Judd Apatow's comedy "Knocked Up" was written and directed by him. In June of 2007, the picture was released. Seth Rogen (Ben Stone), Katherine Heigi (Alison Scott), Leslie Mann (Debbie), Paul Rudd (Pete), and John Segel (Jason), among others, play characters in the film. It chronicles the lives and relationships of Ben Stone and Alison Scott, as well as the lives of the other cast members. Ben, a young man who is initially careless and unemployed, has sex with Alison Scott, a freshly promoted media celebrity, in a classic "one-night stand" after meeting at a local nightclub. Given that they fail to use protection, Alison becomes pregnant afterwards, which propels the subsequent episodes of the film. Towards the end, we observe Ben’s transformation into a responsible man that is willing to care for his pregnant wife and the oncoming baby. The movie ends with the two entangled in a pretty happy relationship.
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Character Identity
Alison Scott
Career woman/media personality/girlfriend/pro-life advocate
Perceptual lens: Pessimistic/less trusting/feminist
Character presentation
Sense of self-accomplishment, self-worth, self-fulfilling, classism
Other’s perception
Accomplished, sensitive, aloof (at times), temperamental, opinionated, domineering.
Active listener-she listens more than speaks; opposite of Debbie.
Competent communicator: Matches verbal communication with non-verbal aspects (communicative distance, kinesics, touch, etc.). e.g Demonstrates denigrating stare towards Ben in episode 2 (“Did we have sex?”)- Gropes Ben’s body using her leg to wake him up.
Cooperative communication principles: Setting-specific communication styles, selective connection with others (Ben, for instance). Collaborative communication with her bosses during the announcement of her promotion.
A lot of “you” language in episode one; minimal “I” language/”You were talking about me?” “You want me to lose weight?”
Emotionally intelligent communication- setting and message appropriate emotions in her dialogue/surprised when offered promotion (mouth slightly agape).
Modest ethics; language use modestly moral and ethical- occasional obscenities; modest euphemism.
Nonverbal cues- setting-specific proxemics, haptics, vocalics, & kinesics.
Character Relationships
Alison Scott and Ben Stone
Romantic relationship; nightclub; unsafe sex and subsequent pregnancy.
Relationship termination
Alison is attractive; Ben is geeky; sharp contrast, interpersonal attraction between the pair based on social proximity –social attraction.
Ben is available to Alison whenever in need; the visit to the gynecologist, through labor- he knows her importance: mate value.
Relationship continuum: strangers, one-night sexual encounter, acquaintances- Ben sheds prejudice, opinion, belief and insensitivity regarding Alison’s pregnancy- social penetration.
Knapp’s model: Initiation-Alison’s attractiveness (dress, personality, appearance etc.) to geeky Ben; experimentation: one-night unsafe sex, incompatibilities, partying; intensification: Ben helping Alison through her pregnancy; integration- Ben and Alison marry & love is evident; bonding- Ben moves out of his friend’s house, becomes an office web designer, makes baby room in new apartment; termination- Alison and Ben develop closer, non-appearance related intimacy.
Conflict: Alison discovers she is pregnant; scene tensed; Alison cries; Ben less concerned; each talked to parents for guidance- Ben’s father advised more responsibility; Alison’s mother calls for abortion; decision making process.
Conclusion
Alison Scott respects life; foregoes abortion as advised by mother, sensitive and responsible.
Lesson: Relationships take time; early differences do not warrant future collaborations and bonding; with time, they become successful.
Character Identity
Alison Scott is a career woman and media personality who has just been promoted at the start of the film. The promotion can be attributed to her industry, as intimated by her boss saying, “You got it here, you got it there, and everybody is gonna see you right there.” As a successful media personality, she is less trusting of the world and prefers to be pessimistic until she finds optimism in what she does or a relationship she engages. This pessimisms allows her to maintain a safe distance with Ben until he proves himself responsible enough to be with her. She is also a prolife feminist who births her unborn child instead of bowing to her mother’s pressure to abort. This aspect means that although she respects others opinions, she sticks to her firm beliefs, making her resolute. For that matter, she comes out as a person of self-worth, who not only believes in herself but also in her feminine instincts. She is also self-accomplished, as evidenced by her media profile and recent promotion at the company. Because of all these achievements, others view her as a successful media stalwart, an embodiment of contemporary feminist who juggles between work and attending to her pregnancy. She is also seen as domineering, opinionated, and temperamental, on account of her relationship with Ben, whom she perceives as irresponsible and unsuitable for her. These attributes drive her character and the film’s plot.
On interpersonal communication, Alison is a competent communicator. She employs a mix of cooperative communication principles depending on the setting and message to be communicated. While communicating with her bosses, she employs a collaborative approach to communication. Her turn-taking and question-answer session with them underpins this cooperativity, which, in a two-way communication reminiscent of the collaborative approach. Alison is used to news casting and journalistic interviews, but in this episode, she had to cut off those competencies to accommodate her bosses. This accommodation is evident when she also dialogues with Ben at the nightclub, which is essential for social approval and addition of social contacts. In her relationship with Ben, Alison frequently adopts the “I/You” language. She does this to emphasize her position and shift blame to others. However, that changes when she perceives that Ben has transformed into a responsible man. She shifts her language to “we” to empathize inclusion and attachment.
In all these communication incidences, Alison matches her emotional intelligence and nonverbal cues to the message delivered. When she is astonished by her promotional news, her mouth gapes, the head tilts slightly, and the eyes becomes a bit larger. These kinesic strategies are reminiscent of the emotional reaction of surprise, depicting Alison’s astonished state at the news. She maintains a social and public space between herself and her bosses, as well as with Ben immediately after the sexual encounter. This physical distance is reminiscent of the intimacy between interlocutors, demonstrating the anecdotes of social space. However, when Alison goes into labor, the physical space reduces to personal and intimate state, showing the pair as romantically engaged to each other. Her vocals also change depending on the setting and her emotional state. For instance, her voice is high-pitched and shrill when angry, as evidenced when she throws Ben out of the car. Although there are some incidences of language obscenities during communication, Alison shows maturity and euphemisms in most of her interpersonal interactions. These attributes depict her as a competent and ethical communicator.
Character Relationships
Alison and Ben are intimate, and share a romantic relationship, which begins at a nightclub and becomes heightened by Alison’s pregnancy, although in between sexual encounter and just before going into labor, they experience relational uncertainty. The playwright depicts Alison as a beautiful and very attractive person while Ben is contrasted as a geeky and irresponsible fellow. Applying the social attraction theory, the pair has virtually non-existent qualities that draws them together. Their views on life and relationships are utterly discordant and divergent, predicting a possible break up with memories of that one night encounter. And true to this prediction, the pair parts and each goes back to do their own businesses.
However, the discovery of the pregnancy is expected to tilt thing towards the relationship betterment since the pair has found a commonality in their estranged relationship. This common ground experiences incur additional test when Alison’s mother advises her to abort and focus on her career. By choosing to keep the baby, Alison establishes an alternate route to their stale relationship. This turn of events confirms the social penetration theory, which posits that relationships move from shallow non-intimate relationships into deeper and more intimate ones, with time being the baseline for that shift. The film depicts the pair apparently undergoing transformation, which begins with Ben’s conversation with his father, and this change is inductively transferred to Alison, who experiences transformation from Ben’s supposed reform into a responsible man. This change enables him to stay with his wife throughout labor, in a classical caring relationships that confirms mate value. This phasic changes confirms Knapp’s model of development and termination. The pregnancy conflict, which brought out Alison’s irate behavioral repertoire, and Ben’s responsible character drives the plot, amidst destructive messages of abortion and blame games. Its resolution where Ben and Alison become happily married after the baby’s birth confirm that turbulent relationships at first, end with intimacy.
Conclusion
Alison is an embodiment of contemporary feminism where women juggle between work and intimate relationships. Although pregnancy can hinder job performance, her decision to keep the baby amidst abortion calls makes her a strong prolife advocate. Her relationship with Ben at first is dull and empty from lack of a commonality between the pair, except for the pregnancy, which later unites them makes them more intimate. This movie has taught me that estranged relationships at first, end up becoming more intimate and successful afterwards. Personally, if my relationship is devoid of intimacy at first, I will avoid jumping ships immediately and remain patient, since, according to the social penetration theory, relationships move through a continuum of shallowness to depth and intimacy, with time being the baseline factor.
