Love Rosie: Movie Analysis

Released in the summer of 1994, the movie “When a Man Loves a Women” produced by Touchstone Pictures’ producer Jon Avnet created a film that touches on a female alcoholic. This film included stars like Meg Ryan, Andy Garcia, and Lauren Tom. An airline pilot played by Garcia as Michael and his wife Alice portrayed by Ryan are forced to deal with her alcoholism. Within this family it includes that of her two children and the nanny (Lauren Tom). The film offers several hinting scenes to Alice’s addiction. Alcoholism is a disease of denial, the movie focuses on not only the alcoholic but those around her that deny and have even grown accustomed to her drinking.

Psychological disorders are very real and present in many people we come in contact with daily, however, are very rarely talked about. Learning about these disorders can help us to understand others and ourselves better by telling us why we do and think the things we do. One effective way that we can observe and learn about psychological disorders is through movies. “Mommie Dearest” was directed by Frank Perry. It is centered around the actress Joan Crawford, who suffered from various psychological disorders. Joan’s daughter, Christina, wrote a book about her mother and her many problems and it was later turned into a movie. It is very effective to use movie analysis as a way of learning, especially in psychology, because it provides a great way to observe without distractions. When you’re looking at disorders, it’s difficult to find a person who has many of these disorders and will allow you to observe them. Psychological disorders can be split into two major groups, personality disorders and mood disorders. Personality disorders are patterns of traits that can get in the way of your social or work life and may interrupt the individual’s normal lifestyle. Mood disorders are inconsistent and unreliable changes in mood by the affected individual. (Rathus, 1998). With all of this being said, it brings me to my point that I will be talking about for the rest of this essay. Joan Crawford demonstrates the personality disorders of histrionic, narcissism, and OCPD. When it comes to mood disorders, Joan demonstrates bipolar disorder.

Overall, I believe “Loving” was a fantastic movie. I enjoyed watching it, and it was fascinating throughout. I was very interested to learn the story behind Richard and Mildred Loving and the pivotal struggle they had to face in their lives.

When Harry Met Sally is a romantic comedy that breaks out of the norm of the genre with some very real messages about interpersonal communication between both genders and how we handle different situations differently. When Harry met Sally is one of the greatest romantic comedies I’ve watched. Harry and Sally are perfect examples of two people for searching for a companion. In the beginning both are very opposites but in the end Sally and Harry both longed for true love, friendship and security.

In the film ‘Her’, directed by Spike Jonze, the main protagonist,Theodore Twombly conveys the idea of alienation via technology and its possible effects, due to his depression via his divorce and his easy going relationship with an artificial intelligence operating system named Samantha. The idea of alienation and technology and its possible effects on human relationships is conveyed via the quote, “Sometimes I think I have felt everything I'm ever gonna feel. And from here on out, I'm not gonna feel anything new. Just lesser versions of what I've already felt.” Theodore recently experienced is his divorce depression, and therefore becomes vulnerable, anti-social from society and isolated himself, by spending time with the artificial intelligence

The Hollywood movie Pretty Woman (1990) is about a prostitute in Hollywood, marrying an extremely rich businessman, in spite of her mutual distrust and prejudice. The movie contains the basic narrative of the Cinderella tale: through the love and help of a man of a higher social position, a girl of a lower social status moves up to join the man at his level.

The use of technology has catalyzed society into an era that is increasingly interconnected yet impersonal at the same time. Despite technology’s endless list of assets, many fail to acknowledge its shortcomings when mentioning what is lost as a result of using it. Although in “Great to Watch” by Maggie Nelson, she is not afraid to share her skepticism of technology, as well as the role it plays in desensitizing individuals on a day-to-day basis. The internet is an invaluable resource to many because it is a public domain for sharing ideas, opinions, and knowledge that any and everyone can have access to. In a sense, it does not restrict what someone may see or do, and this can either be a good thing or a bad thing. The booming use of new media

The movie Mean Girls is set in a high school setting. The movie starts with a new girl coming to the school as a first time public school student. Cady, the new student, is immediately accepted into a group of friends, but later invited to another. The first clique she joins pushes her to become friends with the second group. This subsequently led to a typical high school drama scene. The ways these high school students go about their normal life seem very alike to the “typical” high school. Even though the movie Mean Girls by Mark Waters, uses humor to portray some questionable realism, it effectively depicts characteristics of ordinary high school life and uses realistic characters.

The romantic comedy is a subgenre that has as its central narrative the quest for love that almost always ends with a successful conclusion. It accents love in a light and upbeat manner while also frequently embracing sentimental or melodramatic story developments. Similar to every other genre, it has a set of characteristics or conventions that allow the audience to know what to expect. The key traits that allow one to recognize a movie as a romantic comedy are its realistic characters, traditional dating ritual, and slow story pacing. These conventions of romantic comedies can be further understood by analyzing the narrative functions of two films that depict positive images of true love and its power to transform one’s life: Roman Holiday and Notting Hill.

Annie Hall, an American romantic comedy released in 1977 retells the story of a man named Alvy Singer (portrayed by Woody Allen) and his attempt at comprehending why his relationship with Annie Hall failed. Annie Hall incorporates many cinematic techniques into its story which help solidify its place regularly on lists of best comedies (Snider). It uses conflict, different types of narratives and a classic three act structure. The movie beautifully conveys a story in New York in which one really feels the characters are actual citizens and not actors (Barsam 166).

“Little Miss Sunshine” is a comedy-drama film about a 7 year old girl named Olive Hoover, whose dream is to be entered into the finals of a pageant called Little Miss Sunshine and her journey to achieving her dream with the help of her dysfunctional family. Moreover, when she discovers that she’s been qualified for the “Little Miss Sunshine” Pageant that is being held in Redondo Beach, California in 2 days her family face many difficulties. However, even through the various difficulties that arise as they still want to support Olive in accomplishing her dream. Thus, they go on on an adventurous 800-mile road trip in their old yellow Volkswagen Type 2. Despite the many bumps, and setbacks along the road despite they still work together into finally reaching to the pageant almost on time.

One of my personal all-time-favorite movies, The Proposal¸ directed by Anne Fletcher, is a drama/romance that illustrates “two people who weren’t meant to fall in love” (Lieberman, 2009). The following movie trailer assists in outlining the storyline of the movie and how a series of unforeseen events can change animosity into romantic love.

A film that raises so many questions regarding prostitution, and drugs, Pretty Woman is a romantic comedy that was released March 23rd, 1990. Although this film was and is loved by so many, it also sparked discussions of issues in society at the time the movie came out. Pretty Woman came out as the problem of drugs, especially cocaine, was on the rise. This film also highlighted the issue of prostitution around the United States, along with the growing drug addiction, that often accompanies it. The movie Pretty Woman highlights the issues of drug addiction and prostitution causing waves in the public.

Ever since the Holocaust happened there has been a variety of movies and books portraying this massive genocide that changed individuals’ lives. One of these movies that portrays the Holocaust is Life is Beautiful that was directed and acted by Roberto Benigni in 1997. This particular film won Oscar awards and it’s unlike any other Holocaust movies because of its drama, romance, and comedic genre. It tells the story of a man named Guido that comes to Arezzo, Italy and works as a waiter for his uncle Eliseo. Guido falls in love with Dora, a school teacher who he calls “Princess” each time he sees her. Eventually, Guido is able to charm Dora despite her being engaged. Five years later they have a son named Giosuè, but at this point in time

The movie The Hot Chick is a 2002 comedy film that focuses on a high school girl named Jessica Spencer who tries to find a way to get her body back after it is switched with a man named Clive Maxtone. Jessica is the typical popular, cruel and spoiled high school girl that one night switches bodies with a gas station robber Clive, due to a pair of earrings Jessica stole from a occult shop that day, one of which ends up in Clive's hands. She wakes up dazed and confused trying to figure out what might of caused this. Throughout the movie Jessica tries to find a way to get her body back while learning first-hand the pros and cons of being a man, while at the same time Clive takes advantage of the situation to commit a crime so he can blame it on