Term Paper in

Communication

Theories

Nadine Gillan H. Garcia

BACR 2 - 1

Nadine Gillan H. Garcia

BACR 2-1

SHIFT

Felix Rocco’s character, Trevor in the movie ‘Shift’ is a gay and Yeng Constantino plays

the role of Estela, who is the best friend of Trevor. At first Estela really sees her best friend as a

gay but as they spent more time together, she actually fell in love with Trevor. And then

suddenly, she felt awkward working and being with him. This scene can represent the theory we

called Cognitive Dissonance. This theory states that human beings often have conflicting beliefs

with actions they take, or other beliefs they have. This theory gives a basic explanation for the

way humans react when they act outside of their beliefs. Estela still knows that her best friend is

gay but she has this thought in her mind that maybe he can love her back the way she loves him.

Because of this the conflict between them started. She acts as if Trevor is a real guy because she

loves him romantically. She is acting opposite on what she believes.

The next theory that I would like to link in one of the scenes in the movie is the

Attribution Theory. It explain the causes of people's behavior and attributing or explaining

reasons as to why people behave the way they do. In this case, Estela starts to avoid Trevor

because of her realization. Trevor noticed it at he is wondering why. He thought he did

something bad or he said something that Estela didn’t like. She just became different and starts

to treat him differently because she loves him. This explains why she suddenly changed; it is the

cause of her new behavior.

Interpersonal Deception Theory, this can also explain a scene from the movie. Here,

communication senders attempt to manipulate messages so as to be untruthful, which may cause

them apprehension concerning their false communication being detected. For so many times,

Trevor tried to reach out to Estela not just by talking personally but also through calling, texting,

and chatting her. But unfortunately, she refuses to reply. When he’s asking what the problem is,

Estela is always telling him that there is none although he know there was but didn’t exactly

know what it was. When they had the chance to talk to he asked again what the problem is,

Estela lied again to Trevor saying that her problem has nothing to do with him.

KABISERA

In the movie Kabisera, Joel Torre portrayed the role Andres. He is a fisherman and is

living with his family near the sea. One day, he saw an ice box containing something he didn’t

expect. It was full of drugs. First, he told his wife about this then afterwards when they had the

deal that they will sell it, he told his friend about it knowing that he could help them. As

Cognitive Dissonance Theory states, human beings often have conflicting beliefs with actions

they take, or other beliefs they have. He knows that it’s really bad to be a pusher but he

continued to do it because he believes that by doing that it could help them to have a more

comfortable life. He doesn’t use drugs but he wants something to sell that will give him a high

profit. I know that he believes it was wrong but he still continued to do it for his family’s future.

Social Penetration Theory can also be seen in the movie. This theory gives explanation

states that as relationships develop, communication moves from relatively shallow, nonintimate

levels to deeper, more personal ones. The more time we spend with others, the more likely we

are to self-disclose more intimate thought and details of our life. Andres and his daughter are

very close until this young lady decided to move to Manila and get married to someone. All the

details are set for the wedding, Andres and his family has nothing to worry about but to go to

Manila and attend the wedding. But because he has only one daughter, he treats her like a child

and don’t want her to get married. Every time they call, her father wants her to get back where

they live. And if he agrees to the wedding, he doesn’t want them to live in Manila but here. He

offered that he will build a house for them. Because of these circumstances, he didn’t notice that

he actually built a huge wall between him and his daughter. When I was watching the movie, I

thought that sometimes his daughter doesn’t want to talk to her anymore on the phone.

The third theory is the Expectancy Violation Theory. It sees communication as the

exchange of information which is high in relational content and can be used to violate the

expectations of another which will be perceived as either positively or negatively depending on

the liking between the two people. When Andres had the power to kill his future son-in-law, he

didn’t hesitate to do it. And it brought so much pain to her daughter, of course nobody know who

killed the man but only Andres and the police. He thinks that her daughter also wants to be with

the family and he did it for her to come back. In that way, his family will be finally be complete

and happy again. That is what he expects, but what really happen is different from what he

expects. As I picture what I watched, their family became worse. It brought negative outcome.

But still, he believes it is the right thing to do.

BLUE BUSTAMANTE

Blue Bustamante is one of my favorites in the set of movies we watched. It is about a

father who sacrificed to work to Japan for him to give his family a better life. When he left, it

really affect his wife especially his son. Before, they were very close but because of what he has

to do. According to Social Penetration Theory as the relationships develop, communication

moves from relatively shallow, nonintimate levels to deeper, more personal ones. The more time

we spend with others, the more likely we are to self-disclose more intimate thought and details of

our life. His son has friends to play with and he is addicted to a new cartoon entitled Force Five.

When George and his son were separated, they didn’t have time to talk to each other. Also, his

son still feels bad because he has to leave. Yes, their distance is so far but not only their locations

but also how they treat each other especially how his son treats him.

The other theory that represents a scene in the movie is the Uncertainty Reduction

Theory. It tells us that the initial interactions between strangers are characterized by information

seeking in order to reduce uncertainty. Uncertainty is reduced as levels of self-disclosure,

nonverbal warmth, and similarity increase. He met a girl in Japan when he is in a coffee shop

with his friend and I think that they are also neighbors. I can see that the girl is very shy mostly

when she encounters George. But when they had the chance to have dinner together, they talked

to each other although it’s a little bit confusing because they use different language. The one uses

Japanese language and he uses Filipino language. But because of that it reduced the uncertainty

they are feeling. Eventually, they became comfortable with each other.

Interpersonal Deception Theory says that communication senders attempt to manipulate

messages so as to be untruthful, which may cause them apprehension concerning their false

communication being detected. Simultaneously, communication receivers try to unveil or detect

the validity of that information, causing suspicion about whether or not the sender is being

deceitful. Because of not finding a job as an engineer in Japan, he works as an action star. He

played the role Blue Force in the cartoon Force Five. He’s quite embarrassed about it because

he’s there to work as an engineer and not as an artist. And that is not what his family knows.

Every time her wife is asking him through letter and one time on a phone call how well is his

work he always says things and situations about engineering but the truth is, he’s one of the stars

in the cartoon his son wants to watch. And George’s character is his son’s favorite.

Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon?’

The message of the movie ‘Ganito Kami Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon?’ is what the real

definition of being a Filipino is. Because at that time, the Spaniards are conquering us. This

movie nurtured our nationalism. It strengthens our love for our own country. It showed that we

don’t need to be slaves in our own country. Of course by that time, the Filipinos are afraid of the

Spaniards because they have the strength and power to kill us. But it also showed how we love to

be a Filipino. We love where we came from and we are proud for who we are. It is not enough to

be born in the country in order to be called a Filipino. One should also love his country through

actions.

I think this movie shows a lot situations that can be categorize to the Interpersonal

Deception Theory. I would say that for me, it is the best theory that describes the movie. This

theory explains that communication senders attempt to manipulate messages so as to be

untruthful, which may cause them apprehension concerning their false communication being

detected. Simultaneously, communication receivers try to unveil or detect the validity of that

information, causing suspicion about whether or not the sender is being deceitful. Christopher de

Leon’s character, Kulas is a kind-hearted and gullible guy and because of this, everyone wants to

take advantage to him. Just like what stated in the theory, many deceived Kulas. First is the priest

he met along his way. When they went to the church the priest said to one person there that he

doesn’t know who Kulas is and he might be a spy from the Spaniards even after helping him.

The next one is Diding who was portrayed by Gloria Diaz. Obviously, Kulas is truly, madly, and

deeply in love with her and this love gave her the chance to fool Kulas. He tried his best to be the

right man for her but instead of loving him back, he also deceived Kulas. She was a social

climber as I understand in the movie. Kulas believed her and they lived together but Diding also

seduced Don Tibor. The third person is the care taker of the house he is living who is Concordia.

He acts like her loyalty is with Kulas but the truth is all she want is the house and she can’t

believe that the priest will leave the house to Kulas and not to her. And the last one is Don Tibor.

He has a wife in Iloilo but he entertained Diding, maybe because she is pretty but they are doing

bad things behind Kulas’ back. When Diding left Kulas and he is searching for him, he went to

Tibor’s home for his help. Tibor said that Diding wasn’t there but suddenly, the lady went out

from his house. This made Kulas mad, but despite of all the lies he still found himself forgiving

those people who made him like a fool.

This movie thought me a lot of lesson but most importantly this thought me how to be a

true Filipino. We need to be proud for being a Filipino.