House bunny is a comedy that hit our local cinema screens a couple of weeks ago. Its about a former playboy house bunny Shelly who was tricked into thinking that she was being kicked out of the playboy mansion. By chance, through a series of events she ends up being the housemother of a sorority group called the zeta alpha zeta, the members of the sorority are a group of seven possibly the most socially clueless women. Because of their inability to integrate with society they face the danger of losing thier house due to the lack of pledges to them. Shelly comes along into the picture and begins to give all the girls a revamp and turn them into attractive people whom everyone wants to befriend with. At the beginning the girls were reluctant but realising the emminent danger of losing their house they decide to go with Shelly. Their popularity also caused resentment from another sorority group who tries to prevent the Zeta's from getting pledges. In the end Shelly's misunderstanding with Hugh Hefner, the playboy mansion owner, was cleared up and she went back to being a playboy bunny but did not feel at ease going back to her old lifestyle and returned to help the Zeta's save their house.
In this movie we can see Shelly integrating into the Zeta's. From being kicked out of the mansion, she needed interpersonal needs like need for inclusion as she felt alone and abandoned, need for control as she used to be in charge of stuff in the playboy mansion, as well as the need for affection from the group of Zeta girls. When Shelly joins the Zeta sorority as she has them for companionship as well as went back to her old lifestyle of being in control of things going on in the house, thus joining the Zeta's, the group have met her interpersonal needs for her to feel the need to be included in their group.
Next in the movie we see problems they faced as a group during decision making, for example needing the full support of the group when making decision and Shelly had to work hard to prove to everyone that what she was doing for them was worth their support. Another problem they faced was that the solution they chose was risky, before the decision to have a makeover, all the girls were hesitant as they felt insecure of themselves and were not sure if the next step that they were about to take was it a right or wrong move. These are just some of the problems they faced as a group.
Lastly through the movie, we are able to see the process of Shelly being integrated into the group, from first being a prospective member, to a new member, to a full member. It begins with her being a prospective member when she was brought in to the Zeta's house when everyone was deciding whether to rope her into the group, here she was like a prospective member as she was not part of the group yet. Next in the following stage as a new member, she began to learn about things in the group, finding out information about each individuals in the group. Lastly she intergrates into a full member of the group, being the center of all the activities that the group was involved in. She never fell into the catergory of being an ex-member of the group though at one stage she did leave the group, because despite being away she still felt a huge part of her still with the group and was at a loss without them.
In the movie we can also see many parts of group communication, for example who in the group plays the task or maintenance roles as well as some aspects of groupthink symptoms developing after the sorority group became popular.
It is quite an enjoyable movie to watch, despite its comedic and seemingly brainless plot there are actually alot of things that we learnt in group communication that can be observed from the movie.
7 comments:
yeah i guess every individual wishes to have a sense of belonging. it's only natural to form an identity in a community/group setting :D
yes humans are relational beings, always seeking a group to integrate themselves into. i think the movie also demonstrates how little background should matter when joining a group. Shelly is an ex-Playboy bunny looking for inclusion into a group of 7 socially inept women. they may come from radically different backgrounds. but shelly's sincerity in helping them eventually touches them and allows her to relate to them emotionally.
After joining the sorority, Shelly bonded to her new found friends very closely. She even gave up her previleges of being a playboy house bunny and went to help her group of friends. This is quite an interesting scenario because a person with Shelly's social status will not usually consider befriending those who arent 'happening' or outgoing.
However, she does identify with the group after sometime, and they also consider her to be one of them. The way in which the group thinks and does things slowly changes under Shelly's influence and we also see how Shelly herself changes, after being involved in the group's activities.
intergration into a group is the basis for human civilization. this is why humans form communities rather than fend for themselves. Shelly is no different. the fact that she possesses a unique skill makes it all the more easy for her to integrate as she is seen as more valuable member of the group
when i first watched the movie i didnt realise tt there was actually meaning behind it, haha i first thought of it as just another bimbotic movie to entertain movie goers. i agree with ord that shelly does possess a unique skill that makes it easier for her to integrate into the group, i guess it would be her simple nature as well as helpfulness that enabled as well as accelerated her integration into the group
Lol, you know i came to comment your blog a few weeks ago.... but after i read a few sentences of this post i closed the browser -_-" lol.... =( you should've put a "spoiler alert" lol. i hadnt seen the movie yet, so didnt want to read further lol.
Anyways, I really liked your analysis of the movie :) i never would have though it had so much COM relevance haha...
You gave a very good and in depth analysis of the movie :)
And now having seen the movie, i can see how all you've mentioned fits in (the members, interpersonal needs & group comm).
yeah, interesting analysis eng hao.(: Indeed, humans are vulnerable and tend to get lonely without a group of friends around them. I'm blessed to have known the munchies!(:
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