Perception In The Film “The Terminal”

1074 Words5 Pages
Perception in the Film “The Terminal” Your Name Communication 102 October 4, 2009 Your name Professor Kostic Communications 102 October 4, 2009 Perception in the Film “The Terminal” “The ability to organize our perceptions in a useful way is such a critical factor in our ability to function” (Adler and Proctor 84). The film “The Terminal” shows viewers different elements involving the perception process. Stereotyping, perception checking, sympathy, and empathy are a few examples of perceptual factors the characters come across in the film. One of the ways people categorize others on first seeing or meeting them is through stereotyping. Stereotyping is “exaggerated generalizations associated with a categorizing system” (Adler and Proctor 87). In the opening scene of “The Terminal” the head security officer, Dixon, is watching cameras in the airport and sees a group of Chinese tourists. He makes the generalization that Chinese tourists always carry cameras. This sets the viewer up for Dixon’s personality throughout the film. After Dixon stereotypes these Chinese tourists, he is in his office with Viktor Navorski trying to explain to him that he has no country. In this scene he seems to stereotype non-English speaking persons as being ignorant. It appears that way because his attitude toward Navorski shows him speaking somewhat degradingly, not showing in any way that he cares for Navorski’s situation. This concept that Dixon is stuck in his job is a way of perception called occupational role. This is where “the kind of work we do often influences our view of the world” (Adler and Proctor 100). Stereotyping takes place again in the scene where the janitor, Gupta, sees Navorski, a foreigner exchange items with Amelia, a flight attendant, and assumes they are

More about Perception In The Film “The Terminal”

Open Document