Choice #28: Analyzing Love in the movies

1.      The movie I chose to analyze was “Knotting Hill.”

2.      Anna Scott is a famous actress, and William works in a travel bookshop. They first actually meet bumping into each other. He spilled orange juice on her, and invited her to come to his house to clean up and call her driver. Then she left. A few weeks or so later she leaves him a message to come and se her. Then they go to his little sister’s birthday and go for a long walk. Then she left again. Then he hears she is in town doing a movie. He overhears her say that “he is nobody” to one of the actors and leaves. Finally he finds her at a press conference and the two get married.

3.      The first stage is individuals that aren’t interacting (pg. 353). We are aware of ourselves as individuals, maintaining our own goals, needs and so on. At the bookstore when Anna was purchasing a book from William they were both individuals.

Invitational communication is when individuals show they are interested in interacting and response to invitations (pg. 353). When William came to Anna’s room he asked her if she wanted to go out with him. She said yes, then he remembered it was his sister’s birthday. She said that she would be his date to his sister’s birthday, and he was surprised.

Explorational communication involves exchanging information to explore possibilities for a relationship (pg. 354). Anna and William did not ask each other what they liked, or where they were from.

Intensifying communication is when partners increase the depth of the relationship by increasing personal knowledge (pg. 354). Again, I didn’t see that these two had intensifying communication.

Revising communication is when partners come down from the clouds to look at their relationship more realistically (pg. 356). Anna and William didn’t talk much about their relationship because she was always leaving and coming back. I would say that at the end when she was asked again if she was staying in England and she said yes. She obviously wanted to continue her relationship with William.

Navigating is the ongoing process of staying committed and living life together, despite the ups and downs (pg. 356). This means marriage to me. And, yes they did end up getting married at the very end.

The triangle of love consists of intimacy, commitment, and passion. Passion is the intense positive feelings and desires for another person (pg. 346). William definitely had a passion for Anna. He could not stop thinking about her whenever she was gone. Anna also had a passion for William, because she said she couldn’t stop thinking about him whenever she came back to see him.

Commitment is an intention to remain with a relationship (pg. 346). I think that Anna and William were semi-committed at first. She always left, but she eventually came back. And at the end they were married and that is a big commitment.

Intimacy includes the feelings of closeness, connection, and tenderness (pg. 347). It is the abiding affection and warm feelings for another person. It also means being comfortable with each other no matter what. In one scene William and Anna were at a restaurant together, and she was just herself; she was comfortable being out with William. I would think that, because she is famous, she would have to cover herself up in public, but she didn’t. Even in general when they would go for walks and stuff, they were just another couple.

There are three primary colors: red, blue, and yellow. These colors stand for the primary styles of love: Eros, Storge, and Ludus (pg. 348). Just as purple, green, and orange are mad by blending, these are the secondary styles of love: Agape, Mania, and Pragma. Eros is a powerful, passionate style of love that blazes to life suddenly and dramatically (pg. 349). I don’t think that Anna and William fell in love right away. Maybe after she came back a few times they fell in love, and engaged in an Erotic love. Storge is a comfortable, even-kneeled kind of love based on friendship (pg. 349). I believe that they did have a storgic relationship, but it didn’t happen because of common interest, values, or life goals. Ludus is playful love (pg. 349). I don’t believe that they engaged in a ludus relationship. Pragma is practical love (pg. 350). I don’t think they engaged in a pragmatic relationship. Manic lovers have the passion of eros, but they play by ludic rules with results that can be disturbing to them and those they love (pg. 350). I think that they may have a manic relationship, because William couldn’t stop thinking about Anna when she was gone. The tests that he might have used were to see if she was coming back; and she did. Agape is a blend of storge and eros (pg. 351). I don’t think they had an agape relationship.

Ensuring equity is the first challenge, and I don’t think they were equal. The movie didn’t really go into their relationship; just that Anna kept on leaving and coming back. The second challenge is negotiating safer sex; again the movie did not go into this. They did sleep together, but I do not know to whether they were safe or not. The third challenge is avoiding violence and abuse, they didn’t not engage in violence or abuse with each other. The final challenge is surviving distance. When Anna was gone William missed her very much. But, he did survive the distance, because she decided to stay in England with him.

4. I do not have a committed relationship with a romantic partner, and I never have. Therefore, I couldn’t tell you how this applied to my romantic relationships because I don’t have any.