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.

Running on Empty (1988)

Personal Movie Rating: 68%

Here is my thought on the movie "Running on Empty" (1998):

*WARNING: POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT*

Love Requires Sacrifice

The movie "Running on Empty" is about the story of a hippie couple on the run from FBI, and how their elder son starts to break out of this fugitive lifestyle. Annie (Christine Lahti) and Arthur Pope (Judd Hirsch) were responsible for the anti-war protest bombing of a chemical laboratory when they were young. A janitor who wasn't supposed to be there was accidentally blinded and paralyzed. The Popes and their two-years-old son, Danny (River Phoenix), were on the run ever since. The families had been relocating and assuming new identities for the past 15 years. Danny, who was already 18 years old, caught the attention of his music teacher, Mr. Phillips (Ed Crowley), due to his overwhelming talent as a pianist. Mr. Phillips pushed Danny to audition for the Juilliard School, which was one of the world's leading music schools. However, Mr. Phillips started to dig into Danny's personal life, as Danny wasn't able to provide records from his previous schools. Mr. Phillips then talked to Annie, hoping that she could provide some explanations on Danny's missing school records. Mr. Phillips also told Annie about Danny's audition for Juilliard.

Annie was surprised to find out that Danny auditioned for Juilliard, as the family were constantly on the run, and it would be wiser for them to keep a low profile. She was in a dilemma between two choices: (1) Let Danny go and find his "own" way; or (2) relocate and assume new identities elsewhere. After some consideration, Annie decided to opt for the first choice, which was to let Danny pursue his own dreams. She risked her safety to contact her estranged father in order to arrange a home and life for Danny if Annie and Arthur should decide to leave him behind. She even considered to turn herself in, so that Danny wouldn't have to continue living a dangerous life on the run for which he bore no responsibility. Annie loved her son so much that she would rather sacrifice her own freedom in order for her son to purse his own dreams. The same can be said for Arthur. When he first heard of Danny's audition and Annie's meeting with her father, he was enraged and decided to bring his family and relocate elsewhere. However, in the end, Arthur realized that it was better for Danny to stay and pursue his own dreams as he wasn't responsible for what Annie and Arthur did in the past. This showed that both Annie and Arthur loved Danny so much that they were willing to sacrificed for their son's future.

Sacrificing one's own happiness for the happiness of a loved one, is by far, the truest type of love. Annie and Arthur did what they need to do because they truly loved Danny. They wanted their son to live a better life, even if it required them to make some sacrifice. Love requires sacrifice, but it's definitely worth it.