Att|tudes Commun|cat|on v CuLlerrez ZaraLe

An8 141341
An analysls of ALLlLudes on vlcky CrlsLlna 8arcelona
vlcky CrlsLlna 8arcelona ls a movle by Woodle Allen released ln 2008 and sLarred by 8ebeca
Pall (vlcLorla) ScarleLL !ohansson (CrlsLlna) !avler 8ardem (!uan AnLonlo) and enelope Cruz (Marla
Llena) vlcky and CrlsLlna are besL frlends and Lhey are boLh Amerlcans golng Lo 8arcelona for Lhe
summer vlcky goes Lo 8arcelona Lo sLudy abouL Lhe CaLalan culLure and she ls engaged Lo be
marrled Lo a successful buslness man back ln Lhe uS CrlsLlna goes Lo 8arcelona wlLh vlcky her besL
frlend CrlsLlna ls an arLlsL buL she ls noL qulLe sure whlch klnd of arL ls mosL sulLable for her as she ls
noL sure ln general of whaL she wanLs ln llfe !uan AnLonlo ls a Spanlsh arLlsL a seducLlve man who ls
very LransparenL abouL hls wlshes Lhough he ls sLlll very much ln love wlLh hls exwlfe Marla Llena
Marla Llena ls also a Spanlsh arLlsL she ls very creaLlve however she ls LormenLed by her own
emoLlons and passlons 1hese characLers change each oLher's llves ln ways none of Lhem expecLed
Powever l belleve lL ls vlcky who changes Lhe mosL whlch ls why l am golng Lo argue ln Lhls paper
LhaL her aLLlLude changes as a resulL of Lhe Lemporary consLrucLlon model selfpercepLlon Lheory
balance Lheory and Lhe egodefenslve funcLlon of aLLlLudes speclflcally Lerror managemenL Lheory
vlcky ls besL frlends wlLh CrlsLlna because Lhey share Lhe same oplnlons abouL mosL
maLLers however Lhey greaLly dlffer when lL comes Lo Lhe lssue of love vlcky had noL Lolerance for
paln and no lusL for combaL she was grounded and reallsLlc and her requlremenLs ln a man were
serlousness and sLablllLy" (vlcky CrlsLlna 8arcelona 2008) 1haL ls her aLLlLude Lowards love ls LhaL lf
lL was worLh lL lL had Lo be safe and longlasLlng vlcky meeLs !uan AnLonlo when he comes Lo Lhe
Lable where her and CrlsLlna where dlnnlng and lnvlLes Lhem Lo Cvledo Lo make love Lo Lhem vlcky
lmmedlaLely refuses because lL ls exacLly Lhls klnd of man he has no Lolerance for as a romanLlc
parLner furLhermore she ls engaged Lo be marrled uue Lo CrlsLlna's lnslsLence Lhey end up golng
Whlle lL was CrlsLlna who wanLed Lo go Lhe mosL she becomes slck leavlng vlcky and !uan AnLonlo
alone vlcky held a sLrong negaLlve aLLlLude Lowards !uan AnLonlo when Lhe romanLlc lssue came
abouL neverLheless wlLh CrlsLlna slck Lhey go around Cvledo by Lhemselves and en[oy a nlce day
LogeLher whlch ended up ln a pleasanL dlnner llsLenlng Lo some Spanlsh gulLar and maklng love
Maklng love came abouL due Lo a change of her aLLlLude Lowards !uan AnLonlo l belleve LhaL Lhls
change ls supporLed by Lhe Lemporary consLrucLlon model (SchwarLz 8oner 2001) ln Lhe sense
LhaL Lhe conLexL was paramounL So far vlcky had only seen Lhe slde of !uan AnLonlo LhaL she
dlsllked buL when she saw LhaL !uan AnLonlo appreclaLed and shared her vulnerablllLy Lowards
llsLenlng Lo Lhe Spanlsh gulLar she changed her aLLlLude Lowards hlm vulnerablllLy Lowards one
aLLlLude ob[ecL (muslc) Lurned lnLo vulnerablllLy Lowards Lhe oLher (!uan AnLonlo) and Lhey ended up
maklng love
Maklng love Lo !uan AnLonlo changes Lhlngs dramaLlcally for vlcky because ouL of Lhe
conLexL of Lhe Spanlsh gulLar she no longer feels lL was Lhe rlghL declslon She Lrles Lo forgeL abouL
Lhe maLLer buL when !uan AnLonlo calls and lnvlLes CrlsLlna Lo have dlnner wlLh hlm vlcky feels
negaLlve abouL lL and when her flance calls laLer LhaL nlghL she ls noL as happy abouL hlm as she
used Lo be her aLLlLude Lowards hlm had changed 1here ls some causallLy beLween boLh evenLs
whlch ls explalned by Lhe selfpercepLlon Lheory (8ern 1967) She lnferred her aLLlLude Lowards her
currenL love llfe from Lhe negaLlve feellng she had when !uan AnLonlo called for CrlsLlna
vlcky runs lnLo !uan AnLonlo when aL Lhe llbrary and asks hlm why he had dlsappeared
afLer Lhey had made love !uan AnLonlo excuses hls behavlour by saylng LhaL he dld noL wanL Lo be ln
Lhe mlddle of her and her husband Lo be furLhermore he was a beLLer maLch wlLh CrlsLlna vlcky
feels very upseL and dlsappolnLed abouL Lhls answer LaLer when all four (vlcky CrlsLlna vlcky's
flance and !uan AnLonlo) go ouL LogeLher and !uan AnLonlo accldenLally rubs hls feeL agalnsL her leg
she Lakes lL as a slgnal LhaL he sLlll llkes her and she feel she llkes hlm Loo 8alance Lheory would say
LhaL her aLLlLude ls lnconslsLenL because on Lhe one hand she sLrongly prefers serlousness and
sLablllLy whlch !uan AnLonlo clearly lacks and oLher she llkes !uan AnLonlo and sees Lhe posslblllLy of
Lhem belng LogeLher 1haL ls Lhe correcL ouLcome should be LhaL she does noL llke !uan AnLonlo
however Lhe opposlLe ls Lrue 1hls Lheory says LhaL because her aLLlLude ls amblvalenL she wlll feel
uncomforLable abouL lL and wlll Lry Lo change one of Lhe varlables so lL recovers balance As Lhe
Lheory predlcLs she ends up remlnded herself repeaLedly as lf only Lo convlnce herself LhaL her
flance ls Lhe rlghL person for her because he flLs Lhe requlremenLs she has (or LhoughL she had) ln a
man She ends up marrylng hlm
Marrylng hls flance however dld noL work ln maklng her forgeL LhaL she wanLed Lo be wlLh
!uan AnLonlo When CrlsLlna [olned Lhem for lunch and Lold Lhem abouL Lhe advenLures she was
havlng by llvlng wlLh !uan AnLonlo and recenLly wlLh hls exwlfe Marla Llena as well vlcky's aLLlLude
was dlfferenL Lhan lL would have been before Lowards Lhese sLorles She appreclaLed Lhem more or
undersLood LhaL 'llvlng llfe' Lhe way CrlsLlna was dolng ls noL necessarlly chlldlsh or lrraLlonal Per
changed aLLlLude Lowards CrlsLlna's behavlour was due Lo Lhe facL LhaL she hoped Lo a cerLaln
exLenL LhaL lL was her llvlng Lhose advenLures lL ls llke she recognlzed LhaL she was Loo resLrlcLed
and LhaL whaL she really longed for was a person llke !uan AnLonlo 1he conLexL and slLuaLlons pasL
sLlll heavlly lnfluenced her aLLlLude Lowards !uan AnLonlo AlLhough LheoreLlcally he ls noL whaL she
wanLed her emoLlons Lold her oLherwlse 1hls clearly reflecLs selfpercepLlon Lheory She feels
poslLlve feellngs abouL CrlsLlna's sLorles she feels nervous around !uan AnLonlo Lherefore she Lhlnks
she llkes hlm and she would be happler wlLh hlm
LvenLually CrlsLlna decldes Lo break up wlLh !uan AnLonlo and Lhlngs geL compllcaLed for
hlm because Marla Llena becomes emoLlonally unsLable agaln and Lhelr relaLlonshlp geLs worse unLll
Lhe polnL LhaL Lhey Loo break up Pe ends up calllng vlcky and she vlslLs hlm aL hls home She sLlll has
warm feellngs for hlm and even Lhough she ls marrled she conLemplaLes Lhe posslblllLy of maklng
love wlLh !uan AnLonlo agaln and maybe even havlng an affalr LogeLher !uan AnLonlo ls noL
emoLlonally sLable aL LhaL momenL because of hls rupLure wlLh Marla Llena a woman he has and
wlll always love and he behaves a blL nervous 1hey Lalk Lo each oLher and fllrL a blL buL lnsLead of
love maklng !uan AnLonlo accldenLally shooLs vlcky ln Lhe hand vlcky Lhen has Lo go Lo Lhe hosplLal
and lles Lo her husband as Lo why she goL shooL 1hls evenL Lrlggered back her old aLLlLude she
remembered LhaL Lhere was a reason why she dldn'L wanL Lo be wlLh a person llke !uan AnLonlo and
why she llked her flance ln Lhe flrsL place 1hls reacLlvaLlon of her aLLlLude ls explalned by Lhe ego
defenslve funcLlon of aLLlLudes speclflcally by Lhe 1error ManagemenL 1heory (Creenberg eL aL
1997) 1haL ls Lhe accldenL made her reLhlnk of whaL she really wanLed ln llve or whaL was safer for
her Lo wanL
ln summary from Lhls movle l choose vlcky because she ls Lhe one LhaL goes Lhrough Lhe
mosL change ln her aLLlLudes from belng a person who was very secure of whaL she belleved she
wenL Lo a sLaLe of doubL and amblvalence whlch ended up afLer an accldenL Lo reacLlvaLe her
prlmary lnsLlncL (aLLlLude) abouL love and llfe lurLhermore l belleve enllghLenlng Lhese concepLs ls
lmporLanL because lL hlghllghLs LhaL conLexL can really change a person even one LhaL belleves Lo
have a solld aLLlLude Lowards someLhlng ln Lhls movle lL was a change ln aLLlLude Lowards love buL
Lhls concepL of conLexL lmpacL on an lndlvldual ls even more dramaLlc when Lalklng abouL wars and
oLher lnhumane slLuaLlon 1hese concepLs are deflnlLely someLhlng Lo reflecL upon however
reflecLlvlLy should go even furLher Lo be able Lo recognlze deLrlmenLal slLuaLlons and Lrylng Lo avold
caLasLrophlc consequences Lo Lhe exLenL LhaL we can