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Julie Smith

Tim Ball

SCOM 240-4101

June 4, 2017

Artifact Analysis Paper

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm-lPMZJM1I

I have often thought that movie scenes allow us to reflect and learn about relatable

communication events that may happen in our own lives. Through the lens of

communication theories, we can make sense of these communication scenes from unique

theoretical perspectives. Both the social penetration and expectancy violations theories

can be used to analyze and make sense of a particular communication scene I chose from

the movie He’s Just Not That Into You.

Early on in the movie He’s Just Not That Into You, characters Gigi and Alex

develop a friendship that centers around the dating advice Alex gives to Gigi. This

friendship blossoms throughout the movie as they slowly self disclose information to

each other and become closer as a result of learning more about one another. Towards the

end of the movie Gigi realizes that she has been going to Alex for dating advice with

other guys when Alex is the one she really wants to be with. At this point in the movie

they have already become very close friends and defined their relationship as completely

platonic but seeing as Gigi realized she wants to take it to the next level with Alex, she

decides to self disclose even more and tells him how she really feels about him. Taken

aback by her deep self-disclosure Alex rejects Gigi at first. Later on however, he realizes

that he feels the same way about her and drives all the way to her apartment to return a
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pen just so he has an excuse to tell her how he feels. After being rejected, Gigi has no

expectation for Alex’s return. She had just been on a date with a new guy in an effort to

move on from Alex, so she is surprised and taken aback when she first sees him at her

house. However, after he self discloses how he really feels about her their troubles are

forgotten and they kiss, signifying the start of their romantic relationship. (“He’s Just Not

That Into You- You’re My Own Exception”).

I can definitely see how the social penetration theory can be applied to this movie

scene. According to Altman and Taylor, the Social Penetration Theory is “the process of

developing deeper intimacy with another person through mutual self-disclosure and other

forms of vulnerability” (Griffin, Ledbetter, Sparks 97). Social Penetration Theory

suggests that relationships develop from being less intimate in nature to more intimate,

and self disclosure is the main force in this relational development. Early on, more

peripheral information, or breadth, is shared. Later on, more intimate information, or

depth, is shared.

At first encounter, Gigi and Alex guy immediately began communicating. They

shared non-intimate information with each other that centered on dating and dating

advice. As they got to know more about each other, they began sharing more intimate

details about themselves and their past relationships. This sharing of information led the

pair to realize they had romantic feelings for each other. They self disclosed these very

personal feelings in this scene in an effort to become even closer and begin a romantic

relationship. This part of the movie aligns with self-disclosure as a concept of Social

Penetration Theory because mutually disclosing how each other truly felt allowed the pair

to become closer and more intimate. They began the movie communicating about a
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breadth of less intimate topics, focused on Gigi’s dating life with other guys. As the

characters got to know each other, they ended up discussing deeper topics, such as their

true feelings for one another. Once they disclosed their true feelings, they became closer

and more connected, eventually resulting in a romantic relationship. They bonded and

their relationship became more intimate as they disclosed more personal information.

The expectancy violations theory also applies to the scene I chose. Burgoon

explains that this theory discusses our expectations when communicating with others. To

expect something is to predict what will happen, rather than what one desires to happen

(Griffin et al. 86). The violation valence or “the perceived positive or negative value

assigned to a breach of expectations” (Griffin et al. 87) is determined by the perceptions

one has of the violator. The communicator reward valence, or “the sum of positive and

negative attributes brought to the encounter plus the potential to reward or punish in the

future” (Griffin et al. 88) is necessary when the violation valence is negative.

Alex violated Gigi’s expectations because she never expected him to come back

and tell her he had true feelings for her after he had rejected her when she tried to do the

same. He had rejected her, essentially ending their friendship and signifying that he did

not feel the same way about her. It came as a complete shock when he showed up out of

the blue and completely retracted the way he initially acted towards her self-disclosure.

This situation is definitely not the norm in a relationship. It is easy to see why Gigi was

surprised. Typically when one person rejects another in a relationship that relationship is

over forever. The rejecter doesn’t usually show up and take the rejection back. The norm

would be for the rejected to remain rejected and eventually move on to somebody else

when they understand that the other person will never feel the same way. Alex did the
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exact opposite and completely took back his rejection as he revealed that he did in fact

have feelings for Gigi as well.

The violation valence in this situation was definitely positive. Alex taking back

his initial rejection and revealing his true feelings for Gigi definitely changed her

perception of him and caused her to view the way he reacted to her self-disclosure in a

positive way. She thought more of him, as evidenced by their kiss, after he told her how

he truly felt. She never expected him to completely take back his initial rejection and

reciprocate her feelings, as evidenced by the fact that she had just gotten home from a

date with a new guy in an effort to get over Alex and his rejection. The rewards Alex

brought Gigi through his surprising self-disclosure were feelings of mutual love and

happiness, concluding that the communicator reward valence was positive. Alex’s breach

of Gigi’s expectations allowed for there to be a mutual understanding of feelings, leading

Gigi to trust Alex and dismiss his initial rejection, resulting in their romantic embrace.

By using the social penetration and expectancy violations theories to analyze the

scene from He’s Just Not That Into You, I have been able to make sense of the

communication between Gigi and Alex in different ways. Through this exercise I have

been able to see how mutual self-disclosure allows people to become more intimate and

romantic, and how violations of expectations in relationships are not always a bad thing

when the rewards and perception of the violation are positive. Communication theories

allow us to make sense of communication events and scenes so we can better understand

how to communicate in similar situations in the future.

Word Count: 1174

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REFERENCE PAGE

Griffin, Em, Andrew Ledbetter, and Glenn Sparks. A First Look at Communication

Theory. 9th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Education, 2015. Print.

[Monique Rodrigues]. (2009, December 26). He’s Just Not That Into You – You’re My

Own Exception [Video File]. Retrieved from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xm-lPMZJM1I