Far from Heaven

1. Upon entering the bar for the first time, Frank displays many of the motivational theories listed in the book. Frank enters the bar in order to find a place for his homosexual preferences to be shown. Instinctually he prefers men to women and is driven into the dark alley and the bar by this biologically determined need. We learn from his wife's reaction when the girls are having daiquiris that she and Frank are not having sex very often which according to the book is a basic need, so Frank according to the drive-reduction approach is driven to the bar to fulfil himself. This lack of sex that he is having at home also can lead to the application of the Arousal approach to motivation where Frank is trying to seek out sources of stimulation and activity because his home life doesn't provide any. Finally, cognitive approach to motivation implies that Frank was motivated to go to the bar in search of fulfilling a goal. In this case the motivation was intrinsic he only was interested in enjoying himself, he knew that nothing tangible could come from this, for it must be kept a secret. All of Frank's actions and motivations fit into the pyramid developed by Maslow. In order to attain a state of self-actualization Frank needed to develop all of the steps below. He tried through work, his wife, and a large house to make himself believe he was fulfilled but with out the basic physiological need at the bottom of the pyramid he never would be truly happy.

3. Throughout the movie Cathy, wears her emotions on her face. Her facial expressions are at times a window into her mind, clearly showing how she is feeling and thinking; while at other instances they are clearly a faÐ*ade to those of us who know the true situations. One of the first instances we see Cathy show emotion is when she notice a strange man in her backyard. As she goes onto the deck to confront the man, her face shows a mixture of fear and assertiveness. She is afraid of the stranger and wants him gone. Once she find's out it is Mr. Deegan Sr.'s son her facial expressions change to embarrassment and guilt, she knows she judged the stranger more harshly based on the color of his skin. Later as the girls discuss their sex lives over drinks, Cathy's face shows that she is clearly uncomfortable in the situation and hopes not to have to reveal what goes on with her and Frank.

Cathy however doesn't always show her true emotion, as depicted in the scenes in which she in confronted by a so-called social miscue. At the party in which Frank gets drunk and begins to make comments she laughs it off as if it is all just a joke. She pretends that because he is drunk she doesn't care, but she knows that there is truth in his drunken speech. Perhaps because she pretends to not care, it makes her feel less badly about it, as the book suggests in the experiment done by Ekman. This also occurs it seems whenever anyone brings up Cathy's kind nature toward black people in general. Whether it be the magazine article in the beginning of the movie or when Eleanor confronts her at the end, Cathy always say's verbally and facially that the allegations are ludicrous. By the end of the movie, it is obvious that the allegations are far from ludicrous and Cathy has realized this as well. Through her staunch denials, she probably convinced herself even for some time that she had no feelings for Mr. Deegan.

4. The scene that greatly portrays an act of conformity is the art show. When Cathy goes over to talk to Mr. Deegan, everyone in the gallery begins to notice and stare at her. It seems to begin with that lady and her uncle from New York. This illustrates the status variable in two ways. First the people in the group seem to conform to the thinking of Mona, as she is a higher up member. Cathy who appears to be of the highest standing in the group second only to Eleanor maybe, doesn't care and continues on her conversation.

Later during the dinner party, a conversation begins in which it is suggested that schools should not integrate, but if they do Connecticut will not have any problems because there are no black people living there. Cathy brushes these comments off and goes to refill her guests' drinks. We know however that she feels oppositely of what this man has just said, but due to the situation, she conforms for the time to his thoughts. Had she expressed her beliefs in a public setting like this she surely would have caused some controversy.

The art scene also illustrated another instance on conformity, based upon the interpretation of abstract art. Cathy, when asked how she likes the idea of modern art, responds that she doesn't know what elements in a painting cause her to like it; but that she knows what she likes when she sees it. This answer is a complete copout; she really didn't give any insight into her character at all. Through the answer she was able to ensure, Mr. Deegan could interpret that whatever she said as on par with his own ideas. Furthermore, as a housewife she has had little to no exposure to such things so she is relatively unlearned in the area. Mr. Deegan went to business school and it can be assumed that while at school things like art were presented to him.

Frank's progression through the movie exemplifies the theory of group unanimity. In the beginning, he was sneaking into late night movies, and bars at the end of dark alleys. The group he traveled in at that time, the high society of Connecticut and the general population viewed gay relationships as wrong so he kept his in the dark. After going to the bar, he met people who shared his views and subsequently became a bit more open, bringing his lover to his office late at night. By the end of the movie Frank had met more men, like the one in Miami, and seemed to have established a more structured relationship in which he was living with a man. At this point, Frank had fully found his "social supporter" and now was able to reduce the pressures of conformity enough that he was more open about his sexual preference.

5. When Cathy looks at the train she ultimately has two choices, attempt to join Mr. Deegan, or forget about it. In the end she chooses the later and lets him leave and start a new life without her. While she was making her decision she had two contradictory thoughts in her head, 1) I want to be together, and