Social Psychological Theories: The Incredible - Movie Review Example

Social Psychological Theories: “The Incredible” Movie Review Social Psychological Theories: “The Incredible” Movie Review Introduction “The incredibles” is an American computer- animated movie. The film was written and directed in 2004 by Brad Bird. The film expounds on an anecdote of superhero families in a sub-urban area. This family was commonly known as Bob Parr’s family comprising of a couple, Bob and Helen and three children, Jack-Jack, Dash, and Violent. The family was however forced by the government to hide their superior ability from other members of the society. The Bob Parr’s family specifically used their power to save their community members from external enemies. As the story unfolds, the audience is made to understand that the family members lived an ordinary life and held some social responsibilities in their community. The film also reveals another super entity; “the powerful Omnidroid”, which used its superpowers to frustrated their enemies. The film reveals consistent conflicts between the two super families. However, due to excellent cooperation and teamwork, the Bob Parr’s family remained powerful and dominant in the society. The “the Incredibles” reveals the presence of various social psychological principles and theories in a contemporary society. The Principle of Cognitive Dissonance The “supers” in the movie were highly respected in the society and were presumed to be the society’s heroes. “The supers”, especially Bob Parr’s family were regarded to be the society’s ultimate saviors. Due to their superior status, “the supers” in the film engaged in severe destruction, forcing the government to institute a program to force them to adopt civilian lifestyle. This program forced Bob to work in a white collar job in an insurance company. However, despite the existence of a program to regulate the operations of the “supers”, Bob held a strong attitude and belief in his ability. As a result, Bob lost his job after using his super strength against his boss. Bob’s behavior can exhaustively be expounded by cognitive balance aspects as explained in cognitive dissonance principle of social psychology. Cognitive dissonance is used to describe individuals with more than one conflicting cognitions. Cognitive dissonance refers to the examination of the level of individual’s relationship with cognitions. Human beings are however presumed to have motivational drives that play an incredibly decisive role in reducing dissonance by minimizing the prevailing conflict of interest (Baumeister & Bushman, 2012). Cognitive dissonance can as well be described as distressing mental status which makes human beings engage in activities that do not coincide with their beliefs and knowledge. Human beings ensure that their expectations are in line with the reality through the development of a consistent equilibrium between the perception and their actions. To facilitate long term balance between the reality and their beliefs, human beings are advised to engage in dissonance, reduction process by altering one of their dissonant facets, by increasing consonant elements or by reducing the significance of one of the discordant factors. Moreover, Cognitive Dissonance also aids in the exploration of human social and psychological wellbeing that include: childhood development, ethnic prejudice, conformity, and human psychological makeup. Based on cognitive balance aspects in cognitive dissonance principle, Bob utilized his motivational drives to succeed in his career in an insurance firm until the time he was unable to balance his conflicting cognitions. His act of using his super power against his boss was a clear indication of imbalance between the reality and his beliefs. By relying on this incident, the film can to some extent be presumed to be conflicting balance between reality and belief aspects of cognitive dissonance. Cognition is as well the knowledge that is brought about by individual’s values, attitudes, and behaviors. For instance, the understanding held by Bob on his powers is a cognition knowledge brought about by his personal past experiences and perceptions. The principle further observes that, people have multiple cognitions that form consonant, irrelevant, or dissonant relations. Bob’s reaction to his boss was a result of failing to balance between his conflicting cognitions. Bob’s inability to balance his conflicting cognitions made him feel frustrated and used his super energy against his personal belief. Afterwards Bob regrets his actions. Principle of Conformity Despite their absolute powers and respect, the government instituted a program to ensure that, the society’s “supers” existed harmoniously with other community members. The Bob Parr family lived in good relationship with other members of the community. They made the family to be labeled as the society’s heroes and saviors. However, Bob failed to live in accordance to the expectations and regulations of the society. Out of frustration, Bob attacked his boss and as a result he lost his job. This scenario can be analytically explained by overt and indirect conformity aspects of conformity principle in social psychology. Conformity principle is defined as an attempt to match individuals’ behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs with group norms and regulations (Baumeister & Bushman, 2012). The attempts to conform to the community’s requirements is however associated with several overt and indirect pressures. In most cases, human beings conform to the society’s requirements in order to feel secure in the group. People who fail to conform to the community requirements are in most cases faced with a risk of being excluded in their groups. Conformity is incredibly useful in maintaining social norms which necessitate an unsurprising and smooth operation in a society by preventing activities that are perceptually perilous and upsetting. Conformity principle also explains social process, social interactions and the existing interplay between human beings and their culture, socialization process, belief and attitude. Individuals’ attitudes, beliefs and perceptions are specifically defined by the existing cultural and social background. Social norms are as well presumed to be the guiding principle that facilitates the existence of a society or a group (Baumeister & Bushman, 2012). In “The Incredibles” film, the government’s initiative to develop a super relocation program against “supers” was an attempt to create harmony in the society by minimizing collateral damages that were previously committed by the society’s “supers”. To conform to community and the government requirements, Bob was forced to work in insurance firms in order to earn his living. He was also forced to have a family as per the requirements of his community. However, the insults against his boss tarnish his image in the society. The feeling of rejection in the society forced him to accept an offer to assist “Mirage” in the fight against robot. The film however fails to clearly explain the social background of the community under study. Therefore, the audience does not understand the sources of the superpowers held by the two popular super families Group Think Principle Despite not being aware of her husband’s new plan, Helen still offered maximum support to his husband Bob. Helen worked extremely hard to identify the island where his husband was. To together with her family, she planned and executed an initiative to save Bob who had faked his death. Teamwork between the Helen and Lucius played an incredibly decisive role in destroying the robot. Based on my understanding, this scenario can best be explained by creativity and agitations aspects as explained in groupthink social psychological principle. The principle applies to a group of people with a strong desire for harmonious and peaceful co-existence. The main aim of group teamwork is to minimize conflicts and develop consensus on critical issues (Baumeister & Bushman, 2012). Despite its positive impact in facilitating harmonious coexistence, groupthink leads to loss of individual independence, creativity, and individuality in thinking. Due to effective teamwork, the decision to rescue Bob was not at all comprised by external factors. Helen and his family did not consider the possibility of losing their lives in their rescue exercise. To minimize unnecessary conflicts in the family, Helen was forced to ignore her perception that his husband might be having an affair. Instead, Helen embarked on an effort to rescue his husband. The risky plan to rescue Jack-Jack was agreed upon without considering the side effects of such plan. However, the film fails to comply with groupthink aspects that facilitate harmonious co-existence. Bob did not comply with his family agreements to maintain peaceful relationship with other people in the society and in contrary he opted to support another groups to fight their enemies. On the other hand, it was against the principle of groupthink for Bob to use his powers against his boss. Conclusion Coexistence in a society is to a great extent facilitated by compliance with social psychological principles. Social psychological principles and theories are essential in explaining the unfolding events in a society. The use of groupthink principle, conformity principle, and cognitive dissonance principles to explain and analyze events in the “The Incredibles” is a clear indication of the role and significance of social psychological principles in a society. Failure to comply with the requirements of social psychology principles can to a great extent lead to confusion and conflict in a society. To get an in-depth understanding of the unfolding activities in the society, adequate understanding of social psychological principles and theories is significantly vital. Reference Baumeister, F. and Bushman, J., (2012). Social Psychology and Human Nature. (2nd Ed). London: Sage. Read More