Identification Theory

The main pleasures of watching a film is our reaction, interaction and identification with the characters. Do we like them , do we want to be them, feel sorry for them or see our selves in them. When i applied this to Like Crazy i thought that my reaction to it is sorrow and joy through out but at the end I still can't put my finger on what i feel. Maybe it's disappointment because of the ending, relief, emptiness or even the expectation that maybe there would be a sequel even though everyone knows it isn't that type of film. 

Murray Smith, 1995 attempts to break down the audience pleasure and examine how the process takes place. Here are the steps:

. Who? Recognition: Refers to our emotional engagement with the characters the ability of naturally and imagination project yourself into another persons perspective, in order to understand what they are experiencing this will depend on your identities and reception theory.

. How? Alignment: refers to what techniques are used to help us to form a respect and recognition of a character. Allotted screen time and film language tools help us to empathise or align with a certain character. These films use lots of point of view shots. 

. Why? Allegiance: Why do we choose a certain character to align with when given a choice? Smiths theory claims that "to become allied with a character as representing a morally desirable (or at least preferable) set of traits in relation to other characters within fiction. 

Murray Smith is not alone in making this claim, Noël Carroll makes similar assertions "it is because we perceive... characters as virtuous- that we cast our moral allegiance with them" Carroll 1999 

Often film makers shift our alignment and allegiance away from one character to another, perhaps in the course of a single scene. This particular scene may involve some careful choices about staging, framing, sound and cutting to make you shift. 

In Like Crazy i have a huge recognition with Anna, it's as if i feel the same emotions as her at the same point in the film (not the whole way through) I align my self with both Anna and Jacob, i think that the reason why i align with both of them because they shift roles throughout the film, just like the paragraph above, one moment it feel more alike Jacob and the next Anna. It's sometimes difficult to align with just one character. When Jacob is in bed with his new girlfriend Samantha i feel for Anna as she is texting him and he is hardly taking any interest in her as he is with Samantha even though Anna too, has a new love interest her self, Simon. Maybe i would say my main and most fluent character identification is with Anna played by Felicity Jones as i am a fan of her before hand. I relate to all the characters in most cases because of what they experience and have to deal with. In the last scene i align and sympathise with both of them once again. 

Samantha-

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