A Critique to Running on Empty

From Left: Lorna Phillips, Danny Pope, Artie Pope (top), Annie Pope

      The Film Running on Empty portrayed how a family operates when running away from the feds. It portrayed how a single decision of your life have undesired consequences. While some of us wonder, how it would feel like becoming a vigilante, changing identity every six months may not be what we had in mind. 

      First of all, the film was excellent in touching our heart strings because it touched a lot on family matters. I resonated with Lorna the most as I have dreams that I want to carry out as well. However, like Lorna's parents, they have the sense that whatever is bad is filtered out and whatever is good is kept. For example, when I have bad results, there weren't any praise or criticisms, just disappointment. I finally get to realized when I came to KL to further my studies. Lorna was a critical part in the film as she was an imperative anchor to leading Danny to stay behind at the end. Danny also figured out that although family is important, it is sometimes necessary grow on your life and not other people's. 

     Secondly, this is where I noticed the Psychological concepts in the film. The film portrayed essence of romance between Lorna and Danny throughout the film. Now, let's dive into what made the romance particularly salience. The first factor influencing the attraction was self-disclosure between Lorna and Danny. Danny was not supposed to disclose anything based on his circumstances but he eventually did when he revealed to her his home. Mutual self-disclosure between them strengthen their relationship and their intimacy towards each other. Another factor of intimacy I noticed is the reward theory of attraction. I believe that the environment that Danny brought Lorna to, to find the shell was not a coincidence. Danny was definitelly a casanova as he brought Lorna to the beach and even into the jungle where he set the mood just right for the attraction to happen. The film also added romantic music and created a suspenseful ambiance during these moments. 

     Thirdly, the show showed the vivid contrast between the Phillips family and Pope Family. The pope family demonstrated a mixture of Authoritative and Authoritarian parenting styles. An Authoritative parenting style is when you have expectations of their children but supports them in getting there.  Artie and Annie demonstrated this when they allowed Danny to pursue music and stay behind while their continue their move. An authoritarian lifestyle is like the "my way or the highway" concept. They also demonstrated an authoritarian lifestyle when Danny wanted to voice out his objections on moving on and Artie responded with silencing him. Artie also made Danny to spell out all of the new names of his family members in the beginning of the movie. I personally think that Artie and Annie are an authoritative parents but became authoritarian given the circumstances. Unlike the Popes, the Phillips parents practice a permissive type of parenting, where they enforced little rules onto Lorna but remain caring and affectionate towards her. Her parents does not care much for what she wants but does not confront her either. 

     Overall this film utilized many themes but the main theme that stood out for me was family. The film also used attraction theories and there various parenting styles to create more depth. I will keep you posted on the next blockbuster. Stay tuned!