Reality Bites Essay

â€Å"Reality Bites† is a simple, interesting film about a love triangle, but it is also about the differences in people and their intelligence to be successful in life. At least in my opinion, that is the one thing in this movie that is very clear. It keeps you wondering about giving yourself a sense of hope or simply complaining about how difficult life really is. I also found some of the topics we learned in class with aspects of the movie. Our three main characters are, first, Lelaina Pierce, who is a young valedictorian graduate who is in search of her place in the world. The second main character is Troy Dyer, her highly intelligent ex-boyfriend, who is smart, yet down on the world, and conforming to any social society that comes along. The character of Troy, as the film progresses shows that his layers of isolation and self-protection gradually melt away to reveal a troubled, yet warmly sincere young man. Then, third, we have the very average Michael Grates, who is very successful in the entertainment industry yet, he is non-intellectual. One of the characters is also Lelaina’s roommate, Vicki Miner, who works at a GAP and sleeps with 66 boys before she gets tested for AIDS. All these characters together form a modern-day soap opera. From one perspective, it displays the confused interrelationship-etiquette seen in today’s society. It also displays these young people struggling to fight against the commercialization that â€Å"reality† brings upon them. Reading the psychology book Invitation to Psychology book by Carole Wade and Carol Tavris, I found the The Modern Study of Personality topic relate to all of the characters in the film. All of them seemed to be in the extroverted side rather than in the introverted side. All of the characters included traits such as being talkative, sociable and adventurous as opposed to being silent, reclusive or cautious. None of them were likely to stay in the shadows. Vicki and Michael seemed to have agreeableness while Lalaina and Troy would often act antagonism. Lalaina and Troy were irritable, abrasive and jealous in many scenes of the movie. They were also very impulsive. In some scenes we saw Lalaina â€Å"giving up† like when she spoke on the phone for hours a day speaking to a psychich reader and acting careless about finding a job. Anyhow, she later found determination and managed to get some money to pay the phone bill. At the start of the film, you see Lelaina giving a speech at her graduation. She basically delivers a hopeless speech and admits she has no answers to give her fellow students toward any redemption or hope in the world. Many unpleasant things happen to Lelaina. Her ex-boyfriend, Troy, moves into her place, until he can find a place of his own. The guy comes across as one of the most self-centered, egotistical, arrogant people imaginable. However, Lelaina is stuck with him as she and her roommates try to cope with Troy? s overpowering intellect. In all fairness, Troy is a very annoying. I actually did not like his character for what he is, intelligent but very lazy. The next downfall for Lelaina is that she’s fired from her job at the television studio. This becomes a turning point in the film as we see her struggle in the big world trying everything to find work. Here we see the sad struggle of the young as she faces countless interviews that dissipate due to lack of experience and education. The film examines both personal and professional aspects of their lives and lifestyles. The movie comes across as a timeless story told over and over that, when you? re young, and in this case generation X, life is tough and nobody cuts you any slack. Fact is, life is tough no matter what age you are. What makes it all worthwhile is that one day you wake up and find this thing called â€Å"acceptance of life† and you try to enjoy the world around you.