Recently in our Comm301 course we have been discussing online relationships and the ideas behind interpersonal communication. As we all know, life is always working in funny ways. This particular weekend, right before we began our discussion about these topics, I happened to go home and watch the 2004 movie “A Cinderella Story”. While the movie itself was a bit juvenile and comical, it contained some key concepts about the ideas we are currently studying in class.
The movie portrayed the classic Disney story, “Cinderella,” which I am sure is familiar to all those reading. This rendition of the movie, though, uses real life characters and sets the story line to relate to us in the 21st century. In fact, the characters playing Cinderella and ‘Prince Charming’ meet through an online chat room. Sam (‘Cinderella’) is an offbeat girl who works at a diner and dreams of going to Princeton and finding a new life for herself. Likewise, her chat-room-fling (Austin) claims to be a writer who also dreams of one day attending Princeton. Little does Sam know, though, that the boy behind the computer screen is actually her high school quarter back who is Mr. Popularity at school! The chat room provides Austin with the opportunity to be the person he truly is that the kids at school, as well as his father, never allowed him to be. He is able to reveal his true self to Sam in a way he wouldn’t be able to in person because the contact is not face to face.
In this case, the idea of online communication and relationships was beneficial to the characters in the movie as it allows them to encounter people they might not have ever considered otherwise. They would have not been able to do so without the confidence of online communication. Just like the country song “Online” by Brad Paisley, online communication can give people, especially introverts, the confidence they need to say and do things they may not otherwise feel comfortable with. Online communication and relationships can, on the other hand, be very dangerous and impersonal as well. Because you don’t really know the person you are talking to in most cases, the exchange of personal information can be very risky. Luckily for Sam and Austin, though, they found exactly what they were looking for with the help of technology allowing them to reveal themselves to people they may not have even talked to, let alone dated, because the idea of status and attractiveness were never an issue. ...Now don’t we all wish we could have an ending like “A Cinderella Story”!
The movie portrayed the classic Disney story, “Cinderella,” which I am sure is familiar to all those reading. This rendition of the movie, though, uses real life characters and sets the story line to relate to us in the 21st century. In fact, the characters playing Cinderella and ‘Prince Charming’ meet through an online chat room. Sam (‘Cinderella’) is an offbeat girl who works at a diner and dreams of going to Princeton and finding a new life for herself. Likewise, her chat-room-fling (Austin) claims to be a writer who also dreams of one day attending Princeton. Little does Sam know, though, that the boy behind the computer screen is actually her high school quarter back who is Mr. Popularity at school! The chat room provides Austin with the opportunity to be the person he truly is that the kids at school, as well as his father, never allowed him to be. He is able to reveal his true self to Sam in a way he wouldn’t be able to in person because the contact is not face to face.
In this case, the idea of online communication and relationships was beneficial to the characters in the movie as it allows them to encounter people they might not have ever considered otherwise. They would have not been able to do so without the confidence of online communication. Just like the country song “Online” by Brad Paisley, online communication can give people, especially introverts, the confidence they need to say and do things they may not otherwise feel comfortable with. Online communication and relationships can, on the other hand, be very dangerous and impersonal as well. Because you don’t really know the person you are talking to in most cases, the exchange of personal information can be very risky. Luckily for Sam and Austin, though, they found exactly what they were looking for with the help of technology allowing them to reveal themselves to people they may not have even talked to, let alone dated, because the idea of status and attractiveness were never an issue. ...Now don’t we all wish we could have an ending like “A Cinderella Story”!
6 comments:
Even though its'target audience is girls under the age of 15, i too love this movie. In many ways, it is an example of how we can use computer mediated communication in a good way. Many people become the person that they really want to be while online. I am curious to see if Sam and Austin went though the ten steps of an online relationship.
Even though this movie is for a younger audience, I loved it! I love how they took the story of Cinderella and put it to light in the form of online communication. It was neat how Austin had a completely different personality online. Which can sometimes happen in real life too! I know I have friends that are very quiet in person but won't shutup when talking to them online. They use instant messaging as a way to communicate because they lack social skills in face to face interaction. It would be nice to find your prince charming online but how realistic is that. I don't trust talking to strangers online. Because who knows when they're telling the truth and when they're not.
Personally, I have never seen the movie, but it appears that it involves an interesting storyline. I know it’s a fiction movie, but I am sure this type of situation occurs often. We usually hear the negative sides of online communication such as antisocial behavior, but we rarely hear the positive aspects. Online communication can allow people, especially teenagers, to be who they want to be rather than trying to fit into a particular societal niche. I wouldn't recommend looking for love online, but I think avenues for conversations such as Instant Messaging are good for individuals who may have difficulty putting their feelings into words.
I also loved this movie. When I first watched it, I did not believe that anything like this could actually happen. As I thought about it more and more, and all about the technology that is as our disposal today, I understood the movie more. I can relate to "cinderella" in this movie because, I feel sometimes, that it is much easier to say things over a text message or an im rather than in person
I thought this movie was really cute and easy to identify with after the discussions we have had in class about online relationships. I think there are things about people that maybe they hide or cant fully be themselves when they are with their friends and online you can find people with common intrest and you can be yourself. No one has to know who you are either because its harder to be yourself sometimes when you are face to face with someone. the movie may not have went into full detail of their online relationship but it probably gave some people who are involved in one hope of a happy ending!
I think this was a great example of relating something in life to our electronic comm class. I, too wonder if the ten steps of an online relationship were represented in this movie. I also like how both the pros and cons of online relationships were addressed in this blog. I think this movie does represent the ultimate Cinderella fairy tale story because the chances of a romance developing like this is so unlikely. However, it does show a positive aspect of the internet and online relationships.
Post a Comment