Changing Attitudes: Skin (2008) Essay Example

Introduction

Skin (2008) is a deep film based on the occurrences of apartheid in South Africa between the 1960s and early 1990s when it was abolished. The movie is centered on Sandra, a black girl borne of two white parents. Born during the apartheid era, she presents a problem to her parents. She cannot attend predominantly white schools as a result of her skin color. The film shows the many conflicts that children faced during the apartheid period, with the story being told from a white perspective. While things become easier for her with the adoption of legislations in the country, the future holds more turns and twists which she cannot fathom from the onset.

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Throughout the film, Sandra's father's character stands out. Abraham is presented as a committed family man. Both Abraham and his wife love and cherish their family. Abraham wants the best for his family, and is ready to sacrifice for it. On the other hand, eh is unrealistic and unaccomodative, an aspect that breaks his family in the end. While he has a 'colored' daughter, he is not liberal towards blacks. He warns his wife not to get too friendly with the customers. He is crazily outraged with the idea of African blood being in his family. Sandra looks colored to the outsiders, not to the parents. He sacrifices everything and fights for the reclassification of her daughter all the way to the Supreme Court. At the Supreme Court, one his witnesses is a geneticist from Witwatersrand who confirms that Afrikaners indeed have non-white genes which could present in offspring, albeit rarely.

Abraham's conservative approach to the family makes him to differ with her daughter and they are separated. For both Abraham and Sandra, the next phase of life after that is filled with challenges. His belief that her daughter could only get married to a fellow Afrikaner was miscalculated. His threats force the two lovebirds, Sandra and Petrus, force them to flee and are arrested later. He totally refuses to see her daughter after that until the time when he is on sick bed. Simply put, his strong and conservative attitude results in him leading a miserable life on one side, his wife longing and begging him to allow the daughter to come home, and his daughter struggling in her marriage which turns abusive at some point. Changing these attitudes would, hence, be very critical to all outcomes in the film.

There is need to change Abraham's attitude as it affects everyone else in the film. In his book titled "Influence: Science and Practice," Dr. Robert Caldini highlights six principles that can be applied in persuading Abraham to change his behavior. These principles are: reciprocity, scarcity, authority, consistency, liking and consensus.

Liking

People will always tend to agree with the people they like. People also like people who like them and who they perceive as being like them. It is essential for one to consider building rapport with other parties. In Abraham's case, he should lighten his attitude and rather focus on fostering rapport. Letting other people feel that they are genuinely liked and appreciated is critical. He should let Sandra know that he totally appreciates her and this will help foster constructive relationships. By building rapport and cultivating an enabling environment, Abraham would have prevented the many bad occurrences that resulted from his sticking strictly to his principles.

Reciprocity

Reciprocity entails giving and taking. This principle provides that people are more likely to provide help once they are helped too. It is important for people to invest in building a basis for continuous trust-based relationship. In addition to encouraging Abraham to build strong relationships, he should be encouraged to adopt a negotiating process. Negotiation increases the likelihood that the other party will collaborate. At the same time, having a competitive and uncooperative attitude will only result in similar reciprocal attitude as seen. Allowing for concessions is key (Cialdini, 2009). It is important for Abraham to adopt the attitude of starting and nurturing communication by offering something. This is likely to encourage the other party to present a counter-suggestion and this will lead to a compromise in the long run.

Authority

People are likely to be attracted to those they regard highly to be in a position of influence. It is thus important for those in such positions to demonstrate that they can be trusted and that their decisions are for greater good. At the same time, it is worth appreciating that no amount of authority is likely to persuade people that an unpopular decision being forced on them is a beneficial one. Authority should not be applied as a tool for coercion but as a platform to build and maintain trust. When used as a coercion tool, it is likely to result in resistance. Furthermore, Abraham should acknowledge that trustworthiness is best demonstrated through admission of weakness.

Commitment

In building attitude, it is essential to appreciate that we all want the people we meet to be consistent with their beliefs, attitudes and actions. The main undoing of Abraham is that is not consistent in deeds. He should learn to commit to something and be ready to live with the consequences. By building a committed personality, Sandra can comfortably commit to him as he can be trusted.

Consistency

It is important to appreciate that before making a decision, people will most likely look at what other similar people said regarding the person. As he is a committed family man, Abraham needs to convince Sandra that he is willing to negotiate for the sake of upholding family values. In this regard, instead of directly persuading her, he can softly work a way round for her (Cialdini, 2009).

Scarcity

It is important to appreciate that people tend to assign value to opportunities that they perceive to be scarce. Things that are difficult to realize always tend to be seen to be more valuable. In this case, it should be defined what stands to be lost than stating what stands to be gained.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is critical to appreciate that Abraham's temperament, attitude and behavior were all uncalled for and his actions ended up affecting everyone else. While encouraging a more tolerant approach to handling things, Caldini's six principles are fundamental in influencing the modification of his behavior. These principles are fundamental in decision making and making persuasions. Adopting reciprocity, enforcing authority in a manner that influences trust and commitment, being commitment, liking and consensus are fundamental principles which needs to be adopted. In general, Skin (2008) plays a fundamental role in addressing societal challenges at the time, especially from a white people perspective.

References

Allen, W. (2016). Sustainability: six ways to influence behavior change - Learning for Sustainability. Learning for Sustainability. Retrieved 1 October 2018, from http://learningforsustainability.net/post/behavior-change/

Cialdini, R. B. (2009). Influence: Science and practice (Vol. 4). Boston, MA: Pearson education.

Skin (2008 film). (2018). YouTube. Retrieved 1 October 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHM19L0cwm4