Mr Whitaker Essay
The truth behind the disguise in Far from Heaven Have you ever found yourself in a moment, where you lied about your true feelings or kept it to yourself? Or, have you ever been attracted to someone, and you do not speak to that person but your friends know you are attracted to them? Even more so, have you ever gotten into a conversation, already knowing what you are going to say?
Because of questions like these, sociologists study the social and psychological actions people undertake in our society today. Researchers have investigated a broad amount of interesting findings and developed social psychological theories, including those that concern social influence and group processes. By using the book, Social Psychology written by Robert …show more content…
A. Baron, Donn Byrne and Nyla R. Bransombe, and notes from Dr. Albright's lectures, I will be discussing the relevance and important theories that the movie, Far From Heaven, illustrates by closely examining examples that are represented in the sequences. These examples bring life to the social theories, selective forms of self-presentation, the importance of non-verbal communication, and different social schemas, concerning economical and racial differences by using the characters and their actions/ reactions to the social scenes in which they take place.
Based upon social theory of the book, Social Psychology, authentic self-presentation is a selective form of self-presentation that expresses an image according to how you see yourself towards others. When a self-image is authentic, you can say the person is "being true about himself/ herself." For this reason, Mrs. Whitaker is an excellent example of this social theory. She represents an authentic self-presentation because of her genuine way to approach others. She always stays unadulterated; remains the same towards all people, without changing towards people of different class status or color. The major example to how Mrs. Whitaker proves herself to be an authentic self-presenter is by her relationship with her black gardener, Raymond Deagan. They form a bond, one that is real and honest. I quote her when she says, "Raymond was the only person I felt honest with." She expressed her true feelings and emotions very honestly to other people, in this case to her best friend, without any false intentions. More noticeably, Mrs. Whitaker's gardener, Raymond, is a valid character in the movie. When approached, he always speaks with sincerity and expresses his inner beliefs and shares his own life stories without hesitation. For instance, the scene were he finds Mrs. Whitaker crying, he tells her that he would never hurt her and if she needed anyone to talk to, he would be there to listen. Without taking into account that she is a person with a different class status, his rationale to helping Mrs. Whitaker is genuine because of this reason, he treats her equally. Both these characters are perfect examples of authentic self-presentation, because they are both honest and take no precaution of speaking to one another due to their economic or ethnic differences.
Another form of self-presentation is ideal.
Mr. Whitaker is an individual who embodies the characteristics of an ideal self-presentation, which is an image of how you wish to be seen by others (Albright 01/29/07). Therefore, the character is hardly honest and holds an interior mystery. In the case of Mr. Whitaker, he is a married man with two children and a successful career who finally reveals his secret that he is a homosexual. This long-kept secret reveals the reason as to why Mr. Whitaker is an example to the social theory of ideal self-presentation. I quote him when he said, "I did not want to hurt you or the kids, honey." Mr. Whitaker reveals that his posterior is a complete fraud, he did so because he did not want to hurt his family but much more hurt himself. He wished to hide his true identity as a gay man because he wished to be seen as the handsome husband with the perfect family. Also during another scene between Mr. Whitaker and his wife, he mentions that he would not be able to work, if his colleagues knew he was gay. At this point, the idea of an ideal self-presentation is unmistakably proven. According to the notes from Dr. Albright's lecture, people will present themselves as a different identity, due to job interviews, etc (01/31/07). With this in mind, Mr. Whitaker most certainly proved his rehearsed or fake identity, due to the conditions of the job he holds and continued to do so until his true identity is exposed, when his wife finds him kissing another
man.
The last of the self-presentation styles is tactical. Mrs. Whitaker's good friend, Eleanor Fine, is an important character in the movie but also an example of the form of tactical self-presentation. She presents herself as the best friend who worries and cares for Mrs. Whitaker, but ultimately, she solely wants to know the family's problems. She epitomizes what a person who reveals himself/herself with a tactical self-presentation, an image that a person wants others to see them as, but holds a hidden agenda' and tactically plans this image accordingly (Albright 01/29/07). Eleanor's character exposes her true ulterior motives in certain parts of the movie, such as the conversations she has with other wives in the neighborhood and her final conversation with Mrs. Whitaker. "Whatever is bothering you, you can tell me Kathy. You can trust me." This quotation demonstrates the ulterior motive, she lures Mrs. Whitaker and then spreads and exaggerates stories about her best friend, concerning the relationship between Mrs. Whitaker and the black gardener, Raymond. Also, she converses with all the other wives and gossips to them and about them, for this reason she clearly demonstrates the characteristics of a person with a tactical self-presentation. Eleanor has no intention of presenting herself as authentic but instead her character is entirely phony and obviously set with a premeditated plan in mind.
Along with studying the important of self-presentation, Far From Heaven also proves to be an example of the social theory concerning non-verbal communication. Nonverbal communication is communication between individuals involving an unspoken language of facial expressions, eye contact, body movements and postures (83). Ninety percent of communication is non-verbal, noted from Dr. Albright's lecture (01/17/07). The reason for this is because body language expresses much more than verbatim, different messages are being sent when a person could be expressing a reaction that is opposite to what they are saying causing channel discrepancies. In all the scenes that take place with Mr. Whitaker and another handsome man in the room, tension is felt, and no words are spoken between the two. The filmmaker used these scenes to express the physical attraction between the two men, but did so without the use of verbal communication. Also, other messages that were used in the film to show communication through body language, was the scene between Mrs. Whitaker and the gardener at the art show. They both talked but showed much more concernment for each other through their physicality, such as hand motions and slightly touching one another. Nonverbal cues often provide valuable information about other's current feelings (83). Therefore, conveying to those around them that they were much more than friends. Because of their body language, other people misjudged their intentions and were convinced of an intimate relationship between the two.
My final social theories include those of the Roseham Study, concerning self, role and group schema. According to Dr. Roseham, once someone labels you as a certain "type," we manipulate the categorizations of people; therefore, it is very difficult to be seen otherwise. This leads me to defining the importance of self-schema, role schema and group schema based upon the notes from Dr. Albright. Self-schema is the representation of our self. Role schema is the assumption of what we believe in our mind how to play in a certain role. Group schema is the assumption of what we believe in our mind of how to play our ethnic or group representations. In Far From Heaven, Mrs. Whitaker is a perfect model for the category of role schema; she undertakes her role as the devoted housewife and the caring mother. She accepts the idea and believes in this role for herself according to her self-schema. In one of the beginning sequences, a popular magazine comes to the house to interview and takes photographs of Mrs. Whitaker, illustrating her image as the ideal housewife.
On that note, Mrs. Whitaker's friends taunt her about her perfection. Then, they find out of her "liberal ways," (Mrs. Whitaker's friends refer it as this when speaking about her care for Negroes) and do not accept the relationship between her and the gardener because of the role schema. They demonstrate their arbitration in the art show scene, where they sneer and look upon them as disgusting because of their differences. This scene also exemplifies the group schema theory because they place themselves on a higher level, economically and racially, in comparison to the black gardener. Another scene takes place, where Mrs. Whitaker hosts a family business party in her home, all the wives confront her and say she "has embraced the negroes." They clearly illustrate the geometrical difference between the whites and blacks during this time. On the other hand, the blacks also show discomfort towards Mrs. Whitaker when the gardener takes her to a café that only consists of black customers. The idea of separation because of class and race are the major dilemmas in this movie and these issues arise because of how people hold their role schema and group schema among each other. As Roseham concluded, it is very difficult to change categorizations or representations of people because of role and group schemas.
In conclusion, this movie, the book, Social Psychology and the notes from Dr. Albright's lectures have proven the importance of studying social influence and group processes in society because of major dilemmas such as the differences in class structure based upon ethnicity and economic status. Far From Heaven is clearly a defined example of the social theories, self-presentation, non-verbal communication and social schemas because of the social conduct expressed in the movie among the characters. Therefore, leading sociologists to conclude that these examples prove to be illustrations and evidence of their social psychological theories.
Because of questions like these, sociologists study the social and psychological actions people undertake in our society today. Researchers have investigated a broad amount of interesting findings and developed social psychological theories, including those that concern social influence and group processes. By using the book, Social Psychology written by Robert …show more content…
A. Baron, Donn Byrne and Nyla R. Bransombe, and notes from Dr. Albright's lectures, I will be discussing the relevance and important theories that the movie, Far From Heaven, illustrates by closely examining examples that are represented in the sequences. These examples bring life to the social theories, selective forms of self-presentation, the importance of non-verbal communication, and different social schemas, concerning economical and racial differences by using the characters and their actions/ reactions to the social scenes in which they take place.
Based upon social theory of the book, Social Psychology, authentic self-presentation is a selective form of self-presentation that expresses an image according to how you see yourself towards others. When a self-image is authentic, you can say the person is "being true about himself/ herself." For this reason, Mrs. Whitaker is an excellent example of this social theory. She represents an authentic self-presentation because of her genuine way to approach others. She always stays unadulterated; remains the same towards all people, without changing towards people of different class status or color. The major example to how Mrs. Whitaker proves herself to be an authentic self-presenter is by her relationship with her black gardener, Raymond Deagan. They form a bond, one that is real and honest. I quote her when she says, "Raymond was the only person I felt honest with." She expressed her true feelings and emotions very honestly to other people, in this case to her best friend, without any false intentions. More noticeably, Mrs. Whitaker's gardener, Raymond, is a valid character in the movie. When approached, he always speaks with sincerity and expresses his inner beliefs and shares his own life stories without hesitation. For instance, the scene were he finds Mrs. Whitaker crying, he tells her that he would never hurt her and if she needed anyone to talk to, he would be there to listen. Without taking into account that she is a person with a different class status, his rationale to helping Mrs. Whitaker is genuine because of this reason, he treats her equally. Both these characters are perfect examples of authentic self-presentation, because they are both honest and take no precaution of speaking to one another due to their economic or ethnic differences.
Another form of self-presentation is ideal.
Mr. Whitaker is an individual who embodies the characteristics of an ideal self-presentation, which is an image of how you wish to be seen by others (Albright 01/29/07). Therefore, the character is hardly honest and holds an interior mystery. In the case of Mr. Whitaker, he is a married man with two children and a successful career who finally reveals his secret that he is a homosexual. This long-kept secret reveals the reason as to why Mr. Whitaker is an example to the social theory of ideal self-presentation. I quote him when he said, "I did not want to hurt you or the kids, honey." Mr. Whitaker reveals that his posterior is a complete fraud, he did so because he did not want to hurt his family but much more hurt himself. He wished to hide his true identity as a gay man because he wished to be seen as the handsome husband with the perfect family. Also during another scene between Mr. Whitaker and his wife, he mentions that he would not be able to work, if his colleagues knew he was gay. At this point, the idea of an ideal self-presentation is unmistakably proven. According to the notes from Dr. Albright's lecture, people will present themselves as a different identity, due to job interviews, etc (01/31/07). With this in mind, Mr. Whitaker most certainly proved his rehearsed or fake identity, due to the conditions of the job he holds and continued to do so until his true identity is exposed, when his wife finds him kissing another
man.
The last of the self-presentation styles is tactical. Mrs. Whitaker's good friend, Eleanor Fine, is an important character in the movie but also an example of the form of tactical self-presentation. She presents herself as the best friend who worries and cares for Mrs. Whitaker, but ultimately, she solely wants to know the family's problems. She epitomizes what a person who reveals himself/herself with a tactical self-presentation, an image that a person wants others to see them as, but holds a hidden agenda' and tactically plans this image accordingly (Albright 01/29/07). Eleanor's character exposes her true ulterior motives in certain parts of the movie, such as the conversations she has with other wives in the neighborhood and her final conversation with Mrs. Whitaker. "Whatever is bothering you, you can tell me Kathy. You can trust me." This quotation demonstrates the ulterior motive, she lures Mrs. Whitaker and then spreads and exaggerates stories about her best friend, concerning the relationship between Mrs. Whitaker and the black gardener, Raymond. Also, she converses with all the other wives and gossips to them and about them, for this reason she clearly demonstrates the characteristics of a person with a tactical self-presentation. Eleanor has no intention of presenting herself as authentic but instead her character is entirely phony and obviously set with a premeditated plan in mind.
Along with studying the important of self-presentation, Far From Heaven also proves to be an example of the social theory concerning non-verbal communication. Nonverbal communication is communication between individuals involving an unspoken language of facial expressions, eye contact, body movements and postures (83). Ninety percent of communication is non-verbal, noted from Dr. Albright's lecture (01/17/07). The reason for this is because body language expresses much more than verbatim, different messages are being sent when a person could be expressing a reaction that is opposite to what they are saying causing channel discrepancies. In all the scenes that take place with Mr. Whitaker and another handsome man in the room, tension is felt, and no words are spoken between the two. The filmmaker used these scenes to express the physical attraction between the two men, but did so without the use of verbal communication. Also, other messages that were used in the film to show communication through body language, was the scene between Mrs. Whitaker and the gardener at the art show. They both talked but showed much more concernment for each other through their physicality, such as hand motions and slightly touching one another. Nonverbal cues often provide valuable information about other's current feelings (83). Therefore, conveying to those around them that they were much more than friends. Because of their body language, other people misjudged their intentions and were convinced of an intimate relationship between the two.
My final social theories include those of the Roseham Study, concerning self, role and group schema. According to Dr. Roseham, once someone labels you as a certain "type," we manipulate the categorizations of people; therefore, it is very difficult to be seen otherwise. This leads me to defining the importance of self-schema, role schema and group schema based upon the notes from Dr. Albright. Self-schema is the representation of our self. Role schema is the assumption of what we believe in our mind how to play in a certain role. Group schema is the assumption of what we believe in our mind of how to play our ethnic or group representations. In Far From Heaven, Mrs. Whitaker is a perfect model for the category of role schema; she undertakes her role as the devoted housewife and the caring mother. She accepts the idea and believes in this role for herself according to her self-schema. In one of the beginning sequences, a popular magazine comes to the house to interview and takes photographs of Mrs. Whitaker, illustrating her image as the ideal housewife.
On that note, Mrs. Whitaker's friends taunt her about her perfection. Then, they find out of her "liberal ways," (Mrs. Whitaker's friends refer it as this when speaking about her care for Negroes) and do not accept the relationship between her and the gardener because of the role schema. They demonstrate their arbitration in the art show scene, where they sneer and look upon them as disgusting because of their differences. This scene also exemplifies the group schema theory because they place themselves on a higher level, economically and racially, in comparison to the black gardener. Another scene takes place, where Mrs. Whitaker hosts a family business party in her home, all the wives confront her and say she "has embraced the negroes." They clearly illustrate the geometrical difference between the whites and blacks during this time. On the other hand, the blacks also show discomfort towards Mrs. Whitaker when the gardener takes her to a café that only consists of black customers. The idea of separation because of class and race are the major dilemmas in this movie and these issues arise because of how people hold their role schema and group schema among each other. As Roseham concluded, it is very difficult to change categorizations or representations of people because of role and group schemas.
In conclusion, this movie, the book, Social Psychology and the notes from Dr. Albright's lectures have proven the importance of studying social influence and group processes in society because of major dilemmas such as the differences in class structure based upon ethnicity and economic status. Far From Heaven is clearly a defined example of the social theories, self-presentation, non-verbal communication and social schemas because of the social conduct expressed in the movie among the characters. Therefore, leading sociologists to conclude that these examples prove to be illustrations and evidence of their social psychological theories.