Cognitive Dissonance Theory Applied to Stand By Me Film PDF

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Cognitive Dissonance Theory Applied to Stand By Me Film...

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The Reality of Childhood In a small town, four innocent boys beat summer boredom by embarking on a journey to find the missing corpse of a child. If this sounds controversial, rest assured that it is. The film Stand by Me follows four young boys on their quest to find the body of a local missing child to capture hometown glory. Along the way, their innocence is challenged, and their maturity is put to the test. The film captures a small moment in their life—just two days---but the lessons they learn stay with them for the rest of their lives. The theory of cognitive dissonance comes to life in this film as the boys grapple with their childhood innocence and their growing maturity. The purpose of this paper is to apply cognitive dissonance to the film Stand by Me in order to show the impact of communication. As the boys slowly lose their innocence and accept the reality of adulthood, they begin to mature as human beings. This bittersweet coming of age tale is timeless in its approach to the fleeting golden years of childhood and the innocence forever gone. Summary of Stand by Me In Rob Reiner’s Stand By Me, four boys---Gordie, Chris, Teddy, and Vern---embark on a journey in the countryside in their small-town of Castle Rock, Organ to find the dead body of a missing child. It is 1959 and Labor Day weekend. The boys believe this is the perfect weekend to complete their quest because they are able to lie to their parents about their whereabouts during the holiday excitement. They make the decision to search for the body after Vern overhears that the body was found, but that this information was never brought to the police’s attention. They want to find the body so that they can become local heroes have their pictures printed in the newspaper. Each of the four boys is distinguished by their home life and personality. Gordie is quiet, bookish and reeling from the death of his older brother and subsequent loss of attention from his parents, Chris is barred with negative stereotypes due to his family of criminals despite

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not adhering to these perceptions, Teddy is eccentric and abused by his mentally unstable father, and Vern is shy, overweight, and often bullied as a result. After a two-day journey, they discover the body but decide to phone an anonymous tip to the police instead of claiming the body as a trophy. On their short journey, they discover many things about the world and themselves. They grapple with conflicting feelings towards their youth, future, family, themselves, and each other. A heartbreaking and necessary discovery is made---maturity. This comes with a loss of innocence but also a much-needed reality check for the careless boys. Summary of Cognitive Dissonance Theory In the textbook Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis and Application, Richard West and Lynn Turner explain the concepts and practices of cognitive dissonance theory. The process of cognitive dissonance begins with “inconsistent attitudes, thoughts, and behaviors” which results in “feelings of dissonance” (West and Turner, 2009). This leads to “unpleasant arousal” and is reduced by “a change that removes inconsistency” (West and Turner, 2009). The overarching assumption of this theory is that human beings crave consistency and are motivated to reduce these inconsistencies. It is with this assumption in mind that the following concepts are further explored by the theory: consonant relationship, dissonant relationship, irrelevant relationship, magnitude of dissonance, and importance. A consonant relationship “exist between two elements when they are in equilibrium with one another” (West and Turner, 2009). In other words, the belief and the behavior match one another. There is no dissonance involved if a person experiences a consonant relationship with another element. This is a positive relationship and the assumed end goal of someone who experiences cognitive dissonance. On the other hand, a dissonant relationship means that elements are in “disequilibrium with one another” (West and Turner, 2009). This is the kind of relationship a person with cognitive dissonance would have

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with the element that causes them unpleasant arousal. They would want to reduce these distressing feelings and reach a place where they experience a consonant relationship with the elements involved. A neutral middle ground between these two relationships is an irrelevant relationship. An irrelevant relationship exists when “elements imply nothing about one another” (West and Turner, 2009). The relationship between the elements involved has no relationship to one another. This means there is no discomfort experienced because the elements are simply unconnected and therefore require no further thought. An additional concept of cognitive dissonance is magnitude of dissonance. This concept explores the previous concepts more in depth. It refers to “the quantitative amount of dissonance a person experiences” (West and Turner, 2009). It also determines the actions people may take in order to reduce their dissonance. Magnitude dissonance explains the actions of people when they want to reduce their dissonance and measures how much dissonance is experienced. A factor in determining magnitude dissonance is importance. Importance refers to “how significant the situation is” (West and Turner, 2009). This concept evaluates how much the effects of dissonance is felt by the person who experiences dissonance. A person may only experience minimal dissonance, or they may experience a massive amount of dissonance. This depends on the situation, the elements involved, and how much a person cares about these factors. Overall, cognitive dissonance theory offers insights into the relationship between cognition and behaviors. The concepts of consonant relationship, dissonant relationship, irrelevant relationship, magnitude of dissonance, and importance suggest routes to bring belief and behavior together.

Cognitive Dissonance Theory Applied to Stand by Me

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In Stand By Me, all four boys experience cognitive dissonance to some degree. This is seen in various examples throughout their journey to find the dead body. It is also seen in the overwhelming theme that the story explores. There is a precious and crucial sliver of time in childhood when children are caught between their innocence and their newfound understanding of the harsh reality of the “real world’ and adulthood. The boys begin their journey with only one intention in mind. They want to find the dead body of a missing child so that they can become local heroes. They see the dead boy as nothing more than a trophy. This is clearly selfish and naïve of the boys, but they cannot be blamed too much. After all, they are children themselves. However, as they complete their quest they realize that the boy deserves more respect than this. After a run-in with the older town bullies, who are also on the hunt to find the body, they realize that they do not want to adhere to the beehive mindedness of those boys. Gordie, in particular, makes this realization when he finally comes to terms with the death of his own brother. With a little help from Chris, he finally understands that this boy deserves more respect. The reaction that this conjures from the audience is divided. On one hand, the boys are right in their realization. The boy deserved to be found simply because he is a human being not because he can be used as some trophy for fleeting hometown glory. On the other hand, the boy’s newfound maturity also brings about profound sadness. Their intentions may have been cruel on the surface but they are not malicious. They simply lack the experience and understanding when they begin their journey. Their innocence could not grapple with the overwhelming weight of death. When they finally accept this, they lose a part of their innocence. Their childhood is starting to slip away from them. However, the positive aspect of this is their growing maturity. This dissonance can be explained and broken down into the various concepts of cognitive dissonance explained in the previous section of the paper. A consonant relationship that the boys experience is with each

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other. Although the boys fight and pick on each other they always have each other’s backs. The relationship between Gordie and Chris is particularly enlightening. They call each other friends and act as each other friends. There is no doubt between the two of them that they will be there to help each other through emotional turmoil. A dissonant relationship that the boys experience is with their families. Each of the boys comes from a broken home. They are not able to rely on their families in the way that they want. In order to combat these distressing emotions, they confide in their friends or their consonant relationships. An irrelevant relationship that the boys have for much of their journey is actually with the dead boy. This is horrific when really thought about deeply. They almost don’t consider the boy a human being for much of the film. They simply see him as an end to find hometown glory. There is no dissonance felt in this respect because they simply don’t have feelings towards him that creates different beliefs and behaviors. In fact, their ability to see him as irrelevant is what leads them to complete this journey in the first place. Magnitude dissonance is seen in Stand by Me because the boys take steps to reduce their cognitive dissonance. The biggest step the boys take in reducing their cognitive dissonance is the journey itself. They may not know it but this journey is what reduces much of the cognitive dissonance they experience between their innocence and their growing maturity. On this trip, they lose a naïve part of their innocence and accept the ugliness of death. They further reduce their cognitive dissonance by calling in an anonymous tip instead of claiming the body as a prize. The importance of their particular cognitive dissonance between innocence and maturity is massive. This is something every adult has experienced. For many, looking back at childhood brings about mixed feelings. The naïve feeling of invincibility during youth met with the unstoppable force of harsh reality is heartbreaking. The significance of the boy’s cognitive dissonance with this experience is necessary in order to grow up into fully functioning adults.

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When all of these factors are brought together, it creates a cognitive dissonance from their innocence and their loss of childhood as they age and mature. This may all sound very negative but going through cognitive dissonance is crucial so that one may move past the feelings of distress it creates. The boys painstakingly work through much of their cognitive dissonance throughout their journey to find the body. On some level, consciously or unconsciously, they lose the part of their innocence holding them back from accepting their growing maturity. Conclusion To grow up is such a difficult undertaking. But to never grow up is unspeakably sad. Stand By Me captures this complex moment in time that all persons must go through. The cognitive dissonance theory illuminates the conflicting feelings that one experiences during the transition from childhood to adulthood. The boys in the film undertake the responsibility of adulthood in messy but admirable ways. They work through their cognitive dissonance in order to mature as people. They lose a part of their innocence as a result, but they also become better human beings. As adult Gordie narrates the film, he remarks that they boys “knew exactly who we were, and exactly where we were going" (Stand by Me, 1986). He may have lost this as an adult, but he also gains the necessary awareness of adulthood. Nostalgia is powerful and eternal but perhaps the real superpower of adulthood is learning to live in the moment and accept life’s realities.

Work Cited

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Eastwood, Clint, director. Million Dollar Baby. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2004. Reiner, Rob, director. Stand by Me. Columbia Pictures, 1986. West, Richard L., and Lynn H. Turner. “Chapter 7.” Introducing Communication Theory: Analysis and Application, 4th ed., McGraw-Hill Education, 2009, pp. 112–128....