Psychology 409a-
My First Outline of Assigned
By Jessica Trujillo
Drivers Behaving Badly in Movies, on
TV, and in Commercials
Reference: Reference #1-DBB Ratings--Drivers Behaving Badly Movie Ratings
found at http://www.drdriving.org/articles/dbb.htm
Instructions for this activity are
found at:
www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy23/409a-g23-oral.htm
Instructor: Dr. Leon James
Concept 1: Drivers Behaving Badly in
Movies: My Best Friend’s Wedding
A. There are a few specific examples I can think of from
this movie. One specific example is when
Julia Roberts is picked up from the airport by her best friend’s fiancée. Kimmy (the fiancée) weaves in and out of
lanes and is speeding out of control in her little BMW, and all the while she
is having a conversation with the passengers and her eyes are not on the road. Then she abruptly comes to a screeching
halt. It was obvious by their faces that
the passengers were scared. Yet the
passengers never said anything.
B. I see these actions a lot in my personal life. There are numerous times where the driver is
talking to me and looking at me.
Majority of the time they aren’t aware of their surroundings such as
when the light turns green, or when they need to stop. Unlike Julia Roberts though, I normally say
something. I also see a lot of people
who cut over 4 lanes of traffic to make an exit. It is a dangerous habit which in my opinion
is caused mostly by inattentive driving.
C. My initial reaction when watching this movie is that
it is funny. I think that is because I
know the background information of the characters, and the plot of the
movie. In reality though, it is scary to
know that this really happens, and the end result isn’t always positive.
Concept 2: Drivers Behaving Badly on TV: Seinfeld
A. There are many shows on TV that portray bad
drivers. I choose Seinfeld because it is
a show that I watch often. In this particular episode Kramer is looking for a
parking space and he has a longer boat shaped car. He spots a spot that is obviously too small
for his car, but he decides to make it work anyways. Of course, he hits both the cars to fit
in. There are people on the sidewalk
that just look at him shocked, but don’t do or say anything about it. And Kramer acts as if nothing has happened.
B. I have done this a few times unintentionally. Parking around campus is limited, so when you
find a spot you want to make it work.
I’ve had to park on a hill in my car which is a stick shift. If you don’t get it right the first try, it
is very difficult to catch your clutch in enough time before you roll. Sometimes I end up tapping the car in front
of me, but there is no visible damage.
C. I picked this as a concept because I can relate to it
because I have done it. I don’t think
that it is right to bump other cars, and if you do, you should leave a
note. I think that TV tries to make bad
driving look funny, which in turn can cause people to not take things like this
seriously.
Concept 3:
Drivers Behaving Badly in Commercials- Cadillac Eldorado
A.
We’ve all
seen numerous car commercials that show cars speeding along roads. In this particular commercial you see a red
Cadillac Eldorado cruising along at a high speed, and a voice in the background
says “Live without limits”. Due to this
background voice, it implies that this car will give you the freedom to drive
and not have any limits or laws placed on you.
B.
I think a
lot of times when people get behind the wheel of a newer car; they feel as if
they have no limits. They feel as if
they can go as fast as they want. There
was a time when I drove one of my friend’s mustangs, and since it drives so
smooth, sometimes I didn’t realize how fast I was going.
C.
I
picked this concept because sometimes we don’t realize how bombarded we are
with the presentation of bad driving habits.
I think the more aware we become of the media’s influence on our
actions, the better off we will become.
My Home Page: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/409af2005/trujillo/home.htm
The G23 Class Home Page: www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy23/classhome-g23.htm
Related
Web Links:
1) http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=7610210&dopt=Citation
2) http://www.tvparty.com/vaultcomm.html
3) http://www.digitalcad.com/articles/viewarticle.jsp?id=34308