Help with a film critique assignment

The Psychology Behind Reservoir Dogs

Miami Dade College

( Kimberly Coffman 2020-11-10 22:29:41 -------------------------------------------- Continue this pattern of citing the film and text throughout the paper. ) ( Kimberly Coffman 2020-11-10 22:29:41 -------------------------------------------- ( year ) ) ( Kimberly Coffman 2020-11-10 22:29:41 -------------------------------------------- Outstanding! This is a very novel connection between the film and class material that I do not believe other students have noticed prior. ) ( Kimberly Coffman 2020-11-10 22:29:41 -------------------------------------------- ? his ? ( vs . is) )The Psychology Behind Reservoir Dogs

( Kimberly Coffman 2020-11 -10 22:29:41 -------------------------------------------- trusts ) ( Kimberly Coffman 2020-11-10 22:29:41 -------------------------------------------- Joe ) ( Kimberly Coffman 2020-11-10 22:29:41 -------------------------------------------- ( year ) )Reservoir Dogs is a crime movie set around a botched diamond heist. The heist itself is never shown, only events before and after. The main themes of the film include violence, trust, deceit, loyalty, and identity. The movie is full of criminals who use violence throughout the film, with little to no remorse whatsoever. The conflict of the movie, finding out who the rat is, is entirely centered around trust, deceit, and loyalty. No one really knows who the rat is, testing everyone's trust. In the end, joe said correctly that Mr. Orange is the rat, and his son, loyal to him, agrees. Mr. White, deceived by Mr. Orange, trust him in that he's not the rat. All in all, these themes persist throughout the film and all come Crashing Down in the final scene.

( Kimberly Coffman 2020-11-10 22:29:41 -------------------------------------------- (Need a citation for the text here). )One topic that we discussed that was also present in the film Reservoir Dogs is irrational self-talk. Self-talk is described as the commentary your mind comes up with throughout the entire day. Irrational self-talk is when the self-talk you engage in is an irrationally negative reaction to your situation. The scene that represents this topic is when Mr. Orange was telling is fabricated weed story to Joe, Eddy, and Mr. White. He was in the bathroom with four cops and a K9 while carrying a bag with weed hidden inside. The cops look at him and the K9 barks. This is when the irrational self-talk is comes in. He is struck with anxiety and explained saying: “Panic hits me like a bucket of water” (Bender, 1992). Mr. Orange is telling himself he knows the cops know he was selling drugs, even though, in the end, it’s revealed that they didn’t care about him at all and were focused on their own conversation. This is a clear example of irrational self-talk present in the film.

Another concept we discussed that was shown in a scene from Reservoir Dogs is problem-focused coping. Problem-focused coping is when someone faces a problem directly and urgently in order to solve it. The person dealing with the problem will quickly move to locate the

( Kimberly Coffman 2020-11-10 22:29:41 -------------------------------------------- them ; they open... ) ( Kimberly Coffman 2020-11-10 22:29:41 -------------------------------------------- ( spell out contractions) ) ( Kimberly Coffman 2020-11-10 22:29:41 -------------------------------------------- Excellent - again! )source of stress and then act to remove it. An example of problem-focused coping in the film was demonstrated by Mr. Pink after he, Mr. White, and Mr. Orange got to the safe house after the heist went sideways. They were anxious and wanting to figure out what to do. This is when Mr. Pink showed problem-focused coping. They get into an argument about what they should do from that point. Mr. Pink is focused on saving himself by leaving the warehouse and finding a safer place. He doesn’t care about Mr. Orange bleeding out; turning him over to a hospital is too risky for Mr. Pink’s own safety. He sees the problem is his own safety and immediately focuses on solving the issue, or in other words, saving himself.

( Kimberly Coffman 2020-11-10 22:29:41 -------------------------------------------- The frustration... )Frustration-aggression hypothesis is a topic that we discussed that was present in the film as well. The general idea of it is that frustration is met as a result of one’s failure to reach their goal. This frustration subsequently and directly leads to anger and aggression. It’s widely believed that this theory is true, but things other than frustration play equal roles in leading to aggression. The topic was demonstrated in the ending scene of the film, in which a Mexican standoff occurs. Everyone is frustrated by the botched heist and the fact that someone was a rat. Eddy was mad that he was lied to about the situation in which his friend, Mr. Blonde was killed. Joe thinks Mr. Orange is the rat and is going to kill him. This is frustration with the failed heist leading to aggression. In addition, Mr. White is frustrated that Joe is going to kill Mr. Orange, whom he trusts and doesn’t believe is a cop. All this builds up to aggression by them all where they open fire on each other.

Learning how to be a good conversationalist is an essential concept from this semester, and was also displayed in Reservoir Dogs. Being a good conversationalist comes from a good understanding of how to read other’s nonverbal behaviors and words, and react to them appropriately. This is definitely a learning process, especially around new people. After getting

( Kimberly Coffman 2020-11-10 22:29:41 -------------------------------------------- Nice!! ) ( Kimberly Coffman 2020-11-10 22:29:41 ----- --------------------------------------- were )in the car with Mr. White, Mr. Pink and Eddy, Mr. Orange was learning how to be a good conversationalist. In the beginning, he didn’t say anything and looked slightly uncomfortable. Then, he was observing and analyzing the way the others, whom he had to learn to behave like in order to blend in as an inexperienced undercover cop. After this, he begins to interject with his own comments in the conversation the others where having. He even cracks a few laughs alongside them. This shows Mr. Orange’s process of becoming a better conversationalist with the others.

Having a type-A personality is characterized by being a driven, goal-oriented person who is controlling of the situation in which they are in. They are focused heavily on achieving the end goal, while maintaining control and having power over the task at hand. In the film, Mr.

Blonde exemplifies someone with type-A personality traits, specifically when he first gets to the warehouse and argues with Mr. White. Mr. White wants to ditch the original plan of waiting for everyone else at the warehouse to regroup. Mr. Blonde then responds by telling Mr. White that nobody is going leave the building and even threatens Mr. White saying: Don’t take another step” (Abascal, Brucato, Stephenson, & Brucato, 2015). Mr. Blonde is focused strictly on adhering to the plan and following the rules and plan set up by Joe. Also, he is showing very controlling behavior as he is making sure no one does what he thinks they shouldn’t do in order to stick to the plan and finish the task at hand.

Leadership is an additional topic found in the film as well as our curriculum. Leadership is taken by someone who is in charge of a group of others who are working to achieve a goal. A leader will focus on the way others think and feel in order to navigate them towards successfully accomplishing an objective. Mr. White definitely embodies the role of leader in the film. After Mr. Orange is shot, he saves him and brings him to the warehouse. He cares for the guy he was

serving as both a mentor and friend to. Also, when talking to Mr. Pink, he helps calm him down and asks for what he knows in order to piece together what happened. Finally, he acts as a leader when he formulates a plan to leave and take Mr. Orange to the hospital to save his life, and to get out of the warehouse, believing it to be compromised due to the rat, and dangerous for any of them to stay in.

( Kimberly Coffman 2020-11-10 22:29:41 -------------------------------------------- person's ) ( Kimberly Coffman 2020-11-10 22:29:41 - ------------------------------------------- (I think you likely meant to remove this) )Practicing empathy is yet another concept discussed this semester that was also represented in Reservoir Dogs. Empathy is one’s ability to view the world from the perspective of someone else.1 Subsequently, they will be able to feel the way the other person feels, through their empathy. This makes the other person feels, through their empathy. This makes the other persons experiences and perspective more understandable and relatable. A clear example of empathy occurs in the opening scene of the film, where everyone that’s a part of the heist is having breakfast together. Mr. Pink did not want to tip the waitress his share, and made some rather insensitive comments about waitresses. Mr. White practices empathy and stands up for waitresses. He uses empathy to understand the perspective of waitresses and defend the tough positions in life that many are in. He pointed out that many of them rely on tips to survive. By practicing empathy, Mr. White can see life through their eyes and stands up for them.

Friendship was subtly present throughout the film as well. Friendship is a key factor in any relationship in which trust is necessary. Real friendship is a strong interpersonal connection in which many qualities, such as respect and trust are present. Creating a friendship with someone you work with can be a great way to make sure you work together and have each other’s back if any issue is to come about. In the film, Mr. White and Mr. Orange develop a friendship. An example of this is when Mr. Orange is bleeding to death. Mr. Pink just wants to leave and doesn’t care too much about him. Mr. White, on the other hand, cared greatly about

Mr. Orange and stood up for him. He insisted that they take him to a hospital, despite the risk of the police interrogating him after. He trusts Mr. Orange and wants to save his life. This is indicative of a true friendship.

Modeling is when you learn by imitating someone else do what you desire to do. This is also known as observational learning. observing the actions of others engages the same neurons in the Observer as the one being observed. Additionally, observing causes muscles of the Observer that would be used in that activity to receive electrical impulses, virtually simulating the actions being learned. This occurs in the film when Mr. Orange is learning about going undercover from Holdaway, is cop mentor. Holdaway is experienced in undercover operations and is trying to show Mr. Orange the ways of behavior as an undercover cop. While on the rooftop, he explains how to tell a fake story to the criminals that are part of the heist. He closely follows his mentor's advice and ideas and later in the film, executes telling the story perfectly, everything as a great example of modeling in the film.

Lastly, frame of reference was represented throughout Reservoir Dogs and was discussed in class as well. Someone’s frame of reference is the lens through which they see the world and interact with it based on perspective. Experiencing any situation will lead you to use your frame of reference to understand and react to it. After a frame of reference is developed, it will be stored in your mind, ready to analyze and help you react to the next situation you are in. A scene in which frame of reference can be clearly seen is when Mr. Pink and Mr. White are talking to each other about their experiences during the heist, trying to accurately determine everything that went down. Mr. Pink asks Mr. White if he killed anyone. He responds by telling him that he only killed a few cops. Mr. Pink answers with: No real people?” (Bender, 1992) with Mr. White repeating that it was just some cops that he killed. This shows their frame of reference pretty

well. Both being experienced criminals, they have most likely been in situations like that in the past. Those experiences have shaped a frame of reference in which they don’t care about the lives of cops at all, they only care about getting their money and surviving.

Reservoir Dogs has been one of my favorites for years. I enjoy the non-linear story a lot, as well as the plot itself. Tarantino took the idea of criminals pulling off a heist, and turned it into something much more unique and thought-provoking. I also love the way the soundtrack was presented- trough the radio station playing in scenes throughout the film. The dialogue is gritty, dark, and well-done throughout with great acting all around. The violence was intense enough to portray the criminals as such, but was nothing over the top, with the ending Mexican standoff serving as a perfect conclusion. There aren’t really any complaints I have with this film at all. I loved it the first time I saw it as a young kid, and I still think it’s an amazing film to this day.

References

Abascal, J. R., Brucato, L., Stephenson, P., and Brucato, D. (2015). Essential Elements for Effectiveness: Optimal Functioning Through Positive Psychology (6th. ed.). Boston: Pearson.

Bender, L. (Producer) Tarantino, Q. (Director), 2002. Reservoir Dogs [Motion Picture]. United States: Miramax (Original Work Release 1992). DVD.