Conflicts in Characters’ Movie of San Andreas
on
Journal of Arts and Humanities
p-ISSN: 2528-5076, e-ISSN: 2302-920X
Terakreditasi Sinta-3, SK No: 105/E/KPT/2022
Vol 27.1. Februari 2023: 24-30
Conflicts in Characters’ Movie of San Andreas
Kadek Adi Eka Wijaya, I Gusti Ayu Gde Sosiowati Udayana University, Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia Correspondence email: [email protected] , [email protected]
Info Artikel
Submitted: 25th October 2022
Revised: 18th December 2022
Accepted: 30th December 2022
Publish: 28th February 2023
Keywords: conflict; internal conflict; external conflict; San Andreas
Corresponding Author:
Kadek Adi Eka Wijaya
Email: [email protected]
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.24843/JH.20
23.v27.i01.p03
Abstract
The title of this study is “Conflicts in Characters’ Movie of San Andreas ”. This study deals with conflicts faced by the characters in the movie. The aims of this study are to identify the conflicts, source of conflicts, and conflict management strategies. The data was taken from movie entitled San Andreas directed by Peyton in 2015. Documentation method and notetaking technique are used to collecting data. The data were analyzed by using the theory of literature proposed by Kenney (1996), and the theory of source of conflicts by Deetz and Stevenson (1986). The result of the study showed that there are two kind of conflicts, namely internal and external conflicts.
INTRODUCTION
Writing is a medium of human communication that involves the representation of a language using written symbols. According to Sokolik (2003) writing is a combination of process and product. The process refers to the act of gathering ideas and working with them until they are presented in a manner that is polished and comprehensible to readers. The writing process is related to the literature.
According to Wellek and Warren (1967), literature is a social institution using a social creation as its medium language. But furthermore, literature represents ‘life’; and ‘life’ itself is an expansive measure originating from social reality, despite of the fact that the
natural world and the inner of the individual have also been objects of literary works. According to Sumardjo and Saini (2014), literary work is divided into two, there are fiction and nonfiction.
Kenney (1996) states that literary works have two elements, namely intrinsic and extrinsic elements. The intrinsic elements consist of theme, character, setting, point of view, style and tone, and plot. The basic materials for the construction of the plot is provided by conflict.
Conflict is one universal case that usually happens in the world and it much aspect that should be to influence for example in environment as human interaction in society. In literature,
conflict is the central struggle between characters or competing forces, such as man against nature, society or himself.
There are some articles which are related to the study. Evidiana and Agneswari (2013) have analyzed the main character’s conflict in novel Irresistible Forces written by Danielle Steel. The study showed that the main character in this novel is Meredith as an antagonist, she dominates almost the whole story and gives spark of conflict in the story. There are two internal conflicts such as the conflict between Meredith and her own mind about having a child and the conflict between Meredith and a new relationship with another man. Then for the external conflict, there are four result, such as the conflict between Meredith and Steve Whitman, the conflict between Meredith and Charlie McIntosh, the conflict between Meredith and Society, the conflict between Meredith and Nature. Aini, et al (2021) have analyzed the personality and conflict of the main character in the movie Me Before You using the theory of literature by Kenney and the theory of personalities by Freud. The result of this study showed that there are two conflicts such as internal conflict (Louisa Clark versus herself) and external conflicts (Louisa Clark and William, Louisa Clark and Patrick, and Louisa versus nature. They also analyzed three major system of personality such as Id, ego and superego. Meanwhile, Bramaditha (2020) analyzed the conflict of main character in I am Sam movie used the theory of literature by Kenney. The result of this study showed that there are three external conflicts in this movie, such as the conflict between Sam and Annie, the conflict between Sam and Lucy, and the conflict between Sam and Rita Harrison. The main character is represented by Sam Dawson who is described as a very kind-hearted character. That is why he gets so many argues with the people around them.
Other article that are related to this study are from Bulu (2018) analyzed the conflict in Edgar Allan Poe’s short stories The Tell-Tale Heart, The Black Cat, and The Hop Frog. The result showed three types of conflict, namely internal conflicts, social conflicts, and physical conflicts. There are five data of social conflicts, five data of physical conflicts, and six data of internal conflicts.
Other articles which is also related to this discussion, Hanna (2016) analyzed the conflicts of the main characters in the novel Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen using . The result showed there are two types of conflicts, namely the social conflict and psychological conflict of main characters, they are Elinor Dashwood and Marianne Dashwood. She also analyzed the problem solving of social and psychological conflicts in this novel. Permana (2017) analyzed the conflicts by main character’s personalities in the novel I Am David by Anne Holm using the theory by Freud. The result of the study showed that the internal conflicts are built by the contradiction of personalities (Id, Ego and Superego) and the external conflicts are the conflicts against the outside forces, such as man against man: David against The Man, Carlo The American, Children’s Mother and The Farmer; man against nature: The Forest and The Snow; and man against society. Meanwhile, Ekapratama and Sinaga, (2021) have analyzed the conflict in the movie Critical Eleven’s main character. The study showed that there are two conflicts, internal and external conflicts. The external conflict of man-against-man is the dominant types that occur in the analysis. The most used strategy of dealing with the conflict are competing and avoiding strategy.
Another article that related to this discussion, Purnama, et al (2020) have analyzed the inner conflict faced by the main character in drama manuscript
Nyanyian Angsa create by Anton Chekov. The result showed that the dominant element of this manuscript is Eros><Thanatos with 47,7% in 10 quotations; Id><Ego with 33,3% in 7 quotations; and Id><Superego with 19% in 4 quotations. Rachmawati (2018) analyzed the conflicts reflected by main characters in the movie Rise of The Guardians. The study focused on the six characters, they are Jack Frost, Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, Pitch Black, and the Sandman. The study showed that there are two types of conflicts, internal and external conflicts. The internal conflict, such as: Jack Frost vs. Himself and the external conflict include Santa Claus vs. Yeti, Jack Frost vs. Easter Bunny, Pitch Black vs. Group of Guardians, Jack Frost vs. Group of Guardians, Jack Frost vs. Pitch Black. The problem solving of those conflict is competitive, because the Group of the Guardians pursues their own concerns at the Pitch Black’s expense.
On the other hand, Raflis and Amalia (2018) have analyzed the conflict of a mother in the drama by Marsha Norman entitled Night, Mother used the theory of psychological by Daiches. The result of the study showed that there are two types of conflict such as internal and external conflict. First, the external conflict of disappointment from husband and son, Jessie feels lonely after her husband and son leave her. Second, internal conflict of suffering because of disease, the other factor that causes suffering to Jessie character is the disease that has become the trigger for her to commit suicide. Silaban (2019) analyzed the conflict in novel The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. The study showed that there are two types of conflicts found in this novel, namely internal and external conflict. The internal conflict faced by the main character (Holden Caulfield) is to refuse to be an adult because every adult has a big responsibility with remaining phonies. While the external he wants to
reject the adult world because they are great contradictory, corrupt and cruel to him. Sinaga, et al (2020) have analyzed the conflict and defense mechanisms in the novel by Tere Liye entitled ‘Tentang Kamu’ based on literature and psychology perspectives of Islam’s (2016) and theory of defense mechanisms by Cramer (2006). The study showed that the main character in this novel, Sri Ningsih faces the external conflict which is described as person vs nature whereas the internal conflicts is person vs himself which describes the features of sadness, anger, betrayal, anxiety, love and regret as experienced by the main character. The conflict between people vs. herself (internal conflict) becomes the most common conflict faced by the main character then it was followed with the defense mechanism of denial and identification. The last article is from Tupriyah and Andayani (2013) have analyzed the internal conflict of main character in novel Esther Water written by George Moore used the theory of character by Diettich and Sundel, and the theory of conflict by Holmal. The discussion of the study has explained Esther’s personal conflict. The real conflict happens in herself whether she surrenders to her fate by marrying with William or Fred or even neglecting her child or she must struggle to against her fate.
Based on previous research references, it uses more data from novels than movies. This is because the novel has more explanations from the dialogue between characters, the narration and explanation are more detailed. Meanwhile, the movie has less narration and more dialogues. The data taken from movie usually used movie script or the movie itself which contains more dialogue between characters, monologues, and actions in each scenes. Analysis of conflicts from movies could be written and unwritten data or directly through dialogue or monologue, and
indirectly in the form of actions, changes in expression, and the circumstances and surroundings.
In the previous references, the film genres used as data are romance, drama, melodrama, family, or fantasy, such as: Me Before You, I am Sam, Critical Eleven, and Rise of the Guardians. Data taken from movies with the action or thriller genre such as the movie San Andreas is very rare. That is what made the writer take data from this movie. This movie was also chosen because it presents an action story about a natural disaster that occurred and has several parts of the story from different points of view. Some characters have their own stories like Raymond and Dr. Hayes, who never met in this movie, but has a common thread with the natural disasters that occurred.
Based on the background given above, the problems that are discussed in this study are:
What kind of conflicts do the characters in the movie San Andreas have?
What are the sources of those conflicts?
METHOD AND THEORY
The data in this study was taken from movie entitled San Andreas directed by Peyton in 2015. The collected data was analyzed based on the theory of literature by Kenney (1996) and source of conflicts using Deetz and Stevenson (1986).
RESULT AND DISCUSSIONS
The analysis is focused on identifying the conflicts that are faced by the characters in the movie and the source if their conflict. Types of conflict are divide into two: internal conflict and external conflict (man vs man, man vs . Meanwhile the source of conflicts comprising four stages: different opinions, incompatible roles,
incompatible goals, and limited resources.
Internal Conflict
The Conflict between Ray with his mind about the divorce
The internal conflict that occurred here was experienced by Ray. Internal conflict usually occurs in the mind of a character. The trigger for this internal conflict can come from what he is experiencing and what is happening around him. Ray's character in this film is the main protagonist.
Ray (Raymond) is a helicopter pilot who is part of the Los Angeles Fire Department rescue team. His wife name is Emma, and his daughter name is Blake. This conflict process starts when Ray calls Blake, because he will drive her back up to school. When he got home he checked the mailbox and found the divorce papers.
Data 1 (San Andreas, 00:13:16)
[Ray goes through his posts and finds a letter addressed to him]
Ray: Okay, no problem, I'll find it. I don't know if you have plans tonight, but I would love to take you to dinner. You could even invite your mom along. It'll be fun.
[He opens the letter]
Blake: Oh, thanks, Dad, but we already have plans with Daniel. ...
Blake: Dad? Are you okay?
Ray: [calmly] Yep, I'm okay. Totally cool, no problem at all.
[He hangs up the phone and throws his letter down. The letter headline reads "Divorce papers attached" in red capital letters.]
As the dialogues above, the analysis of the internal conflicts experienced by Ray occurred because Ray had to deal with his own mixed feelings or emotions. Ray's expression changes when he finds the divorce papers and reads the first page. This is categorized as an internal
conflict between Ray and his thoughts about the divorce papers because previously Ray looked happy when he called Blake, but after he saw the divorce paper from his mailbox he seemed speechless and sad. This change in expression is explained implicitly in the movie. The source of this conflict is incompatible goals where one person does something first. In this case, Ray received divorce papers from Emma.
External Conflict
Man vs Man
The conflict between Raymond and Emma talk about their life without Mallory.
The external conflict that occurred here was experienced by Ray and Emma because of the argument disagreement. This external conflict is categorized as man vs man. This conflict occurs when Emma talk about their life if they did not lost Mallory in the rafting day. Emma brought up a conversation as they never finished about Mallory's death that affects the lives of the three of them after the incident.
Data 2 (San Andreas, 01:01:51)
Emma: You ever think about what our life would be like if we hadn't lost Mallory?
Ray: Em, don't.
Emma: I do. All the time.
Ray: We moved on.
Emma: No, we didn't move on. We stopped moving.
Ray: You didn't lose her on your watch.
Emma: No. But I lost her.
Ray: Can we not talk about this?
Emma: You owe it to me. This! This is the most. I've gotten out of you since she died. I need to know, Ray. Was it me? What did I do? ‘Cause I never blamed you.
This conflict can be seen in the dialogue by Ray, “We moved on” and then Emma answered “No, we didn't
move on. We stopped moving”. This is the example of argument disagreement. They do not have the same opinion about their problems.
The source of this conflict is different opinions between Ray and Emma. Ray said that they can move on and continuing their life, meanwhile Emma said that they cannot move on after losing Mallory.
Man vs Nature
The conflict between Raymond and Tsunami.
In this movie, natural disasters are things that must be faced. Like Ray who faced a Tsunami caused by an earthquake that occurred under the sea.
This external conflict is categorized as man vs nature when the protagonist is in direct opposition to the forces of nature. The idea of human survival in the face of natural forces is emphasized. This conflict occurs when Ray looks for Blake and sees that the building in Coit is engulfed in smoke as the surrounding area is on fire. Ray thought of all the possible whereabouts of Blake.
Data 3 (San Andreas, 01:22:11)
Emma: What's happening?
Ray: We gotta go. Water being pulled out like that's a tsunami. ...
Ray: We gotta get outta the bay, now.
This conflict can be seen in the dialogue “We gotta go. Water being pulled out like that's a tsunami”. Ray is a helicopter pilot for the Los Angeles Fire Department's rescue team who is experiencing conflict between himself and the tsunami for the first time. He had never been in a situation like this before. He tried to struggle against the tsunami.
The source of this conflict is incompatible goals. The goal is to get past the tsunami waves and save Blake, but there are obstacles that occur in the
process. In the middle of Ray's efforts to get through the tsunami, there was a large ship carrying goods blocking Ray's ship. The cargo box from the ship falls towards him and Ray tries to avoid it.
Man vs Society
The conflict between Hayes and Society.
This external conflict is man vs society, in this case the struggle between Hayes and the society.
As the local researcher and the Executive Director for Earthquake Studies at Caltech, Hayes is able to predict the aftershocks that will happen but his team work is never heard by the society. This conflict occurs when Hayes detect earthquakes and also the aftershocks. The conflict process of this conflict started when he conducted an interview with Serena and broadcast it in all media so that everyone immediately saved themselves.
Data 4 (San Andreas, 00:25:17)
Hayes : Kim gave his life for this. People need to know that we can predict these things now.
Data 5 (San Andreas, 00:25:31)
Hayes : No one listens to us until the ground shakes, I guess.
In the dialogue in data 5, “No one listens to us until the ground shakes...” explaining the situation between societies that do not believe in the research conducted by Hayes and his team. However, when an earthquake occurred, in the end they believed Hayes' prediction.
In otherwise, the government or citizens did not follow up or use Hayes' expertise as research material to anticipate other natural disasters in the future. They wasted their human resources and knowledge which actually really helped them detect the earthquake and other natural disasters.
Man vs Fate
The conflict between Blake and her fate when she stuck in the room full of water.
This external conflict is man vs fate which a character battle against their own destiny, in this case are between Blake and her fate. This conflict occurs when she stuck in the room full of water. The conflict process of this conflict started when she tried to dodge the water that suddenly entered the building. But instead she was trapped in a room with high water and almost drowned her.
Data 6 (San Andreas, 01:36:17)
Blake: Daddy, I'm scared. I'm running out of air! Daddy, I don't think I can do this.
Ray: Blake, you hold on, hold on!
...
Blake: Dad. I love... I love you, Dad. And please tell... Please tell Mom that I love her, too.
Di dialogue yang diucapkan oleh Blake, I'm scared... I'm running out of air... I don't think I can do this” explaining the conflict Blake is currently experiencing. This conflict can also be seen in Blake's expression in the movie, as she struggles to open the door in the room. She had almost given up, but she tried to fight for her fate.
The source of this conflict is incompatible goals. When Ray comes to help her out with several failed attempts. She must face her fate of being trapped in a room and depriving her of oxygen to breathe, but she kept trying, until she finally passed out and Ray (her father) managed to get her out.
CONCLUSION
There are two type of conflicts, such as internal conflict and external conflict. The internal conflict in this movie faced by Raymond (the main character). The external conflicts divided into four types, namely man vs man: Raymond and Emma, man vs nature: Raymond and
tsunami, man vs society: Hayes has a conflict between himself and society, and man vs fate: Blake who face her own destiny.
In this analysis, the author only takes one example from each type of conflicts based on the theory of literature by Kenney (1996) and source of conflicts using Deetz and Stevenson (1986) theory. For future research, this movie could be used as further data with more detailed research on conflict based on conflict theories from other experts.
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