Julie and Julia

Meryl Streep is Julia Child and Amy Adams is writer Julie Powell in Nora Ephron’s comedy Julie & Julia. Before Ina, before Rachael, before Emeril, there was Julia, the woman who forever changed the way America cooks. But in 1948, Julia Child (Meryl Streep) was just an American woman living in France. Her husband's job has brought them to Paris, and with her indefatigable spirit, she yearned for something to do. Fifty years later, Julie Powell (Amy Adams) is stuck. Pushing 30, living in Queens and working in a cubicle as her friends achieve stunning successes, she seizes on a seemingly insane plan to focus her energies. Julie decides to spend exactly a year cooking all 524 recipes in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking (which Child co-wrote with Louise Bertholle and Simone Beck) – and write a blog about her experiences.
Director-writer-producer Nora Ephron seamlessly melds these two remarkable true stories into a comedy that proves that if you have the right combination of passion, obsession, and butter, you can change your life and achieve your dreams.

In 1948, the Powerful Effects Theory was very prevalent. It is about the mass media being very influential and audiences are passive. This thoery became popular after WW2 and it is not really true in Julia Child's case as we can see that Julia is not a person who is influenced easily by the messages transmitted through the mass medis.

Fifty years later, the Moderate effects models became prevalent. It is about the ability of the media to influence its audiences still remains and media selectivity does not equate no effects. It shows when Julie Powell wants to write about her experiences when she was learning the to cook the dishes in all 524 recipes of Julia's Child Mastering the art of French cooking.

In my opinion, I felt that this was a good movie as it relates true stories and motivates the audiences to change their lives and achieve their dreams. It is up to the audience on how they perceive the message of this movie to be.

Haeundae: The Deadly Tsunami

The Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004 was the worst tsunami recorded in history with more than 300,000 lives lost. Man-sik experiences the catastrophe first hand, when he and his men get stranded mid-sea while deep-sea fishing. All crew except one is rescued and Man-sik feels responsible for the death of the lost crew member the father of Man-siks long-time love, Yeon-hee. Four years on after returning home, he is still unable to open up his heart to Yeon-hee because of the guilt. When he finally musters up the courage to propose to her, he is interrupted by the force of nature.
Man-siks younger brother Hyung-sik works as a coast guard. While on patrol, he rescues Hi-mi who had fallen off a yacht. The beautiful and spoiled vacationer from Seoul is instantly drawn to her rescuer and launches a bold campaign to win his heart. Hyung-sik finds himself attracted to her little by little.
A marine geologist Kim Hwi discovers that the Korean East Sea is showing signs of activity similar to the Indian Ocean at the time of the 2004 Tsunami and heads down to Haeundae to warn the authority. He runs into his ex-wife who is also in Haeundae to oversee an international event. With her, is their 7-year-old daughter whom he has never met. The fact that his daughter doesnt know who he is gives rise to complex emotions in Hwi.
In the meanwhile, a mega-tsunami is created as Hwi feared and is headed straight for Haeundae, to the unaware vacationers enjoying a peaceful hot summer day.

This movie displays individualist cultures when Man Sik felt guilty because he felt responsible for the death of Yeon Hee's father. His social behaviour is largely determined by his attitude. He create his own ingroups, rather than tradition. This is shown when the force of nature affected him when he has already made up his mind to propose to Yeon Hee. This shows that only specific aspects of a person's life is influenced by ingroups.

It also displays Classic Dimension of Cultures by Edward Hall. Korea is a country with high context cultures. Koreans have restricted codes and contextual cues. This can been seen in Kim Hwi's experience when he came across his daughter whom he has never met before. The way he kept quiet about his relationship shows that silence is part of the communication pattern in Korea.

In my opinion, I feel that Haeudae is a show that depicts the Korean culture and how they react when they are faced with a deadly situation. It goes to show that every country has her own culture and their actions is dependent on their culture. This means that culture shapes people and this is done through socialisation.

Shorts

Shorts is set in the suburb of Black Falls, where all the houses look the same and everyone works for BLACK BOX Unlimited Worldwide Industries Incorporated, whose Mr. Blacks BLACK BOX is the ultimate communication and do-it-all gadget that's sweeping the nation. Other than keeping his parents employed, however, Mr. Blacks BLACK BOX has done nothing for 11-year-old Toe Thompson, who just wants to make a few friends... until a mysterious rainbow-colored rock falls from thcrocodile armies, giant boogers... and outrageous magical mayhem around every corner. But its not until the grown-ups get their hands on the Rock that the trouble really starts. Now Toe and his newfound friends must join forces to save their town from itself, discovering along the way that what you wish for is not always what you want. e sky, hits him in the head and changes everything. The Rainbow Rock does Mr. Blacks BLACK BOX one better: it grants wishes to anyone who holds it. Before long, wishes-gone-wrong have left the neighborhood swarming with tiny spaceships, crocodile armies, giant boogers... and outrageous magical mayhem around every corner. But its not until the grown-ups get their hands on the Rock that the trouble really starts. Now Toe and his newfound friends must join forces to save their town from itself, discovering along the way that what you wish for is not always what you want.

This movie exhibits group communication. When the rock landed on the grown-ups hands, it shows that displays individual needs. It shows that the individual continuously measure the rewards gained from the group and this process is called evaluation. He was more interested in meeting his own needs and did not care if he harmed his community. He was not able to balance between individual and group needs-Group pressure. However, when Toe and his newfound friends joined forces, they were able to maintain group pressure. They worked together to make complex decisions and had full support of his group members. This allowed him to save his neighbourhood from harm unlike the grown-ups who were selfish in their thoughts.

This movie also exhibits group think. Many employees working in Black Box had pressure on dissenters. They slogged for Mr Black so that they will not be sacked and kicked out of their community. One of the models of group development used is Poole's Multiple Sequence Model. This model suggests that group develops three different but parallel tracks: task track, topic track and relationship track. I feel that this movie displayed more of relationship track because all of them works for Mr Black and they have to ensure that their relationship with Mr Black will not be strained at any point.

In my opinion, this movie clearly demonstrates the features of group communication and group think. It shows the way and thoughts when people join different groups. Everyone has different priorities and Shorts in one such movie that displays it.

Aliens in the Attic

A group of kids defend their Maine vacation home from knee-high alien invaders in this adventure comedy for the entire family. When Michigan native Bethany Pearson (Ashley Tisdale) arrives home after a secret outing with her boyfriend Ricky (Robert Hoffman), her father Stuart (Kevin Nealon) decides that it's high time for a family vacation. Packing up the car with wife Hannah (Ashley Boettcher) teenage son Tom (Carter Jenkins) and big sister Bethany in tow, Stuart invites the extended family to join them at the vacation home for some much-needed R&R and sets his sights on Maine. Much to Tom's dismay, Bethany's stuck-up boyfriend Ricky even manages to wrangle an overnight visit. Shortly after the Pearsons arrive at their sprawling summer home, however, things start to get strange. As dark clouds start to swirl overhead, four glowing objects blast through the sky on a collition course with the Pearsons' roof. But these aren't your typical meteors, because inside dwells tough-talking alien commander Skip, muscle-bound weapons specialist Tazer, lethal female Razor, and geeky four-armed techie Sparks. Before long, the aliens have taken Ricky over via a powerful mind-control device, and announced their intentions to claim Earth for the "Zirkonians." While the adults are completely oblivious to the extraterrestrial threat, the kids fight to save the planet with a little help from Sparks, the alien tech-specialist and one non-hostile invader. John Schultz directs a script penned by British scribe Mark Burton (Wallace & Gromit).

I will focus on the scenes of Ashley Tisdale and Robert Hoffman. These scenes demonstrates certain stages of Knapp Model of Relational Development.

The first scene shows the Intensifying and Integrating stages.

Intensifying stage:

It shows the increased commitment, awareness and participation of both parties. This scene also demonstrate a disclosure of feelings to the other party. There is physical contact between both parties. And the couple displays a relational identity.
Integrating stage:

Bethany and Ricky relationship encompass their social networks which creates a social identity. It is seen in the scene that Ricky visited Bethany even when her family is on a vacation. Bethany's family welcomes Ricky happily which creates a social identity for Ricky.

The second scene shows Differentiating and Circumscribing stages.

Differentiating stage:

It shows the reaffirmation of individuality. Their communication and interaction marked by overt conflict. Their intense differentiation may reflect a relationship that has developed too fast.

Circumscribing stage:

There is a shrinking of relational interest and commitment. Bethany showed Ricky that "She didn't want to talk about it."

These stages are something most dating couples might face during their relationship. Bethany and Ricky relationship definitely describes certain stages of the progression and development of relationships in Knapp Model of relational development.