Breakfast at Tiffany’s Analysis Perception is essential in our lives. Through perception we can forge a general idea of the world and constructs a preliminary knowledge of what surrounds us. Indeed, early philosophers such as Democritus believed that our knowledge of the world begins with our perception of it. Our impressions help us deceive our fear of the unknown. However, these general ideas influence our interactions with others. They preclude us the possibility to enter a conversation without depicting, classifying, or stereotyping the other person. The roots of perceptions are deeply entrenched in our culture; indeed, they influence not only our everyday lives but also the movies and TV shows that try to describe our reality. In the
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However, the audience, by using implicit personality theory, which is an inaccurate perception that associates physical and other traits of a person with his/her personality, perceives Holly as a shallow, venal and phony character. Through this process, we construct an overall negative impression of the protagonist. This impression is called Gestalt. As explained by Steve McCornack in his book Reflect & Relate (2016), these positive or negative opinions form rapidly, and they require a little mental effort (87). We see Holly as a person who only focuses on how to seduce a rich man in order to have access to his bank account. We don’t consider the reasons behind her actions and therefore we don’t justify them. Indeed, we tend to negatively interpret and judge Holly’s initiatives. This process is called horn effect, and it describes how the negative Gestalt that we construct influences the way we perceive a person’s actions and behaviors. Therefore, after forming a Gestalt, we create an explanation for her behavior known as attribution. In this case, it’s an internal attribution, since we think that the force that drives Holly’s actions comes from her personality. Paul Varjak, on the other hand, is perceived …show more content…
I think that in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the process of meeting and perceiving another person is described in a clear and true way. The first impressions, the Gestalts, and the attributions are experienced and implemented by Holly and Paul as they encounter for the first time in a building of the Big Apple. The way their relationship starts and develops is unique and common at the same time. Their personalities are singular, but the concepts that compose their perception of each other are common in all of us even in the 21st century. The movie shows that perceptions can push us towards meeting and accepting another person in our lives, or they can deprive us the possibility to establish relationships with other people. Consequently, we must be aware that a certain point we must distance ourselves from our perceptions and start to master the ability to encounter and interact with individuals with an open mind that is able to accept them for who they truly are and not who we think they
However, the audience, by using implicit personality theory, which is an inaccurate perception that associates physical and other traits of a person with his/her personality, perceives Holly as a shallow, venal and phony character. Through this process, we construct an overall negative impression of the protagonist. This impression is called Gestalt. As explained by Steve McCornack in his book Reflect & Relate (2016), these positive or negative opinions form rapidly, and they require a little mental effort (87). We see Holly as a person who only focuses on how to seduce a rich man in order to have access to his bank account. We don’t consider the reasons behind her actions and therefore we don’t justify them. Indeed, we tend to negatively interpret and judge Holly’s initiatives. This process is called horn effect, and it describes how the negative Gestalt that we construct influences the way we perceive a person’s actions and behaviors. Therefore, after forming a Gestalt, we create an explanation for her behavior known as attribution. In this case, it’s an internal attribution, since we think that the force that drives Holly’s actions comes from her personality. Paul Varjak, on the other hand, is perceived …show more content…
I think that in Breakfast at Tiffany’s, the process of meeting and perceiving another person is described in a clear and true way. The first impressions, the Gestalts, and the attributions are experienced and implemented by Holly and Paul as they encounter for the first time in a building of the Big Apple. The way their relationship starts and develops is unique and common at the same time. Their personalities are singular, but the concepts that compose their perception of each other are common in all of us even in the 21st century. The movie shows that perceptions can push us towards meeting and accepting another person in our lives, or they can deprive us the possibility to establish relationships with other people. Consequently, we must be aware that a certain point we must distance ourselves from our perceptions and start to master the ability to encounter and interact with individuals with an open mind that is able to accept them for who they truly are and not who we think they