Choices in Pans Labyrinth - Movie Review Example

Choices and decision-making Introduction Decision-making choices differ in different situations depending on the people making the decisions and the conditions under which they make these conditions. For the processes to take place there are usually two or more alternatives that people usually choose from. Choice is an outcome of any process that involves judgment and assessment. Different people use different processes in making choices and decisions. Different environmental and personal conditions also affect the different the choices that people make and different insights also drive people to making different choices. The main goals for making any decision or choice are to minimize the possibility of having a negative emotion and to maximize the justification of a decision made to the person making the decision and to the other people. The paper will therefore discuss decision-making choices in relation to the choices and decisions made by the character Ophelia in the movie Pan’s Labyrinth (Beresford and Sloper, 8). Thesis Due to the influences on her physical environment and personal relationships, Ophelia copes with the oppression by creating a fantasy world in which her decisions reflect her perception of reality. In this fantasy world, Ophelia encounters three specific tasks. Once achieved, Ophelia will regain her status as a princess. Each task and decision that Ophelia makes is directly related to her actual life. Decisions and choices made by Ophelia throughout the movie The first decision that Ophelia makes is to follow the voice of a tiny fairly that was calling out at her, and that had transformed from an insect. In this case, Ophelia is observed to follow the prospect theory of decision making which suggests that making certain decisions involves taking risks and in this respect, she takes the risk of going out of the house and follow the voice that was calling out at her. Lagattuta et al (617), focuses on how children are confronted by situations where they make decisions that represent how their desires differ with what the environment that is made up of the society and their parents would want. Ophelia with regard to this decision follows the creature that calls out to her without considering the need to consult her mother to seek her opinion. Her society in the real world could not as well expect that people in the natural world could take orders from supernatural beings such as Ophelia did. The environment therefore has the ability of influencing our decisions since if Ophelia was concerned with the opinion of the mother her decision to go out would have been opposed. Her decision therefore shows compliance to the argument brought out by Lagattuta regarding how children disregard their parents’ opinion when they choose to fulfill their desires. The other decision that Ophelia makes and that represent how the environment affects our decisions, is her decision to take the first order that involved escaping to the woods to undertake her first assignment of collecting a key from a giant toad’s stomach. This decision was in observance of the prospect’s theory. The prospect theory of decision making according to Beresford and Sloper (15), is concerned with making decision where there is involvement of risk. These decisions guide Ophelia to a supernatural world, away from the natural world that she is living.The supernatural environment in which Ophelia alone was existing is what seems to affect the decisions that she takes. This decision is in compliance with the prospect theory of decision making since it brings out Ophelia as a person who is a risk taker and not one who is risk averse. She is not afraid of undertaking this task that might end up endangering herself and whose outcomes are not even certain (Beresford and Sloper, 17). Another decision that Ophelia makes is completing her second task as instructed by the faun and in undertaking this assignment, she is compelled by her feeling of hunger to break the rule that had been given to her of not eating anything and decides to eat a grape from the table. The feeling of being hungry is what leads Ophelia into a situation of breaking the rules that she is given and in this case, she ends up not fully complying with the instructions. This decision can be explained under the argument developed by Roller (Para 1), regarding how the decision making of people is usually affected by various factors despite their being goal oriented. Roller continues to explain how these different factors comprise to the complexity that arises in decision making and lead the decision makers to take other choices and make other decisions that do not directly lead to their goal for decision making. In her case, Ophelia’s main goal was to accomplish the second task and the feeling of hunger is considered as a factor that could affect the achievement of her main goal. Ophelia then makes another decision of undertaking the final assignments as instructed by the faun and this involves steeling her brother from Vidal and taking her to the labyrinth. This decision like the other two concerning the former tasks still shows how her decisions are affected by a supernatural environment in which she is living. This environment is characterized by such factors as the presence of supernatural beings such as the faun. The decision of undertaking her final task is facilitated by another decision that she plans how to take her small brother away from her stepfather. The main goal in this decision is the accomplishment of the third task. There are however many underlying factors and decisions that Ophelia needs to make and that will either lead to the achievement of the goal or not. The various decisions in this case are such as the decision to take her brother and whether to give the brother away to the faun. This situation can be explained under the situation of complexity involved in making decisions in Roller (Para 5). The complexity in this case is seen from the various factors that are on her way to achieving the main goal. The way that Ophelia deals with these situations is an indication that she has undergone some developments in decision making as well as in self – control (Lagattuta et al, 620). The decision that she made not to give her brother away is a clear implication to this growth. This decision qualifies Ophelia to have passed the final test that the faun intended to confirm whether she was indeed the princess and which she passed guided by her compassionate decision. On choosing to protect her brother and making a decision not to give him away, confirmed her ability to make a rational decision of a situation where there was uncertainty and where there was inadequate information in relation to the available alternatives. This situation is explained by Beresford and Sloper (14), whereby the environment for decision making is regardedto be that of uncertainty and in this case she exploits her descriptive approach to decision making. Moruno (6) explains how decisive roles played by the international dimensions helped to win the World War 2 and in the case of Ophelia, her decisive roles have enabled her to attain victory in the face of the faun, saved her brother from death and enabled her to get back to the supernatural state of being a princess. Conclusion In conclusion, Ophelia is influenced by various aspects of her personal relationships and the physical environment. Out of oppression she encounters a world of fantasy whereby her decisions reflect her perception of the reality. She undertakes three tasks after which she regains her status as the princess. Ophelia’s decisions have been discussed with regard to how the environment affects choice and decision making and the various aspects and approaches with regard to decision making. Work Cited: Beresford, Bryony and Sloper, Tricia. Understanding the Dynamics of Decision Making and Choice: A Scoping Study of Key Psychological Theoriesto Inform The Design and Analysis of the Panel Study. Social policy research unit. 2008. Print. Roller, Colleen. Abundance of choice and its effects on decision-making. 2010. Retrieved from: http://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2010/12/abundance-of-choice-and-its-effect-on- decision-making.php Pan’s Labyrinth. 2006. Retrieved from:http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2dyo75_pan-s- labyrinth-2006-with-english-subtitle_shortfilms Lagattuta, Kristin Hansen, Larry Nucci, and Sandra Leanne Bosacki. "Bridging Theory of Mind andthe Personal Domain: Childrens Reasoning about Resistance to Parental Control." Child Development 81.2 (2010): 616-635. Moruno, Dolores Martin. "Becoming Visible and Real: Images of Republican Women during the Spanish Civil War." Visual Culture & Gender 5. (2010): 5-15. Read More