Life as We Know It Concept Paper

Movie Concept Paper

The Movie Life As We Know It stars Katherine Heigl and Josh Duhamel who play the main characters Holly and Messer. These two were brought together when their best friends married and tried to start a life together. Sadly, one year after they had their first baby, Sophie, they were killed in a car accident. Holly and Messer were left their roles as parents to Sophie. After moving on from the hostile feelings for each other, the three made their own happy family. Within this movie there are concepts displayed that we have discussed in class. A few are motor skills, identity diffusion, identity commitment, triangulation, and Gottman’s “four horseman of the apocalypse”. Within this paper you will read about each of these five concepts and how they are shown throughout the movie. The first concept is motor skills. In early childhood children usually gain their gross motor skills around the age of two and their fine motor skills take longer to develop. Since Holly was given the role of a mother she started reading books about kids and at what age Sophie should be doing things; walking and talking. She became worried as Sophie was approaching her second birthday quickly and was not showing any signs of either walking or talking. Shortly after expressing these worries to Messer, Sophie stands up and begins to take her first steps. Soon after she wouldn’t stop running throughout the house. This shows Sophie’s gross motor skills developing and allows her to run freely. The definition of identity diffusion is the lack of commitment to who one is and what they stand for. People who fall under this category often do not explore options, do not have a set moral compass, and do not commit. Out of the characters in the movie, Messer fits this description best. Messer does not commit when it comes to relationships. He hooks up with girls and tells them what they want to hear before they part their ways. One point in the movie Messer had a girl stay the