Cinema Paradiso
Watching the movie was a community
activity in the old days. The atmosphere of watching movie together was
special. It might be the only “modern” entertainment in the countryside. I
think this history of cinema happened in most of the place because some
articles show that similar culture and this kind of communal experience happened
in China before.
In this movie, Salvatore Di Vita lost
his father in the World War 2. To Salvatore, Alfredo had a father figure and also
a friend.
Social influence can be observed
in this movie. Watching movie is one of the most important entertainments at
that time. All of the people could be easily attracted. Simultaneously,
observational learning impacts Salvatore during his childhood. As a significant
person and role model of Salvatore Di Vita’s childhood life, what Alfredo did was
observed and learnt by Salvatore (Fryling, Johnston, Hayes, 2011).
According to Erikson’s theory of
psychosocial development, we can notice that Alfredo was experiencing stage of
generativity in the first half of the movie (McLeod, 2013). He obviously involved
in community activities because of his job. All the community members know who
he is. During this stage, he became a father figure to Salvatore and took care
of him. For example, he gave his own money to Salvatore’s mother when Salvatore
was beaten.
In the
second half of the movie, old Alfredo probably experience a state of despair (McLeod,
2013). He was blinded because of the fire. He was not able to work anymore. He
also advised Salvatore that Salvatore shouldn’t follow his path because the
life of projectionist was boring. He didn’t have any other skill except for
projecting film. Hence, maybe it’s one of the reasons why he wanted Salvatore
to explore the world and never come back. He might feel that he couldn’t teach
him anything in that moment.
At the
end, Salvatore was touched by the short film because he realized that old Alfredo
kept his promise. He promised him that he would give all the films to him during
his childhood and he did it. He realized that Alfredo always remembers him. Classical
conditioning is happening in this part as well because the old film triggered
his feeling of love. The interaction and memory between Salvatore and Alfredo
is the unconditioned stimulus (UCS). The unconditioned response (UCR) is the
feeling of love. The old film is the neutral stimulus (NS).
After
watching this movie, I hope everyone can meet a mentor in one’s life. If we can’t
find even one, we can be the mentor of others.
References
McLeod, S. A. (2013).
Erik Erikson. Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html
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