Research Paper On Hitch

According to the American Psychological Association 40 to 50 percent of marriages in the United States end in divorce. What happens? Why are these relationships failing? The movie Hitch shows the development of relationships between two unlikely couples. The first unusual relationship forms between the glamorous Allegra and a social outcast, Albert. The second unlikely relationship forms between Hitch, the date doctor, and the successful gossip columnist Sarah. This movie illustrates the progression of these relationships and emphasizes the main points that cause the relationships to excel or fail. It clearly indicates that communication is the key to a successful relationship.

There are two relationships that form throughout this movie. Al

forms this relationship with Allegra because he loves her and thinks beautiful and incredible. Allegra moves forward with the relationship because she sees that Al is a great guy who genuinely cares about her. Hitch and Sarah’s relationship forms when they meet unintentionally at a bar. After having a conversation, they see that they really like each other, therefore they form a relationship.
Mark Knapp developed a communication theory describing the progression and decline of relationships in stages. The first stage in Knapp’s model is initiating. Al and Allegra have their first interaction after she asks her accountants if she can invest her own money and the company thinks it is a bad idea. Al really likes her and wants her to notice him so defends her so strongly that he quits his job. She comes to say thank you and he gets her number. Hitch meets Sarah at a bar where he saves her from a guy who will not leave her alone.
The second stage in Knapp’s model is experiencing.

Al and Allegra have their first date together at a fashion event. They have a great time while dancing and talking. During the night Allegra is approached by some rude guys and Al comes to her rescue and gets them away. Hitch and Sarah have their first date when Hitch sends Sarah a walkie talkie. Using the walkie talkie he gets her to agree to a date and sends her another gift via messenger, a swimsuit for the trip. The two of them go jet skiing. Hitch’s jet ski “breaks” and he has to get on Sarah’s. While he gets on her jet ski he pushes her off “accidentally” and then he has to go jump in the ocean and save her. They go to Ellis Island, finally, where they get a private tour. In the museum they see a book with the people who have passed through and Sarah is awed that her great grandfather is in there, but then she starts to cry. When they get back Sarah reveals that her great grandfather was a terrible man and it is very hard for her to think about. As Hitch gets Sarah a taxi his shirt gets “stuck” in the door and falls

off.
Allegra and Al have their second date at a basketball game.

They have a very good time together cheering and talking. Al tells Allegra how great it is to be in such great seats and to be with her and also teacher her how to whistle. At the end of the date the couple moves into Knapp’s third stage: intensifying. When Al brings Allegra home he walks her up the steps and doesn’t do anything at first but then gains the courage and kisses her. Hitch and Sarah have their second date with her boss at the Fulton Fish Market. Originally she asks him to come to get information for her job, but after he has an allergic reaction Sarah takes care of him. She gets him allergy medicine. After they are walking and they too move to the intensifying stage of their relationship. They talk about love and important things in their lives. She brings into her house so that he can sleep on the couch and their conversation continues. Sarah tells Hitch a personal story about her sister. In the morning Hitch brings her breakfast and as they walk to work the two of them

kiss.
The fourth stage in Knapp’s model is integrating. This is a stage where the two couples make their relationship more serious than before, but have not reached the final stage of bonding, in which they announce their relationship to the world. These two couples basically skip this step. After Sarah published her article exposing both Hitch and Albert, Allegra is very upset. But, when Hitch comes to talk to her and she realizes that Albert was being sincere the two kiss and confess their love. Immediately after the two get married.
Sarah and Hitch go on a different sort of path. Before Sarah published the article she confronted Hitch and tried to get him to admit to his job and his life. Hitch doesn’t and they get into an argument. After that argument the two of them go into the stage in Knapp’s model called avoiding. In order to talk to Sarah, Hitch goes to a speed dating event and shove his way in. But, once Hitch says his piece Sarah begins to see that he is not a terrible con artist, but a man trying to help the men who have a harder time with women. Later, Hitch goes Sarah’s apartment and pours his heart out. The two go straight into Knapp’s fifth stage of bonding where they kiss on the street and profess their everlasting love after he almost got run over by a car for her.
Both relationships progressed very fast. Neither spent a long time in the stage of experiencing where they got to know each other. One of the impacts of that is that the couples did not have a lot of communication The relationships progressed so quickly that the two men did not feel comfortable communicating important information before the relationship got to a point of being serious. They also skipped the stage of integrating where they get very serious about each other before making a big decision. We really do not know how big of an impact this made as the movie ends right after they get married. But, it is possible that a lifelong relationship may not be sustainable if you marry someone after three dates.
In terms of intimacy, Al and Allegra seem to lack emotional intimacy. They do however do a lot of shared activities together, including when they went to a basketball game and went dancing. Sarah and Hitch have shared activities and emotional intimacy. The two go boating, to a museum, and to a food show together. Their emotional intimacy may have been because the dates Hitch and Sarah shared were in setting that allowed for a lot of communication and emotional intimacy is contingent on communication. While Sarah and Hitch spent the whole time at the museum and the cooking show talking, Al and Allegra didn’t appear to talk much at the ballgame or fashion event. Sarah shared very personal information with Hitch on their date to Ellis Island and Hitch shares a lot of emotional information with her first at the speed dating event and then when he knocked at her door begging to be forgiven. In addition, the fact that Sarah and Hitch needed to talk about what happened before they could come back together is an indication of the depth of their relationship.
Allegra was the one character in these relationships who was totally honest. She does not appear to hide anything. Albert does not tell her that he hired Hitch to get her to date him. It could be that he would have told her when the time was right, but he was not given that opportunity. Sarah wrote an article about Hitch instead confronting him about his job. She also invited him to an event under the guise of being a date but really wanted information. Hitch had the most problems with self-disclosure in this movie. He intentionally did not tell Sarah what he did for a job was and set himself up in a situation where the other person would really get hurt.
In conclusion, both couples initially lacked proper communication which led to difficulties in their relationships. When the culprits were able to be honest with their partners both couples were able to build a stronger, healthier relationship. The lesson is in any relationship it is better to disclose information than hide it.