Social Exchange Theory

My opinion is that the Social Exchange Theory is the best relationship formation shown in the film. Marty, the main character, has low self-esteem because he has been dumped before. His brother is married and people are pressuring him to get married. He did not believe he was attractive enough to find a girl that will find him interesting. However, at a dance he met this woman who was being dumped. I think that Marty decided to get to know that woman because they both share that similarity. Also he saw that she is a reserved woman that may end up linking him too. As a result, he saw benefits of where that relationship would lead to. He thought that there was a common personality between them two that they could built a relationship from that.

The ducks stages in the film are presented in different scenarios.

The first one is the sociological or incidental cues. When Marty is talking to his mother about going to the dance and being rejected, he thinks that if he goes again, he will be rejected again. Therefore, when he goes to the dance, at first, he does not want to talk to women, he is just standing there thinking this was going nowhere. At that moment, he thinks he has no future with any women in that dance. Then, the second filter is called, pre-interaction. The pre-interaction was evident when Marty looked at the woman who was dump by her blind-date. He was standing there looking at her, one may argue that he was looking at her beauty and physical appearance in order to see if she is approachable or not. He was judging if there would be any potential for them to get together. Thirdly we have, the interaction cue. After Marty approaches the woman, she cried and hug him because she was dumped. After that incident, both of them danced and talked. They were looking at each other eyes while a conversation developed. Fourthly we have cognitives cues. Marty also sees that the woman he is dancing with is a person who has experience the same issues he has. Both of them feel like outsiders when it comes to dating and meeting new people. She is also very soft spoken and reserved just like Marty, and he can see that

too.

The submissive symmetry is what we are able to see from Marty character. A specific example from the film is when Marty’s mother is telling him to go to the dance and meet a lady. His response was no, he did not wanted to be rejected once more. However, he did what he was told. He went to the dance to please his mother’s wishes. It that moment we can see that Marty did not really wanted to go to the dance but he went anyway for his mother. Another example is when Marty’s mother asked if aunt Katerina can come to his house and he said yes.

An example of test of trust in the film is when Marty is talking and dancing with that woman. He is expressing his idea of marriage; he thinks that for a long marriage you need more than just looks, you need to be a nice person. When he is talking about what marriage should be about, she confesses her age. Then both confessed their ages and they know that their ages are old for women and men to be single. This type of sharing intimate information shows that they built a trust from the beginning and that their relationship may have some type of future.