from complaint, as the latter addresses particular issue or problem, whereas the former involves blaming another individual totally for what have happened. In other words, criticism is sort of like a personal attack. In the movie, Mickey couldn't stand being a car salesman and wanted to return to basketball refereeing.  Instead of trying to rationalize, Mickey argued with Ellen, and blamed her insensitiveness about his feelings as the main reason for his unhappiness. Mickey criticized Ellen as a whole, instead of trying to explain why was he unsatisfied with his current job as a car salesman. As a result, Mickey and Ellen got into a "cold war". Things got even worse when both Mickey and Ellen started to get defensive over each other's criticisms. Defensiveness is another bad communication style that will put relationships on rocks. This occurs when an individual's self esteem is at risk due to criticism by others. As a result, he or she will respond defensively via different ways such as counterattacking, fishing for excuses, or denying responsibilities, all of which will just make things even worse. In the movie, Ellen couldn't accept the fact that Mickey blamed her inattentive towards his sexual urges as the main reason why their relationship got worse. Ellen got defensive and struck back at Mickey by saying that it was because all Mickey's fault for that that to happen. Instead of acknowledging the problem and trying to solve it, Ellen focused too much on denying her responsibility and putting the blame on Mickey. As a result, Ellen and Mickey's marriage went further downhill.

In the end of the movie, even though both Ellen and Mickey were ready to compromise in order to save their marriage and remain together, but that doesn't guarantee their eternal marriage happiness. Argument, dispute, and conflict are unavoidable and inevitable in relationships, and these will definitely occur again in Ellen and Mickey's relationship in the future. However, it is possible for Mickey and Ellen to keep a happy marriage,  as long as they are willing to make changes to their communication styles and do not repeat what they did previously to sabotage their relationship. 

Strictly Ballroom (1992)

Personal Movie Rating: 80%

Here is my thought on the movie "Strictly Ballroom" (1992):

*WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT*

Social Influence is Not Effective All the Time

The movie "Strictly Ballroom" is about the story of Scott Hastings (Paul Mercurio) trying to come up with his own personal dance style that stands out from the others. In the beginning of the film, Scott showed his unique dance steps in a dancing competition. His steps were vastly different from those of traditional ballroom dancing. In the end, he lost the competition. Scott's mother, Shirley Hastings (Pat Thomson), demanded Scott to use only traditional ballroom dance steps so that he will win in the next competition. However, Scott was intrigued by the Pasadoble dance steps introduced by Fran (Tara Morice), a beginner dancer at Scott's parents' dance studio. The president of the Australian Dancing Federation, Barry Fife (Bill Hunter), was unhappy to learn that Scott might showed his unique dance steps again in the next competition. Scott's new steps might affect the dancing competition in many ways, such as traditional ballroom dance moves becoming obsolete, and the power of the judges being challenged as they might not be qualified to judge certain new dance steps. Hence, Barry used a few social influence methods (i.e. conformity and compliance) to prevent Scott from showing his unique dance steps in the upcoming dance competition.

Conformity was one of the social influenced methods used by Barry to change Scott's mind. Conformity is an individual changing his or her own behaviors to be more like others. Conformity can run very deep, as some people are even willing to change their own beliefs and values to be like the others. In the movie, Barry rigged the competition to make Scott's rival, Ken Railings (John Hannan), the winner. Scott's loss resulted in his group, which was comprised of his partner, coach, and mother, blaming him and his new steps. They demanded him to use nothing else but traditional ballroom dance steps in the upcoming dance competition no matter what. Such behavior occurred as the norm was that traditional ballroom dance steps were favorable in dance competitions. The group conformed to this norm, and they tried to influence Scott to do so as well. 

Another social influence method used by Barry to change Scott's mind was compliance. Compliance is an individual doing something as being requested by others. It is more effective when the request is made by someone who has more authority or possess higher position than the individual. In the movie, Barry told Scott about Scott's father's past, which was that Scott's father lost a dancing competition due to his obsession with unconventional dance steps when he was young. Barry tried to persuade Scott to use traditional ballroom dance step in the upcoming dance competition as it is the ultimate and only way to win the championship. Barry told Scott he should learn from his father's mistake, and that he should win "for his father's sake". As a result, Scott went back to training with his old partner, Liz Holt (Gia Carides), using traditional ballroom dance steps. 

However, social influence doesn't work all the time. After learning about the truth about his father, Scott decided to dance with Fran using his new dance steps. Barry tried to stop Scott to do so by using different ways, such as rigging the competition, cutting off the music, and disqualifying him. Regardless, Scott and Fran danced "from the heart", which resulted in cheers from the crowd. The music was finally restored and the couple's dancing brought the whole audience to join them on the dance floor. Even though Scott and Fran were disqualified from the competition, their dance moved the crowd. People might start talking about their dance, and that might lead to changes in future dance competitions. This shows that social influence isn't effective all the time.