When Harry Met Sally: An Examination of the Relationships between Men and Women - Movie Review Example

When Harry Running head: FILM ANALYSIS When Harry Met Sally: An Examination of the Relationships between Men and Women of Client Name of University Name of Class When Harry 2 When Harry Met Sally: An Examination of the Relationships between Men and Women In the film written by Nora Ephran and directed by Rob Reiner titled When Harry Met Sally, the two main characters, Harry played by Billy Crystal and Sally played by Meg Ryan, develop a relationship that is a journey of maturity and understanding between the sexes.

The success of the dynamic that develops between Harry and Sally is created through the infusion of an understanding of the way in which age affects the way that men and women relate, coupled with influences that are both cultural and biological. The film creates a definition for the term love as it applies to both friendship and romantic interaction between a man and a woman. The overall development of the film is based on two people who find intimate and comfortable methods of communication that are interrupted by self examination that interferes with the results of their conversation.

The film is a brilliant and funny example of how a writer and a director can take human relationships and build a successful commentary on culture and gender dynamics. When Harry and Sally meet, they are put together within circumstances of convenience because they have needs that complement each other. Harry needs a ride, and Sally needs someone to help pay for the gas and drive from the University of Chicago to New York. During this ride, they discuss the nature of male to female relationships.

According to Harry “men and women can’t be friends because the sex part always gets in the way” (Reiner, Scheinman & Scott, 1989). This point of view is indicative of Harry’s age at the time he made the statement. It reveals the way in which youth affects a point of view based on cultural gender and identity, combined with a lack understanding for relationship complexity. While these two When Harry 3 have just graduated from college and are considered adults, they are still wrangling with the issues that are faced between the sexes.

Because of this culturally biased point of view that friendship between the men and women is impossible because of the sexual component, Harry and Sally do not become friends until after 5 years have passed and their individual experiences have led them to a greater understanding of relationships and of themselves. As the two of them develop a relationship based on non-sexual concepts, they begin to understand the way in which two people can form true intimacy. Both have faced failed major relationships by this point and they have each spent a great deal of time on self examination.

Despite this focus on the self, they are each still struggling with the definitions of intimacy and love. Therefore, they spend great amount of time with each other as the way in which they have developed their concept of each other focuses on personality rather than sexuality. One of the most famous scenes consists of Sally showing Harry how women fake orgasms by vocally emoting one in the middle of a restaurant. While there is a sexual component to the scene, the look on Harry’s face reveals that he finds her delightful, surprising, funny, and unexpected.

This turning point presents both the dichotomy of sex and friendship and the interlacing of the two concepts. However, the most important turning point in the film is when Harry and Sally consummate their sexual tension which then renders their friendship status unlivable for either one of them. This interlude renders Harry’s theory that men and women cannot be friends without a sexual component invalid as it appears that Harry and Sally cannot be friends once that element has been introduced between them.

If one uses Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs as a model When Harry 4 for the way in which their instinctual needs are in conflict with their examination of the self, it is seen that as they are both successful, so they have fulfilled their physiological needs and their needs for safety, however as they move up the pyramid, it is the sexual urges that come in direct conflict with their needs for a sense of belonging. Their sexual encounter conflicts with their individual sense of self esteem, and then ultimately with their sense of self-actualization.

Until they are each able to reconcile their higher needs with their base need for love, they cannot successfully connect. Ultimately, it is the way in which Sally and Harry communicate with one another that creates the relationship between them. The writing is witty, of course, so the two people are able to connect indirectly by delighting each other, but then revealing truths to one another. They become friends because they are both grieving for relationships that did not work well for them.

In the process, the protective wall that they are able to build based on their individual inability to move forward into new relationships, allows them to be more open and intimate in revealing themselves to one another. When that protection is breached, the conflict of the safety of that wall balanced against the developed intimate relationship causes a breach that must be reconciled and accepted before a romantic love can be developed between the two characters. The writing and directorial efforts support a successful interpretation of the relationships that men and women struggle to define in modern culture, reflecting issues that create divisions between the sexes as balanced against enlightened concepts of relationship values.

Ultimately, the need to mate becomes the center of the film as the end brings Harry’s concept of the relationship between men and women back to the center as Harry and Sally become a romantic couple. When Harry 5 Reference List Reiner, Rob, Scheinman, Andrew, & Scott, Jeffrey (Producers), Reiner, Rob, (Director). (1989). When Harry Met Sally [Motion Picture]. United States: Sony Pictures.