Cinderella Man

I have seen this movie millions of times and I absolutely love it. Watching it this time, however, I was able to look for different aspects of motivation and emotion from chapters 11-13. If we start with chapter 11, we could definitely see basic emotions evident in all of the characters. One of the basic emotions is anger. Anger is described in the textbook as being the most passionate emotion. It also has the ability to increase people’s sense of control. When Jimmy finds out Mae sent the children away he exhibits anger. He automatically leaves and finds some way to get them back. In a very powerful scene, he asks those who can afford it to lend him some money to pay the bill and get his children back. His sense of control was increased and he thought “I have to do something.” His anger at not having his children was motivation for him to come up with the money to pay the bill and get them back. Another basic emotion we see in this film in sadness. If we take the same circumstance, we can see that Mae’s sadness over her children not being able to be kept warm motivated her to send them away. The textbook states “. . . sadness motivates the individual to initiate whatever behavior is necessary to alleviate the distress-provoking circumstances before they occur again.” We see Mae’s sadness expressed through her breakdown outside when she realizes she cannot keep them in this state any longer.

If we move on to chapter 12, we can see the concept of appraisal prevalent throughout the film. Jimmy and Mae both appraise the Max Baer fight differently. Mae appraises this fight as being dangerous to her husband (possibly killing him). She knows that if her husband dies she’ll be left as a single mother of three and her appraisal causes her to perceive the circumstance as harmful. Mae’s felt emotion is one of anger, fear, and sadness. If we take this further and look at complex appraisal and the ideas of primary and secondary appraisal we can see that Mae’s primary appraisal is that this fight puts many things at stake including, but not limited to, Jimmy’s life, her financial state, and her psychological state. After things have settled a bit and she’s able to reflect on this circumstance, Mae’s secondary appraisal says she is unable to cope with this harm or threat. She gets very upset and tells Jimmy that while she’s stood by him this whole time, he does not have her back on this one.

Jimmy, on the other hand, experiences the appraisal process differently. He knows this fight is dangerous, yes, but he sees the possible financial and psychological benefits as outweighing the physical dangers that may result. He perceives the fight as worth it and his felt emotion is one of interest (if we had to choose one of the basic emotions). Jimmy’s primary appraisal says that yes, there’s a lot at stake here, but that the potential benefits outweigh the risks. His secondary appraisal, after he’s had time to reflect, doesn’t change.

If we move on to chapter 13, we are able to see the personality differences among the characters as they develop throughout the movie. The character of Joe definitely exhibits the most extraversion. He displays this through his loudness, happiness, assertiveness and sociability. He is constantly yelling/swearing and gets very excited (even more so than Jimmy) when they win. For the most part, his mood seems to be very happy and upbeat. When we witness conversations between Joe and Jimmy, Joe is typically the one doing most of the talking and this is true when we see the conversations between Joe and Jimmy Johnston as well.

Though it may be a stretch, I do believe Mae displays a rather high level of neuroticism. The text defines neuroticism as “a predisposition to experience negative affect and to feel chronically dissatisfied and unhappy.” Although the circumstances in this movie provoke negative affect (the great depression, Max Baer fight, etc), Mae seems to display this personality characteristic more than the other characters. For example, when it comes to the Max Baer fight, Mae thinks as pessimistically as you could about the entire situation. I think she truly believes Jimmy will die and this brings about anxiety and fear. Joe and Jimmy, however, don’t seem to think this way and don’t display neuroticism. Throughout the film’s entirety, Mae seems more unhappy than happy.

Also within chapter 13, if we move on to arousal we can see that Jimmy has a high need for arousal. He is motivated to fight partially for the money, but also because, I believe, he feels an insufficient level of stimulation and underarousal. Fighting brings some kind of excitement into his life in the great depression. Jimmy is a sensation seeker and he is constantly taking risks each and every time he fights. Mae, on the other hand, is definitely not a sensation seeker. She does not enjoy risk taking and we can see this when she sends the children away and when she tries to persuade Jimmy not to fight.

Finally, in chapter 13, we can see the concept of control in Cinderella Man. The main character of Jimmy has a high perceived control. He sets high goals for himself (defeating Max Baer) and also persists in the face of difficulty (broken hand, bruised ribs, the great depression, etc). He is constantly looking for ways to succeed and overcome difficulties whether it be through asking for money, trying to get shifts at the docks, or re-watching the Max Baer boxing film clip. These things lead to Jimmy’s strong performance as a boxer and as a person.

Terms: anger, sadness, basic emotions, appraisal (primary and secondary), extraversion, neuroticism, arousal, control, perceived control

This was the first time that I had gotten the chance to see Cinderella Man. I thought that it was a wonderful movie, and I was happy to see that it portrayed multiple concepts that we have learned both from the textbook and from lecture.

The first concept that was present in the movie was that of arousal. One of the very first scenes shows Jim in the boxing ring during a fight. It shows the crowd cheering and getting all fired up, and it shows Jim getting in the zone and putting on an optimal performance. According to the textbook, arousal represents a variety of processes that govern alertness, wakefulness, and activation (p.374). During these beginning fights, Jim was undergoing a moderate level of arousal, which coincides with optimal performance and the experience of pleasure. Jim was not aroused too little, nor was he aroused too much, and this is obvious because he appeared to be alert, but not tense.

Another concept that came to mind while watching the movie was risk taking. Boxing is definitely an activity that could elicit aversive consequences, and Jim is deciding to continue on doing it regardless of what may happen to him. He knows that it is dangerous and that he could get hurt, but he believes that winning the fights and getting the money for his family outweighs the risk involved with boxing. Jim is both intrinsically motivated and extrinsically motivated to continue boxing and to keep winning. He wants to box because he enjoys it and is very good at it, but he also likes the fact that winning the fights rewards him with money, which counts as extrinsic motivation. All of this combined pushes Jim to carry on with his boxing career.

Something else that was obvious throughout the movie was the concept of physiological needs. Cinderella Man takes place during the Great Depression, so people were out of work and pretty much had no way of providing for themselves and for their families. It was a time of need for everyone. Since people were low on money, it made it very hard to have a constant supply of food and water around. This depletion of resources led to the hunger and thirst of a multitude of people, including Jim and his family. Jim had to have public assistance help him, and at one point he even begged some of his older, wealthier friends for more money. This was all brought on because homeostasis was not being reached in terms of hunger and thirst, so he was pushed to act in the ways that he did. Jim would have done anything to be able to meet the physiological needs of his family.

I also thought that control played a large role throughout the movie. According to the textbook, control is made up of both perceived control and the desire for control. Perceived control refers to the beliefs and expectations a person holds that he or she can interact with the environment in ways that produce desired outcomes and prevent undesired outcomes (p.384). All throughout the movie, Jim believed that he could continue boxing to get money for his family and then ultimately get them out of debt and live a comfortable lifestyle like they did prior to the Great Depression. Perceived control beliefs predict how much effort a person is willing to exert (p.384). Jim was willing to put everything on the line, including his life, to save his family. He put forth all of his effort into boxing, and it ended up having very positive results for him and for his family because he went all the way to winning the world heavyweight championship. The desire for control is defined by the textbook as the extent to which individuals are motivated to establish control over the events in their lives (p.386). People with a high desire for control, like Jim, are not content with taking whatever life throws at them. He wanted to make his own decisions, prepare for situations in advance, and to avoid dependence on others. That is why he decided to get back into boxing. He took his training into his own hands, and he persevered through every tough opponent that he went up against. Also, while he may have depended on public assistance for some help earlier on in the movie, he ended up repaying them for every cent that they let him borrow. There was even a point in the movie where Jim said, “I’ve got to believe that I’ve got some kind of say over our lives”. All of this proves that Jim was high on the desire for control. All of this is pretty inspirational, especially during the Great Depression, because of the fact that it left many people feeling as though they had zero control over their life outcomes.

Another concept that played a big role all throughout the entire movie was emotion. I was able to see many different facial expressions that covered a multitude of feelings and emotions. I saw sadness and anger when Jim’s electricity and gas got shut off because their bills were overdue. I saw frustration and distress when one of their kids started getting sick, when Jim wasn’t able to pick up work shifts, when Jim kept losing fights and got his boxing license revoked, and when Mae wanted Jim to quit boxing because she feared for his life. Things began to turn around after a while though, and that is when I witnessed happiness. People were so happy when Jim was allowed to pick up another fight. This was a big fight, and he ended up winning it. This made Jim happy, it made his friends and family happy, and it made his community and his fans happy. It instilled a sense of hope in everyone.

I think that hope is an important idea that is present throughout the movie. These people were living during the Great Depression, which led to a lot of people feeling like they had no options in life. It led to a ton of learned helplessness. It led to people having an external locus of control rather than an internal one. People were dying left and right from not having the resources to sustain life because they didn’t have their jobs anymore. It was a hard and trying time for every single person involved, which is why having someone like Jim push through and fight back made the whole community hopeful that things could change. During the heavyweight championship, Mae went to the church to pray for Jim. When she got there, pretty much the whole town was there because they were praying for Jim too. They said that they felt like Jim was fighting for them. It was pretty neat to see that the whole town had a sense of hope because of the gestures that Jim was making for his family throughout this rough period of time.

I truly enjoyed this movie and thought that it was very inspirational. I would recommend Cinderella Man to anyone! I was also pleased that I was able to make so many connections between the movie and the concepts from the textbook and lecture. It made me feel as though I know quite a bit about motivation and emotion! I am looking forward to moving on and learning more.

Terms: arousal, optimal performance, pleasure, risk taking, aversive, consequences, intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, reward, physiological needs, needs, hunger, thirst, homeostasis, control, perceived control, desire for control, effort, motivation, emotion, facial expressions, feelings, sadness, anger, happiness, hope, learned helplessness, external locus of control, internal locus of control

It is never a bad thing when I have to watch this movie. Cinderella man is so good. Russell Crow is such a great actor, it just adds to the movie. After seeing it multiple times before, this time was different because I was looking at it in a different light. I was looking at the concepts of motivation and emotion. When looking back on the three chapters that are relevant for the movie, emotions and personalities run wild. There are so many different episodes of emotion and obviously personalities are played throughout the movie. The most impacting emotion in the movie is anger/distress. When Jimmy breaks his hand, it forces him to leave the sport of boxing. Obviously he is not too happy about this, but now their family lacks the income that they once originally had. So now the injury impacts not only his own career, but his family too. Anger is described as the most passionate emotion. This hits home with me when Mae sends the kids away. This became a life-changing even for Jim and his emotions started to get the best of him. Not only was their anger, but confusion, sadness, the feeling of being overwhelmed as well. All of these hit Jim and now at the lowest point in his career, he had to do something about it. Soon Jim realizes he has to cope with it or else he is running in place. His emotions did not just occur out of the blue, they occurred for a reason. He was going to have to figure out how to cope with this. As the book would put it, Jim had to figure out how coping functions will allow him to prepare himself to adapt effectively to his important life circumstance.

Jim’s admirable determination to get things “right” again is astounding. He decides to get back in the ring and this time, he is willing to fight whatever stands in his way. Any chance for money, he is taking the opportunity. When he was receiving any money possible, he was benefiting from feeling good. There was a sense of satisfaction. As a family, they did not have all the money in the world, but there was a sufficient level of happiness. Their family thrived on their positive relationships amongst each other and among their friends. The positive reinforcement they were around continuously helped them.

When it becomes time that Jim is going to fight Max Baer, many things start to take form. Just between Jim and Mae, they have two different concepts of appraisal for it. Mae despises Max and at one point even throws a drink at him. Mae feels anger and fear toward him. For Jim, this is his shot of a lifetime. It is now Jim’s time to take this opportunity and run with it. The primary appraisal for Jim is he has the title at stake. His name can be etched in the record books. This is what the fight entitles for Jim. The secondary appraisal is the person’s assessment for coping with the possible outcome. On this hand, this could mean (worst case scenario) Jim gets killed inside the ring and leaves his wife as a single mother with financial issues.

At the end, you finally see the level of happiness reach max point between Mae and Jim when the fight is over. Jim is the champ! The suffering is no more. Their lives have taken a 180 and it is for the best. All along Jim took this fight with Max Baer because he wanted to have the choice and make his own way for their family. This reflects his high need of desire for control. With this, it motivated him even more inside the ring. He was always constantly looking for anyway to overcome the difficulties and succeed in life. By becoming a champ, I think he just did that.

Key Terms: emotions, anger, coping functions, happiness, positive reinforcement, appraisal, primary appraisal, secondary appraisal

I loved this movie. I’ve never seen it before, but I heard how good it was and was excited to watch it. The reviews definitely did not disappoint. It definitely took you on an emotional roller coaster, which in return makes tying concepts from the movie to concepts from chapters 11-13 rather simple.

I decided to find a concept from each of the chapters and then tie it in with one of the concepts from the movie. Chapter eleven is all about emotions and the nature of emotions. One of the things chapter eleven asks is “What good are emotions?” The answer comes with discussing the function of different emotions. The chapter tells us that there are at least eight distinct purposes that emotions serve. One emotion, which is also one of the basic emotions, is anger. A stimulus situation that elicits anger is an obstacle. In the movie, Jim and his family face the obstacles that the Great Depression brings. Mainly, they are struggling to make ends meet from the lack of income they’re receiving. In order to over come this obstacle, Jim gets angry which provides him with motivation to box like he once used to be able to. The function, or the purpose, that the emotion of anger serves is destruction. Basically, the destruction of the opponents is what Jim’s anger is accomplishing him. With this destruction he receives cash, which in return helps his family stay afloat in these desperate times.

In chapter twelve, one of the things we learned about was the cognitive aspects of emotion. “The central construct in a cognitive understanding of emotion is appraisal.” Appraising a situation is the act of determining the event’s personal significance. Basically asking yourself, “Will this effect my health and/or happiness?” A situation Jim has to face where appraisal is a very hard to decide is whether or not he should fight the heavy weight champion of the world. This heavy weight champion has killed two men before in the ring. Obviously Jim has obligations, like his family, where he can’t just leave them on their own in this depression. However, by this point in the movie Jim has also became a hero. He is a symbol of hope for the people of New Jersey through these tough times and he does not want to let them down by backing out of the fight. According to Arnold’s Appraisal Theory of Emotion, the structure goes situation > appraisal > emotion > action. With this particular case, the theory seems to be somewhat contradictory. The situation is the impending fight between the heavy weight champion and Jim. Though a tough decision, Jim must admit to himself that the appraisal of the situation is bad; it is harmful for him to take on this fight, yet he makes a great point that so is any boxing match. So even though this is bad, his emotions are positive. Jim likes boxing, and he knows how important it is to not only him but now so many American’s looking up to him. Finally we have action, and Jim decides to approach the situation and take on the fight. Good thing he did, because he ends up winning even though I almost was sure he was going to die!

The example I used above with the final fight of the movie also ties in with concepts from chapter thirteen. One of the thing we learned about in chapter thirteen was risk taking. No one likes taking risks, because there is a good probability that the emitted action will result in aversive consequences. However, when people take risks they do it because the small chance of obtaining the reward is worth the risk to them. Jimmy knows that even though he may die during this fight, he must do it for the chance that he’ll win. If he were to win, it would mean so much money for his family. It would also mean showing the people of New Jersey that there is hope in this world. It would show them that no matter how bleak it may seem, we can still overcome this most impossible of obstacles, including this Great Depression.

Terms:
Stimulus situation, appraisal, Arnold’s Appraisal Theory of Emotion, emotional function

Cinderella Man is a true example of the struggle to maintain well-being and motivating behavior based on emotion. Many aspects of this movie portray the topics in the past chapters and several scenes can be analyzed. Emotion is subjective, biological, purposive and social. The emotions in this movie relay each aspect of motivation based on emotions.

The first part of the movie shows the family at a low state of well-being. The family is running low on their needs. Many things happen in this scene that are based on the current state the family is in. The boy steals meat based on the environmental factor of seeing one of his peers being sent away. The environmental factor then produces a cognitive understanding of his situation to create emotions which lead him to behave in a goal directed behavior. The stealing of the meat served as a opportunity to adapt to his current social challenge. The kids don’t do or say much throughout the movie, however, they are a common cause for motivation. The basic emotions are involuntary and are expressed in a distinctive way while being mostly predictable. Mae, Jim’s wife, portrays her emotions very easily to be read. The way the viewer can predict her emotions is by facial expression and body language. Also the emotions she feels are the same anyone would imagine would be the social norm for a spouse of a boxer. Chapter 11 states that all basic emotions arise from the same circumstances for all people. Fear would be the main emotion that Mae has, she many times creates defense based on her emotion. Fear comes from being vulnerable and overwhelmed by danger, this is a definite emotion that Mae relayed to the viewers. For this family I think emotions are their basic source for survival, they are constantly adapting based on their situation. Their emotions are a coping mechanism, they use emotion to create motivation to direct a behavior. Jim’s emotions are most present throughout the movie.

Emotions best describe a mood. Many times Jim’s emotions direct a behavior much needed, he copes many times in this movie. One of the first scenes about Jim that stood out to me was when he went to ask for money to turn his electricity back on. In that scene his emotions relayed; fear, anger, disgust, and sadness. He came home to his wife and came to the realization that the children were gone. Directly after learning the environmental event he acted on a goal directed behavior. Jim then approaches the relief office, and yet that amount is still not enough. He then goes to a group of people in the fighting business for collection. This is Jim’s lowest point in the movie. This is when he realized what he was truly fighting for. Shortly after Jim is presented with a fight and the movie takes a turn for the positive side. In the second half of the movie the viewers start to understand more of Jim’s personality characteristics. His responses to the situations he is in are a direct reflection of his personality.

Jim is a sensation seeking individual. He enjoys arousal and activity as well as interacts with high risk experiences. The risks he takes throughout this movie are all the exact examples from the text including; physical, social, legal and financial. He is continuously directed by his emotions to be aroused. Arousal is based on the stimulation of the environment and can benefit functioning. Jim functions the best with the most arousal. His stress levels appear to not interfere with his functioning. He also maintains a controlled deal of perceived control based on his engagement, emotion, coping, and the challenged he is seeking. Happiness is another aspect addressed in the movie. The family has several low points, however, I would not say they were as unhappy as others would be. The individual measure of happiness is unique. The family is sensitive to small rewards, in which leads them to maintain a happier life. Jim is an eudaimonic style of happiness. He experiences true self in his pursuits. This movie overall was a great expression of emotion and personality characteristics. Jim is an all American hero and a sensation of hope.

Key Terms: Well-being, motivation, emotion, subjective, biological, purposive, social, need, environmental factor, cognitive, goal directed behavior, fear, basic emotions, defense, coping functions ,mood, adapt, sensation seeking,eudaimonic, rewards, arousal,

On the surface, “Cinderella Man” may look like another boxing movie. About 15 minutes into the movie, you realize this is not a sport movie; this is a movie about how the great depression has affected a family and the country. It’s an amazing picture about the fall of man, his life at the bottom, and his rise back to the top. We face many things in our life that bring us fear, sadness, anger, joy, and many other kinds of emotions. This movie takes us back to a time when people had good reasons to be fearful and sad. Personally, I felt this movie was absolutely amazing—for what I saw of it. I feel that I am going to go out and buy the movie online or wherever I can find it. The concepts of sadness and depression are so well done. As Jimmy and his family fall and rise you start to feel an emotional connection with them and truly care for them.

There are many motivation and emotion concepts in this movie, so let’s start with the ones from Chapter 11. One of the first concepts that I observed in the movie was the concept of fear. After the opening fight, James’s manager was telling him that he has no fear. Another time I observed fear was how James’s wife, Mae, feels about his boxing. She mentions that “Every time you get hit, it feels like I’m being hit.” She really worries about Jimmy’s health being a boxer because even though he is a good boxer and wins his matches, he is still being hit every time. I can’t forget to mention the scenes after Jimmy has his license revoked after breaking his hand. He goes home with no money from the fight, he no longer has a job, and Mae wants to send the kids away. This completely breaks Jimmy, and he wants to do anything he can to fix that he can no longer work.
Chapter 11 also has many good examples of fear and sadness outside of the Braddock family. The United States is entering into the great depression, and the people living in this movie are feeling the effects. The Braddock family has to water-down their milk because they are past due on the milk man. They can’t pay their bills, and their oldest son stole meat from a butcher. You can observe how people are living on the streets. Groups of people are standing outside the factories every morning hoping to get work, but the factories can’t hire all of them.
One giant concept of anger and sadness was when Jimmy finds out Mae has sent his children away. This absolutely devastates him because he promised his son he would never send them away. He gets a ferry to the city and talks to the boxing commissioners. Jimmy does everything but get down on his hands and knees to get some help. This is when Jimmy realizes he has reached the bottom, begging to the people he was so close to. Jimmy, in tears, gets the money and is able to get his kids back. Jimmy may not show it very well, but he shows a lot of joy being able to bring his kids back. Jimmy finally gets an opportunity to fight a very professional heavy-weight contender for $250. I’ve never seen more joy in someone.
After Jimmy wins his fight, in a major surprise, Jimmy is extremely joyful. For once, he feels no fear about his financial situation.

As the movie plays, concepts from Chapter 12 also are boldly shown. Jimmy is someone that is feeling the concept of appraisal. Jimmy knows that boxing hurts him, but he feels it’s significant because it feeds his family. Even though Jimmy is a boxer and needs the calories to keep him healthy, he focuses on feeding his children and keeping them healthy and comfortable.

In conclusion, this movie was amazing displaying emotions. The actors very accurately portrayed the feelings of the great depression.

Terms: Fear, sadness, appraisal, emotion, anger, joyful

This movie rocks! So many great examples of motivation and emotion throughout. I would say all of the basic emotions were shown in this film. Starting mainly with anger. Anger is described in chapter 11 as an "ubiquitous emotion". The book says anger is brought on when one finds that some out side source is coming in and disturbing goals and visions. Obviously this movie was set in the great depression and James, the main character, is facing great turmoil trying to keep his family afloat. He was a boxer, a very good boxer, and was making great money doing this but was forced to leave because he broke his hand. This is a prime example of the spark that lit his fire. He had goals for himself, for his family. These goals were fueled by the money he was making while fighting. They were uninterrupted by him breaking his hand and the boxing head committee making him leave. He was very, very angry and didn't really know what to do but try and get work when he could.
We see fear all over Jame's wife's face throughout this movie. Fear, as described in the book, is an interpretation of one's own situation, whether dangerous or a threat to their well-being. James's wife, Mae, hates that James boxes. She can't even watch him fight because she doesn't like to see him get heart. She fears for the worst during his last, breakthrough fight when he fights against a man who has a rank of 10-1 and has killed 2 people in the ring. This is dangerous and creates so much fear for Mae (as it would for me too!!).
A big question to me would be, why isn't James look the slightest bit scared during his last fight? I would be TERRIFIED! My question is answered in chapter 12. When dealing with cognitive aspects of emotion we heavily look at the idea of appraisal, which is an estimate of ones significance of an event. For example when James goes into this ring, it is pretty much all or nothing for him. If he wins this match he gets a LOT of money, which will bring his family back together, and well we see what happens. But this is what motivates him, his appraisal of the fight. His appraisal motivates him to be focused and fight for what he feels is right, his family.
Finally chapter 13. Happiness, arousal, and control. I see all of these in this movie and the book says that all three of these are a product of any given life event. We see happiness, generally, between Mae and James. They are in love and have high hopes for their children and their lives. Happiness is what motivates them to do the best they can because they want to be a happy family. Arousal is explained in the book as process that start alertness, wakefulness, and activation. Obviously, when James is going in for his last fight, his arousal level is very high. He is very in tune to what he needs to do, very alert and active. -- if he wasn't, I think he would be pretty SOL. Control is a big one in this house. He feels the need to be in control of his family, especially his kids. Perceived control is the beliefs and expectation a person holds that one can interact with the environment in ways that produce desired outcomes and prevent undesired outcomes, according to the book. James wants his kids. Unfortunately Mae took them to their extended families house where they could be warm and have food. James did not like this. He felt out of control. He had no power. He needed this psychological need of autonomy and control, which is the need that he make decisions for himself.

Terms: Fear, anger, appraisal, happiness, arousal, control, psychological need, autonomy, power

This was my first time watching “Cinderella Man” and I thought it was a great movie! I did not think that I would like it at first because I absolutely hate watching boxing, but the story line was wonderful. I will definitely be watching this movie again!

Chapter 11 has many concepts that can be applied to the movie “Cinderella Man.” First is emotion, which can be defined as short-lived, feeling-arousal-purposive-expressive phenomena that help us adapt to opportunities and challenges we faced during important life events. If one endures a significant life event, then emotion occurs. This is present in the film in numerous scenes. One example of emotion is when James Braddock’s son steals from the butcher. He does this because he does not want to be sent away to other family members like his friend. His friend being sent away was a significant life event and thus led to many emotions such as fear, anxiety, worry, and panic. He acted upon his emotions when he stole from the butcher for his family (this occurred because with emotions comes motivation - if you take away emotion, you take away the motivation). Moving on, anger is a ubiquitous emotion and arises from restraint, betrayal of trust, being rebuffed, etc. Anger is present in the movie when James finds out that his wife, Mae, has sent their children to live with their relatives. He felt that the decision should have been made together and is angry and upset with Mae. He claims that he will be able to get enough money to turn the electricity back on and thus returns to the street to get their children back. His motivation is his love for his family, wanting to stay together, and not letting the depression tear his family apart. Sadness is also present in the film and can be seen through Mae in multiple scenes. Sadness is also known as distress and arises primarily from experiences of separation or failure. An example of Mae’s sadness in experience of failure is when she realizes how sick, cold, and hungry her children are becoming. She is overwhelmed and cannot bear to have them remain sick and unhealthy. She is motivated to send her children to relatives in order to keep them safe. An example of Mae’s sadness in experience of separation is when James boxes in general, but especially when he goes to box his “final match” against Baer. Mae knows that there is a good chance that James will not survive the match and is overwhelmed with the thought of losing him. She is motivated to no longer allow “boxing” in the house and at first does not support James in his quest against Baer. Joy is also an emotion that is present in the film and is emotional evidence that things are going well. This can be seen when James comes home to announce that he has won a boxing match, and him and his children cheer and laugh and his victories.

Chapter 12 also has many concepts that can be applied to the film. Appraisals are estimates of the personal significance of an event. The people of the town and Mae appraise James’s match against Baer as the time and place of his death. They know how dangerous Baer is and how he had recently killed two other men that he was boxing against. Because they are appraising the situation as bad, dangerous, and deadly, they immediately are filled with emotions to meet the appraisals. They dislike the situation but know how determined James is and how he wants to give hope to his family and his town. Primary appraisals involve an estimate of whether one has anything at stake in the encounter. The people of the town and Mae’s primary appraisal are that James’s health, well-being, and life are at stake. They dislike the situation and do not wish for James to potentially sacrifice his life. Secondary appraisals occur after some reflection and involve an assessment for coping with the possible benefit, harm, or threat that the situation is presenting. The townspeople and Mae realize the harm and threat to James, but they cope with the situation in the form of support. They support James in his quest and cheer for him throughout his match. Emotion differentiation process is also present in this film. Emotion differentiation process is defined by how people experience different emotions to the same event. A great example from “Cinderella Man” is between Baer and James and their match. Baer is excited to beat James and is not worried about the possibility of hurting or killing James. He welcomes the “weak/old” boxer and prepares himself to dominate the match. On the other hand, James is worried about how his family and his town will cope if he does not survive the match. He worries about his wife and children as well as his own safety. He prepares by thinking of his end goal - to bring hope to his family and town during the depression. A final concept from chapter 12 that can be applied to the film is that of emotional contagion. Emotional contagion is the tendency to automatically mimic and synchronize expressions, vocalizations, postures, and movements with those of another person, and consequently, to converge emotionally. This can be seen in the scene in which James asks his manager as well as his manager’s acquaintances to support him in his quest to pay for his electric bill. As soon as one man begins handing over some money for James, the atmosphere in the room changes and everyone synchronizes expressions, postures, and movements and thus converge emotionally. The action of the first man causes a ripple effect and promotes the other men to support James in his financial crisis.

Finally, chapter 13 also supplies numerous concepts of which can be applied and described from scenes in the film “Cinderella Man.” Happiness is displayed through James when he begins to win boxing matches again. He is happy that he is able to support his family once again, and to be able to give hope to his children and Mae for a better life ahead. Mae however, seems to become more unhappy as the film progresses. This progress can be described as neuroticism which is the predisposition to experience negative affect and feel chronically dissatisfied and unhappy. She continually worries about her family and about James in his dangerous career. She is dissatisfied and unhappy that he takes part in such a dangerous profession and just wants him to be safe and home. (She stated that she would rather suffer more by him working at the docks than to suffer less and have him boxing). Arousal represents a variety of processes that govern alertness, wakefulness, and activation. An example from the film is when James begins to win boxing matches again. He has a low to moderate level of arousal which in turn increases his intensity and quality of performance (which is a contributor to him winning more matches). James experiences optimal performance here as it is a function of him being aroused, but not too aroused. Affect intensity is people’s capacity to become aroused emotionally. Mae is a great example of an affect-intense individual. These people are those who experience emotions strongly and show emotional reactivity and variability across many different emotion-eliciting situations. Mae becomes upset and shows emotions of sadness and grief when she has to send her children away, as well as when she decides to ban boxing from the house - an outlet for her anger and fear of James’s life. Mae also shows emotional reactivity when James wins and survives his final match. She begins cheering and jumping up-and-down in excitement. Perceived control is defined as the differences in people’s pre-performance expectancies of possessing needed capacity to produce positive outcomes. James has perceived control as he believes he has a chance at winning against Baer. He also has perceived control as he will do anything to bring hope to his family. He is willing to possibly die in order to give hope to his family and his town. Desire for control is also present and is defined as the extent to which people strike to make their own decisions, influence others, assume leadership roles, and enter situations in overly prepared ways. Desire for control reflects the extent to which individuals are motivated to establish control over events in their lives. James is a perfect example of the desire for control from the movie “Cinderella Man.” James desires to take control over his life and his family’s life by assuming a leadership role (boxing for money even though it is dangerous) as well as influencing others (influences his manager and the other men to support his family – defines James’s desire for control). James has desire for control throughout the movie because he wants what is best for his family and he does not want the depression to separate his family. We know that James has a high desire for control because when one has a high desire for control and their control is threatened or lost altogether, they exhibit distinct reactions such as distress, anxiety, depression, dominance, and assertive coping. When James’s control is threatened (or ultimately lost altogether) – such as when Mae sends away the children – he exhibits distinct reactions such as distress, anxiety, and depression over the loss of his children, as well as dominance when he acts assertively to attempt to bring his children back home (leaving Mae to talk to his manager and the other men).

Terms: emotion, anger, sadness, joy, appraisal, primary appraisal, secondary appraisal, emotion differentiation process, emotional contagion, happiness, neuroticism, arousal, low to moderate arousal, optimal performance, affect intensity, affect-intense individuals, perceived control, desire for control, and losing control

Cinderella Man was a movie full of inspiration, determination, and tons of connections to both motivation and emotion. You can’t discuss the relation to this movie to motivation and emotion without first looking at the extrinsic motivation the main character James (Jimmy) Braddock. At the beginning of the movie, Jimmy is a well off boxer before the great depression boxing more for the sense of intrinsic motivational purposes, doing it because he is interested in it and wants to master optimal challenges. After the Great Depressions strikes, Jimmy looses everything he had at the fall of the stock markets and begins to fight just to provide food, heat, and electricity to his children and wife. Jimmy is then extrinsically motivated to box for the environmental incentive of money he gets for doing so. The incentive, and environmental event that attracts or repels a person towards or away from initiating in a particular course of action, of a paycheck is what keeps bringing Jimmy to the ring to face opponents he is most likely going to lose to.

When relating this movie to concepts from chapter 13, a few that stood out for me were that of over arousal, sensation seeking and risk taking, and control. When first introduced to Jimmy Braddock, we see a successful boxer. Being a boxer, I would say that Jimmy has a sensation seeking personality. People who are sensation seeking seek out varied, novel, complex, and intense sensation experiences and are willing to take physical, social, legal, and financial risk for the sake of the experience. Along with having a sensation seeking personality type comes risk taking behaviors. High sensation seekers voluntarily engage in physically risky behaviors to produce a sensational experience which Jimmy does with his career of boxing.

As the movie progresses and Jimmy loses his life savings during the Great Depression, his personality characteristics of control really start to show through. There are two characteristics of that capture most of the control beliefs people, including Jimmy, experience. Those two characteristics are perceived control and desire for control. Perceived control, which is more relatable to Jimmy’s character, is the difference in people’s pre-performance expectancies of possessing the needed capacity to produce positive outcomes and refers to the beliefs and expectations a person holds that they can interact with the environment in ways that produce a desired outcome and prevent undesired outcomes. In order for someone to perceive they have control over a situation they first must be capable of obtaining the desired outcome and the outcome needs to be somewhat predictable and responsive. Jimmy shows a high perceived control because of his displays of his exertion of effort, in both boxing and providing for his family, focuses his concentration on how to provide for his family, and maintains a positive emotional state even in a time of distress. Desire for control, the other aspect of control, is the extent to which people strive to make their own decision, influence others, assume leadership roles, and ender situations in overly prepared ways.

Terms: Intrinsic Motivation, Extrinsic Motivation, Sensation Seeking, Risk Taking, Control, Perceived Control, Desired Control.

I have never seen Cinderella Man before but I really enjoyed this movie! This movie was very emotional and had a lot of concepts from the chapters. The emotion that was present throughout the entire movie was fear. Jim experiences fear multiple times during this movie. He feared for his life and his family’s life when the electricity was turned off because they had no money and his kids were sent away. He was fearful of what would happen to his kids and his family. The fear motivated him to beg for money and also to keep fighting to earn some more money.

His wife also experienced fear throughout the movie. She hated that Jim boxed because she was worried about his safety. When she was asked how she felt about Max Baer already killing two men that he had fought she broke down. She didn’t even go to his boxing match because she went to church and prayed. She was also scared that if he was killed during his boxing match she would be left alone as a single mother and would have no way of supporting her or her kids.

Arousal played a huge role during this movie. Arousal represents a variety of processes that govern alertness, wakefulness, and activation. As arousal level increases from low to moderate, both the intensity and quality of the performance improve. As Jim’s arousal level at the start of the match increase from low to moderate, his intensity and his quality of his performance improve. Since he was at a moderate level of arousal he was experiencing pleasure from fighting. He reached his optimal performance and was able to win because he alert but not tense.

Another concept that was present during the movie was risk taking. Jim is taking a huge risk every time he fights. He risks getting hurt or even being killed every time he steps into the ring. For Jim, taking this risk is worth it because he will be rewarded with fame but more importantly money. He takes a huge risk when he decides to fight Max. Max has already killed two men during fights but Jim is determined because he knows if he wins he will receive the money that him and his family desperately need.

Control was also present throughout the movie. Perceived control and desire for control are two personality characteristics that capture most of the spirit of control beliefs. Perceived control refers to the beliefs and expectations a person holds that he or she can interact with the environment in way that produce desired outcomes and prevent undesired outcomes. Jim believes that he can continue to box and win the money that him and his family needs. Perceived control beliefs predict how much effort a person is willing to exert. Jim is a person with high perceived control. He initiated action, exerted a lot of effort, focused his concentration, and persisted in the face of difficulty.

Jim also had a high desire for control. Desire for control reflects the extent to which individuals are motivated to establish control over the events in their lives. A person with a high desire for control prefer making their own decisions, prepare for situations in advance, avoid dependence on others, and assume leadership roles. Jim wanted full control over his life. He was not going to give up and he was going to do everything in his power to get money for his family. He prepared for his last fight by training extra hard and learning how Max boxes. He avoided dependence on others because he did not want to ask others for money or help. He definitely assumed a leadership role in his family by earning money and in the boxing ring by defeating his opponents.

Terms: Emotion, fear, arousal, perceived control, desire for control, risk taking.

I had never seen this movie but it was really good! There are a ton of motivational and emotional aspects to this movie. There are a lot of concepts from chapter 11 which talks a lot about anger as well as fear. Anger is one of the basic emotions in which people can express their emotions or negative emotions. Anger can come about from many different aspects of life. It can occur because we are unable to control outside events. This is what is seen during this movie and portrayed throughout. Jim gets angry and upset when his wife makes his children go to their relative’s house. He was angry because he kept working and trying to get money but it was never enough. He shows this anger not by slamming doors or hitting things, but by not saying anything to his wife who he very clearly loved to death. I think he felt very betrayed by her and helpless and the only way he knew how to react was anger. I believe his anger came out on the boxing floor as well when he was offered the first match for 250 dollars. It seemed to me that everything was exploding from him. All the pain he had encountered and all of the things he could not control during the great depression were released into something he could control.

Fear is also portrayed all throughout this movie. Fear is the reaction that takes place when someone has a threat to their well-being or when something is dangerous in their lives. A large aspect of fear throughout the movie obviously dealt with the great depression and their inability to pay bills or make enough money to even eat. Jimmy lived in constant fear for his children. He went to try and get work every day and had a very nervous facial expression whenever he was waiting at the gate. He knew that was the different between getting a good meal and paying their electric bill. When the electricity went out Jimmy’s wife was extremely fearful for her children. She was very nervous and fearful about her son who was becoming more ill. She felt very helpless because she could not work and therefore she did not have the resources to help her son recover from his illness. She was worried about him dying which is one of the main reasons I assume that she sent all the kids away to live with relatives.

These emotions that Jimmy experiences create motivation for him to find work and to work even through his broken hand. I believe it also helped him become motivated to work hard to win the boxing matches. The first one he won that got him started again was a very huge guy that he shouldn’t have had a chance against. However, his emotions created physiological responses that helped him win the fights. His heart rate always had to adjust to the situation and this most likely increased his motivation even more. Jimmy had a low perceived control but a high desire for control. He didn’t feel like he could control anything external that was taking place in the great depression, but he was extremely motivated to try and fix the problem with not having money. This motivation is what drives him throughout the entire movie and without his desire for control, he wouldn't have been able to succeed throughout the fights or make it through the great depression with his family still together.

Terms: anger, fear, facial expression, helpless, physiological response, perceived control, desire for control

I can’t believe I have never seen or heard of this movie before! The emotions in this movie made me feel like I was actually experiencing them as well! From chapter 11 one of the first concepts observed was fear. The wife Mae feared boxing. She hated that Jimmy boxed. She worried about him all the time. She worried about his health. The last match of the movie she feared she may never see her husband alive again.

The beginning of the movie shows the family at a low state of well-being just like many other families were facing during this time period. The family is running low on everything. They can’t receive any more milk until they pay their bill, there short on food, the electricity and heat is about to be turned off and they have nothing left to sell for money. One of the little boys steals meat from the meat market because he is seeing his friends being sent away and is afraid he may be next if he doesn’t help contribute. After that scene in the movie the kids don’t do much but still play a huge part in this movie.

Many of Jimmy’s emotions directed his behavior. He experiences many different emotions throughout the movie. Jimmy experiences sadness and anger when he finds out his wife has sent the children away. I think this really angered him because it was as if he couldn’t provide for his family. He had also promised one of his sons that he would never sent him away. This is when Jimmy hits his all time low. He goes down and gets some aid relief from the government. The women helping him said “Jimmy, I never thought I would see you here”. I am sure that comment didn’t help the situation or his feelings for that matter! He then takes a ferry to the city to talk to the boxing commissioners. He begs his closest friends for help. You can tell by the tears in his eyes that this is the hardest thing he has ever had to do. His friends chip in with the money and he is able to get his power and heat turned back on as well as bring his children back home. He is extremely happy and joyful to have his family back together. Jimmy gets the opportunity to fight for the heavy weight champion after working his way back into the ring. The winner of this fight wins two hundred and fifty dollars. After Jimmy wins which was a surprise to many since he was the underdog he shows a great deal of joy. For that moment he feels on financial pressure.

Arousal is discussed in chapter 13 and is also seen throughout this movie. I feel like Jimmy has a high need for arousal. He is motivated to fight for the money. The motivation is also what helps him work with his broken hand that he tried to hide by using shoe polish so it wasn’t as noticeable down at the boat docks. I also think he fights because fighting brings stimulation and excitement to his life during this unpleasant time period during the great depression. Fighting brings joy and arousal for him.

Chapter 13 also talks about control. Jimmy has control. He sets goals for himself and goes after them no matter the circumstance. An example of a goal he has set for himself is to beat the defending professional heavy weight champion Max Baer. He persists in this goal and doesn’t back down. An example where he could have backed down and quit is when he had a broken hand, he continued to fight through the pain. He also didn’t quit when he had broken ribs or through the difficult times of the great depression. He is always trying to better himself and the life for his family. He asked to watch the Max Baer film over and over so he could find a weakness to attack him with. He also tried to better his families live by asking for money and trying to get shifts at the docks day after day of getting turned down he continued to return.

Terms used: arousal, control, persistence, fear

This movie was fantastic, I really loved it. It was funny at the right times and heartbreaking in others. It’s the story of second chances, the real Cinderella inspirational kind. The fact that it’s based on a true story makes it that much better. The character of Jimmy Braddock is so charming and you can’t help but root for him and his family, along with his manager, Joe Gould. I borrowed a copy from my brother and I’m not surprised he bought it anymore, I’m more surprised nobody ever told me to watch it!

The part that resonates the most with the chapter (13, most recent and my focus) for me was the character of Jim Braddock and how he refused to let their hard times ever put him down. He comes home to his wife, Mae, alone during the Depression years. She’s sent the kids off to her family so they can get back on their feet but he’s not about to let that happen. He takes off and loses all semblance of pride to beg for money from the men he used to work for while boxing. Here we see him almost at the point of losing control; he’s at the end of his rope. When individuals high in the desire for control lose control, they can become depressed. Desire for control is the extent to which an individual is motivated to establish control over their life. In events where they have little to no impact on the outcome, they can feel anxious and stressed. We see these emotions in Jim when he appeals to the boxing men. He is what I would consider high in desire for control and not having his kids makes him realize all his trying hasn’t helped. When he comes home from work and says, roughly, if he worked 26 hours of every 24 they still wouldn’t have enough money, it shows how much he wants to have control. However, even without the money, they are still happy.

Jimmy’s family means more to him than anything. As long as they’re together, we see him happy. He and Mae don’t really have fights until she sends the kids away. Even after the Depression hit, they adapted and came back to the happy family they had been before. Just like the book mentioned in the example of lottery winners and accident victims, their level of happiness is affected directly after the event most significantly. A year later, they show similar levels of happiness to pre-occurrence levels regardless of whether they had a positive or negative event.

Joe, Jimmy’s manager and friend, is what I would definitely call affect intense and an extravert. Affect intense is someone who experiences emotion strongly and are very sensitive to changes in arousal. We see this in his animation during the boxing matches, swearing or cheering, and always knowing exactly what to say to Jimmy to keep him going. His witty comments to Baer are another example that come throughout that section of the movie. He is easily goaded into it, tossing remarks back and forth once provoked. His emotions run hot. When Jimmy shows up begging, his facial expressions say so much about how sad it makes him and how much he wants to help. This is one character with a lot of facial feedback. The look on his face shows the emotion he is feeling accurately to facilitate social functioning. Secondly, an extravert is someone who is sociable, assertive, and adventurous. His job is all about people. His fighter, his fans, his boss, all need Joe in the middle to keep them happy. He likes a challenge, he convinces the board to give Jimmy a second chance on the first fight and then convinces them yet again that having a sentimental favorite will make them loads more money.

Jimmy involves himself in a lot of high arousal situations, arousal being the processes in charge of alertness and activation in the mind and body. Boxing, obviously is highly arousing. So is his job on the dock, it’s very hands on, fast paced. He tries to do whatever he can to make money but also keep himself from being bored. Boredom in the time of the Depression was luxury, I’m sure. He wanted to be useful, to benefit his family and he wouldn’t let himself sit around. As far as going to the extreme of boxing, that was pre-Depression and more likely attributed to sensation seeking. When someone prefers to be in a constant state of arousal, they would fall into the category of sensation seekers. This type of person takes risks that others would not and believes them to be worthwhile. When boxing Baer becomes a very real risk to his life, he keeps going, wanting to fight. The risk to his life was worthwhile to him for the potential win and the sensation he got while fighting such a challenging opponent.

Terms: desire for control, happiness, affect intense, facial feedback, extravert, arousal, sensation seeking

Cinderella Man is about a man who has to go to great lengths during the Great Depression to support his family. His name is James Braddock and he is a boxer who everyone thinks is washed up. James Braddock overcomes many obstacles throughout the movie. He is an underdog that you cannot help but root for. I really enjoyed this movie. I think this is my favorite movie that we have watched all semester. I saw this movie before when it first came out and it was just as good when I watched it this time. I personally love underdog stories with a happy ending.

There were many examples of motivation and emotion concepts from chapters eleven, twelve, and thirteen throughout the movie. There were examples of emotion including the feeling arousal, purpose, and expression. Motivation played a big role in this movie when it came to Braddock being motivated by his need to support his family. Personality characteristics such as happiness also played a role in this movie.

Emotion was demonstrated in the movie when Braddock has to go to his friends that he used to hang out with. The friends who once respected him and he had to ask them for money to turn his heat back on. Braddock was so desperate to get his kids back that he had to beg his friends for money. That was something that you could tell was very hard for him to. He was almost in tears towards the end of it and he had his head down the whole time because he was ashamed, but he loves his kids more than his pride. His kids mean everything to him.

That brings me to another motivation and emotion example, which is motivators. For James Braddock his family is his ultimate motivator. He fights through the pain during his fights so that he can make money to support his family. He fought through the shame of asking for money from his friends because he needed to get his heat turned back on in order to get his kids back.

There was also examples of managing emotions discussed in chapter twelve in the movie. His opponents throughout the movie are taunting Braddock, but especially when the guys starts talking about Braddock’s wife is when you can tell he gets angry. However even though you can tell that he is annoyed and angered by the mans remark he chooses to manage his anger and keep control because he knows that is exactly what the man wants.

An example from chapter thirteen would be happiness. Braddock always appeared to be pretty happy throughout the movie especially for his kids. No matter what was going on he would have a smile when he was playing with his kids. Probably because he wanted to make them feel at ease about everything that was going on. He could have been like some of the other characters in the movie that would go and drink their problems away, but instead he chose to keep a positive attitude and work hard to make ends meet.

There was also an example of a life event that elevated Braddock from his set point from of happiness. When Braddock won a fight and he was able to make some money to feed his family and keep the heat on he was happier than usual. It really made me think how lucky I have been to never have had to live through anything like the depression. I honestly think that my so called set point is probably higher because of that fact. I have never had to go through any really terrible life events. For that I am pretty lucky.

Terms: Motivation, emotion, managing emotions, happiness, happiness set point, positive, negative

I can say that I really enjoyed watching this movie, which I had a good feeling I would, because a lot of the actors and actresses in this movie are some of my favorites to watch. Especially Ron Howard (whose the director) I’m a big fan of his work both when he acts and directs. Along with Russell Crowe and Renee Zellweger. Overall, this movie had a whole range of different emotions from happiness and joy to fear that were expressed by the main couple, Mae and Jim throughout this movie.

During a $250 match Jim was fighting in he tells his opponent,“Welcome to New York.” Jim says that to his opponent after he jabs him in the face, twice before the end of the bell rings. After of course getting hit by a few good swings by his opponent. He popped him a few good times and his opponent fell down. People and the announcers seemed to start believing in Jimmy, when they had said earlier in the night he wouldn’t last past two rounds. He won against the number two competitor in the world. During the fight Jim started to show a higher amount of performance level, where he started out slow and low, and gradually moved up his stamina as he went into more rounds, and so his punches became more intense and his performance and emotions were all in check as he hit his opponent where it hurt him and won. He also expressed some happiness after the win, and said, “Imagine what I could of done to him if I had a couple of steaks.” Clearly, he was happy he won, but also completely content with the win and not over boosting about the fight he had just gotten through with. You can tell that Jim has extraversion towards his career of fighting, because it’s something that he has always enjoyed doing, and for him it’s a very stimulating situation he finds himself in. Before Joe got this one fight for Jim to get him back in the system of fighting, when he wasn’t in the ring, you could tell he was unhappy and facing some signs of neurotics where he seemed to have greater stress at making ends meet when it came to money to help support his family.

Jim had the best kind of motivation to do well when his wife and kids were involved in the picture. His fights were always focused on winning for them, so they could survive for a little longer. His wife, Mae, told him as he was reentering into the ring, “I’m always behind you.” Showing that she may not always agree with his decisions, and she doesn’t always look the happiest of wives when it comes to her husband’s decisions to fight, but she will support him no matter what, because she loves him. During some of his fights when he was on the verge of losing he would have flashbacks to his kids and they would motivate him to have great determination and control in his battles to pull out and win. Another example of a good motivator Jim had would be when he needed to turn his heat on, he was ashamed he couldn’t make ends meet, so he asked his friend if he could help him out, so he could get back his kids.

One thing Jim was good at was being a risk taker, in his fights and in his job working on the docks. From this he had the sensation seeking personality. Many of his fights when he reentered he should of lost, but because he had a fear of losing, he was able to keep his head up and win as the last bell rung to end the rounds. When he worked on the docks, he knew he would have a slimmer chance of being picked to help out the other guys, because he had a broken hand. But he still kept his hopes up of being picked. Along with fear at the end of the movie you can tell that Mae fears for her husbands well being in this fight, because his competitor has killed two opponents before, while Jim was in fear of not being able to provide for his kids due to the fact he could lose this match. But he ends up winning in the end, where both him and Mae express joy and excitement.

Terms: performance, emotion, happiness, extraversion, neurotics, motivator, control, risk taking, sensation seeker, fear

In the film Cinderella Man, Jimmy is a passionate and driven boxer and was on top of the boxing game until the onset of the Great Depression hit his home. He lost money and control of life situations. However, he did what he could to maintain as much control as possible, especially for the sake of his family. Two concepts from the chapter that were apparent to me in the film are arousal, more specifically, sensation seeking, and control.

According to chapter 13, arousal “represents a variety of processes [cortical, behavioral, autonomic mechanisms] that govern alertness, wakefulness, and activation.” Sensation is one of these governed states, which contributes to the personality traits of sensation seeking or sensation avoiding tendencies. Sensation seekers are those individuals that prefer greater brain stimulation and like new and novel situations, rather than mundane daily routines. Sensation avoiders, on the other hand are those individuals that prefer routine and less brain stimulation. They often become distressed or anxious in stimulating circumstances.

Jimmy in Cinderella Man was characterized a sensation seeker. He was a boxer. He time he stepped into the ring he had a new opponent who may have been more or less skilled than the last. His brain was highly stimulated from the exhilaration he received from stepping into the ring. He also had to use his brain a great deal in order to strategize the best way to knock his opponent out. By participating in the sport of boxing, he was putting himself at great risk for injury. He even broke his hand but was he still wanted to continue boxing. He faced financial risks because if he didn’t put on a “good show” or if he lost, he faced the prospect of not getting paid. He could have faced social ridicule, and did due to his performance in the match that he broke his hand. Those who had betted on him or those who even came to the match just for a good show were disappointed and he received taunts and boos from the crowd. But none that stopped him from wanting to box. Nothing stopped him until he broke his hand and the Great Depression hit.

At that point, he had to deal with control, or the loss of it. The point in the movie when Jimmy realized he had very little control (or at least from an outsiders perspective) was when his children were sent to relatives because they had no heat in their home and did not have enough money to turn it back on. It was then that he realized that he had to do something. Jimmy possessed high engagement. Engagement “captures intensity and emotional quality of a person’s participation during somewhat difficult undertakings to control the outcomes that matter to them.” Jimmy was highly engaged because he had to deal with a difficult undertaking (finding a means to quickly obtain money) to produce an outcome that he desired (getting the heat turned on so he could have his kids back). He knew people with money that would possibly be willing to help him. He perceived that he still had some control over the situation because he felt that by interacting with the environment (those he knew with money) he could obtain his desired outcome. Because he was highly engaged and had at least some perceived control, he went to the people he knew with money to ask for help and they did help. He was able to get enough money to get the heat in his home turned back on so his kids could come back home.

Terms: arousal, sensation, sensation seeking, sensation avoiding, control, perceived control, engagement

Cinderella Man
One key concept that I saw in the movie Cinderella Man that I thought was in the chapters was how happy his family was with each other even during the family hard times. The wife never made her husband feel like less of a man because he couldn’t box in the beginning of the movie due to his broken hand and the kids wanted nothing more but to stay together as a family even if it meant having little food to eat and needing to share a birthday cake with all the little kids. I think in the movie you can see the happiness when the kids played with their dad and when wife would talk and kiss her husband. I think you could also see perceived control and desired control in the movie when James would fight or get ready for a fight. I think he knew he was a good fighter but when he watched the film of the fighter killing the man, you could see it playing in his mind and him wanting control over his upcoming fight. During the last fight when James was on the ropes, he replayed the video in his mind and wanted desired control of the situation and it worked. James was able to manipulate his opponent and got control over the fight. I think in the movie James personality was driven by control. He wanted control over how many shifts he could work at the doc and he was motivated to be a good worker even with a broken hand and he longed for control over his families living situation and he didn’t have it. You can tell this bothers him in the movie when he has to go beg for money from the boxer sponsors. He cried and could barely look at the men as he told them about his situation and how he could not provide for his kids. You could also tell that it really hurt him to have to say that they sent the kids away. I think when he had to go borrow money from the building that gave out government assistant it really bothered him as well. He kept his head down and didn’t want anyone to see him, even though there was hundreds of people who had to do it and wouldn’t have judged him for it. I think he feels a lot of guilt and shame, frustration and disgust for himself as a man, husband, and dad. James ends up turning these emotions around and uses them as his motivation and drive to win and be a good fighter. You can see this in the movie when he has flash backs of the empty milk and the past due statement. He also ends up paying back the money to the government that people borrowed and when the new reporter asked him about why he did it you could tell he had pride in his response. I think people could sense his pride as a man who was able to go from being like everyone else during the depression and having nothing but love from his family to a man who still had the love of his family but also wealth and the ability to provide as a man for his family again. I think with James knowing that so many people looked up to him also helped him become his desired self and desired fighter. I think in the movie when he talks about upcoming fights and the fighter he wants to be shows possible self. I think the movie also shows cognitive dissonance because James is a boxer and gets physically hurt, yet he does it anyways. I think in the movie James has higher self- esteem than what he had during the beginning of the movie.
Terms: possible self, drive, motivation, cognitive dissonance, happiness, desired control, and perceived control

Cinderella Man was a fantastic movie. It was done very well, and seemed very realistic to the time of the Great Depression. It was very emotional--I cried once or twice. There was never a time where I couldn't see and feel the emotions of the characters in this movie. Russell Crowe played Jimmy Braddock, a famous heavy-weight boxer, also known as Cinderella Man. He is the character through which I saw the most concepts of the chapters in the book.
In the beginning, Jimmy had everything going for him. He had a beautiful wife, three great kids, wealth, and success in his profession. I would say that he was an extremely happy man. And then, all of a sudden, we see their new life during the Great Depression. They are in a gross little home, they can't afford their bills, their kids are sad, and happiness level is definitely down. One of Jimmy's sons even steals some meat in hopes that he can feed his family. Jimmy hasn't been able to box in a while because he told he "had already done what he was going to do". He was struggling to find work and pull any money in that he could in order to keep his kids at home and not send them away. It is obvious that Jimmy assumes control of the family. He has the desire for control not only for himself, but for his family as well. He takes it upon himself to find money, work, and keep everyone healthy, but when his kids start getting sick, and they can no longer come close to affording their bills, Jimmy feels completely responsible, so he reverts to his own coping functions which solely revolve around providing for his family. His wife sends the kids to her sister's house while Jim is away, and Jim stoops to begging his old friends for money. I would say that this is a point where he is highly overaroused. He is seeking out any opportunity possible to decrease his stress levels. He is so concerned with finding money and bringing his family back together, that he drops everything else to do so. He is easier anxious, irritable, and angry--his frustration is very overwhelming. During this time, Jimmy's wife is also very unhappy. Not only does she have to be home with her kids, watching them suffer, but she can't work or do anything to help. She has to rely on her husband and watch him beat himself up for everything that does not go their way. She has a desire for control, but all she was able to do was protect her children from more sickness by sending them away.
When Jimmy gets the opportunity to return to boxing for one more fight for $250, he regains hope. He becomes highly motivated to do whatever it takes to win the money for his family. Once he wins and restarts his career, I believe his happiness is at its peak. Once again, he is able to support his family, while being successful at what he loves to do. He becomes a little bit of a risk taker in order to make sure that he continues to provide for his family, and keep them happy. He fights a boxer that has a record of killing people in the ring. He only does this for the purpose of providing for his family. When he comes out on top, emotions run very, very high. The facial expressions are what make the end of the movie so great. The sign of relief as Jimmy leans his head back upon hearing his name as the winner, the tears of joy after the intense fear that his wife had on her face, and the kids smiling bigger than they had throughout the entire movie. I think this movie shows exactly what is worth smiling about, and where happiness is truly found. It was an incredible, touching movie that discussed many factors of motivation and emotion.

terms: happiness, control, desire for control, coping functions, arousal, overarousal, risk taking, facial expression

I am a daddy’s girl and my dad really likes Cinderella Man so I have sat through it a few times. I do not care for boxing at all but with this movie it just has so much more than that. I love history and the Great Depression era. This was the first time I really paid attention to the whole movie. I really liked it once I got into it and focused not just let it play because my dad likes it. I love the cast of this movie! This by far has been my favorite movie we have had to watch. Cinderella Man has so much that we have talked about in class in it. Each character has a lot of awesome traits and they all come together to make this great movie based on a true story.

I think the most important part of this movie is the concept of family and a man’s role in the 1920 to be the provider. The Great Depression was a hard time for everyone and some people got it worse like the Braddock family. Before the Stock Market Crash Jim was a boxer and a well off man. After, he was poor almost living on the street with his wife (Mae) and three children. Every month it was a struggle to get by and keep the children feed. When he hurt his hand and could not fight it got even harder and the children got sick. He was forced to work on the dock and in the process gets stronger than ever. By a miracle he is asked to return to boxing and ends up winning the heavy weight championship.

Jim is a great man and father. He gives up everything for his children. One scene that always stands out to me is when he is hungry and they do not have every much food. His daughter says she is hungry so he gives up his breakfast to her. This demonstrates that he is putting his own physiology needs (hunger) aside for his children. He may be hungry but to him his family is more important. It is Jim’s nature and personality to be giving and caring. He is driving and motivated to provide for his family. His drive even puts him have in the ring to fight which is dangerous.

Boxing has so much to do with what we have been talking about. People who box have to have the flight or fight state of mind. Yet the will put themselves in harm’s way to make money because money is a quasi need. This means that it is needed but when the need is met it goes away. When Jim had no heat and his children were about to be sent away money became a great need. Boxing is a really intense sport they I personally cannot stand watching since I do not like blood and violence. It takes a lot to be a boxer. Jim was old and facing a man who was known to kill people named Baer. Yet because of his arousal, anger, and drive he was able to win. He put himself in a really high arousal sport that makes a person have to perform well. Jim had been through so much that he would use the anger to fight. He knew if he lost there was a chance of no food or heat and he could lose his children. These things motivated him so much to put his own life at risk. When he won he would get his children respect and they were so proud of their dad. He felt achievement and power since he was able to prove he was the strongest.

Relationships were another big factor in this movie. Jim and Mae had a great relationship. Even though they were going through a really hard time, they stayed together. They loved each other. They were intimate and you could tell they liked being around each other. Mae was stressed a lot. She worried about Jim and the children all the time. She was afraid of losing Jim in a boxing fight. She knew Baer was a killer and did not want Jim to fight. She knew they needed money but would rather be poor and have her husband.

All throughout the goal Jim had goals. I believe the biggest one was not biased on boxing but on family. He promised his son they he would never let the family get split apart. Jim worked so hard and fought so hard to keep this promise. That was his goal and he would do whatever it took to keep his family together. At one point Jim had to go beg for money and lose power to his friends just so his family could stay together in a warm house. Boxing was just a way to make money to keep his family together. Each fight was more for the money then the actual win. It was all for keeping his family together every action he did was for this reason. All Jim wanted was to give his wife and children the best life they could. He was driven by fear of what would happen if they were split up. Jim knew that he did not have much autonomy about the economy but he was going to have control over his family. He had a desire for control. He needed to prove he was not powerless.

Even though it was the Great Depression, Jim managed to keep his family safe and happy. The children always seemed to know they were in finical trouble and yet would still smile and play on the streets. That is why I liked this movie so much. It was real and was not weird like American Beauty. This more relatable going through the same struggle people have today in this economy. The action and why Jim or Mae does them are so obvious and yet simple. It is all about survival and keeping a family together.

Terms: hunger, physiology needs, power, fear, autonomy, fight or flight, arousal, fear, motivation, personality, happiness, desired control, intimacy, drive, goal