How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
Whenever people interact, they choose what information to reveal to each other depending on how they want people to view tem. One reveals information that will help him gain his or her self-interest in a relationship. In almost every relationship between two people, there are secrets one keeps to keep the relationship going and achieve his personal interests in the relationship. According to the social interaction theory, the unfolding of this hidden information may either ruin or build a relationship between two people. The self-interests of a person determine what information he discloses in a relationship. On the other hand, it is the nature of a person to seek information about their partners in an interaction process to reduce the uncertainty between them. The discovery of the hidden motives and secrets may either ruin a relationship or strengthen it. Donald Petrie’s movie “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days’ portrays these concepts of interaction. The motives behind most interactions in the movie are influenced by self- interests and cause major conflict in the movie.
The movie revolves around the two main characters Andie Anderson who is a writer at a magazine and Benjamin Barry who sells diamonds and other jewels. Inspired by hey friends breakup Andie decides to write a story on how to lose a guy in ten days. She discloses a mission to date a guy and make him quit the relationship in ten days. On the other hand, Barry has a bet with his boss that he can make a girl fall in love with him in just ten days. If he succeeded in doing so, he would get a promotion. Barry’s work mates Judy spears and Judy green organize for Andie and Barry to meet and date in order to ensure that Barry fails in his dare. Andie makes Barry’s life difficult when they are dating. Barry on the other hand perseveres in order to succeed. After ten days the two are truly in love with each other. Barry gets his promotion but his friends expose him. He also learns about Andie’s article and they break. However, when he reads Andie’s article, he realizes that she had really fallen in love with him and reconciles with her.
The social exchange theory is a theory that explains the reasons that people reveal their personal information at certain points of their interactions. There are several factors that influence what information one reveals and when one reveals certain information. As people interact, more they reveal more information about themselves that leads to effective socialization between them. The main factor that determines what information one reveals is the self-interest. The motives of a person in a relationship determine what information he reveals and what information he conceals. One reveals information that will help him get what he wants from the relationship. The more benefits there are in a relationship, the more one reveals more information about himself.
In the movie ‘how to lose a guy in 10 days’ the interaction between characters is influenced by their self motives. Andie gets into a relationship with Barry in order to get the experience, which would help her in writing her in writing her article. Barry on the other hand gets into the relationship in order to get a promotion at work. As they interact they get to know each other better and better. Each person determines the information to reveal to their partner at specific places of the relationship in order to achieve their motive. Andie manipulates Barry’s interests to make him quit the relationship while Barry introduces Andie to her family to make her fall in love with him. Barry’s workmates Judy spears and Judy green also disclose information sparingly to stop Barry from achieving his goal. They introduce Barry to Andie to make sure that Barry fails to get the promotion. When Barry succeeds in his mission, they play a big part in revealing the truth, which partially ruins Andie and Barry’s relationship.
The dynamics of Andie and Barry’s relationship reflect the various components of every relationship. One of the most important components of their relationship is expectations. They all have various expectations from each other. Andie tries to frustrate Barry’s expectations by ruining all the activities he liked. She interrupts his poker with his friend and makes him miss a basketball match in order to frustrate his expectations and make him leave. The pattern of their relationship is complimentary. In a complimentary relationship, one person reacts opposite of the other in order to maintain their relationship. Barry accepts to go with Andie to Celine Dion’s concert to keep the relationship going. when Andie acts as a control freak, Barry humbles himself and agrees to be controlled in order to keep the relationship going. the fact that Barry wants to be in this relationship in order to achieve his goal gives Andie the control of the relationship.
Every relationship is divided into various stages. The most important stage of a relationship is the identity stage. At this stage, every partner tries to know his or her other partner better. They both try to portray only their favorable characteristics in order to win create a good identity in their partner. After the relationship grows the negative and true characteristics begin to emerge. Some of the truths hidden emerge which may either strengthen or ruin the relationship. In Andie and Barry’s relationship they both displayed positive attributes in their first days of the relationship. Barry was the patient guy who always understood Andie. Andie on the other hand was cheerful and loving when trying to get Andie’s attention. However, with time they both display their true characteristics, which lead to the end of their relationship. The exposure of the truth however made them realize that they were truly in love with each other and therefore strengthened their relationship in the end.
In human nature, one has to interact with others in the society. These interactions are guided by various dynamics of interpersonal interactions. These interactions lead to various relationships in a person’s life. In each relationship, each person has hidden motives, characters, and secrets, which come out in the later stage of the relationship. When these truths come out they may either ruin the relationship or strengthen it. The movie how to lose a guy in 10 minutes illustrates this fact. Andie and Barry get into the relationship with hidden agendas. The revelation of these secrets is the glue that holds their relationship together.
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