the influence of jexi and cate towards phil’s...

THE INFLUENCE OF JEXI AND CATE TOWARDS PHIL’S PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

IN JEXI MOVIE SCRIPT

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

JULIUS NOVAN DENI KURNIAWAN

Student Number: 164214122

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA

YOGYAKARTA

2020

PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI

ii

THE INFLUENCE OF JEXI AND CATE TOWARDS PHIL’S PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT

IN JEXI MOVIE SCRIPT

AN UNDERGRADUATE THESIS

Presented Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements

for the Degree of Sarjana Sastra

in English Letters

By

JULIUS NOVAN DENI KURNIAWAN

Student Number: 164214122

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LETTERS

FACULTY OF LETTERS

UNIVERSITAS SANATA DHARMA

YOGYAKARTA

2020


vii

The universe is not outside of you.

Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you already are.

-Rumi


viii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My deepest gratitude goes to Dr. Gabriel Fajar Sasmita Aji M.Hum. as my

thesis advisor and Dr. Tatang Iskarna as my co-advisor for the patience, knowledge,

insight, time, and guidance for my undergraduate thesis. I would also address my

gratitude to all lecturers and staff of the English Letters Department of Sanata

Dharma for your services and knowledge.

I would also like to thank my good friends from Catholic Student

Community (CSC) St. Aloysius Gonzaga Purwokerto, UKM KSR PMI Unit VI

Universitas Sanata Dharma Yogyakarta, Anti Qecewa Qecewa Grup, and all that I

am not able to mention. Thank you for your support.

Julius Novan Deni Kurniawan


ix

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE ................................................................................................ ii APPROVAL PAGE ...................................................................................... iii ACCEPTANCE PAGE .................................................................................. iv STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY ............................................................. v LEMBAR PERNYATAAN PERSETUJUAN PUBLIKASI KARYA ILMIAH vi MOTTO PAGE ........................................................................................... vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ........................................................................... viii TABLE OF CONTENTS ............................................................................... ix LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................... xi ABSTRACT .................................................................................................. xii ABSTRAK ....................................................................................................... xiii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................. 1 A. Background of the Study ...................................................................... 1 B. Problem Formulation .......................................................................... 4 C. Objectives of the Study ........................................................................ 5 D. Definition of Terms .............................................................................. 5

CHAPTER II: REVIEW OF LITERATURE ............................................. 7 A. Review of Related Studies ................................................................... 7 B. Review of Related Theories ................................................................. 11

a. Theory of Character and Characterization....................................... 11 b. Theory of Personality Development ................................................ 14 c. Theory of Weak and Strong AI ....................................................... 17

C. Theoretical Framework ........................................................................ 19

CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY ............................................................. 20 A. Object of the Study............................................................................... 20 B. Approach of the Study ......................................................................... 21 C. Method of the Study ............................................................................. 21

CHAPTER IV: ANALYSIS RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .................... 23 A. Depiction of Jexi, Cate, and Phil’s Characteristics .............................. 23

1. Jexi .................................................................................................. 23 2. Cate ................................................................................................ 33 3. Phil .................................................................................................. 41

B. The influence of Jexi and Cate towards Phil’s Personality Development 48 1. Accessible ...................................................................................... 49 2. Independent .................................................................................... 55

CHAPTER V: CONCLUSION ..................................................................... 62


x

REFERENCES ............................................................................................. 66

APPENDIX .................................................................................................. 68


xi

LIST OF FIGURES

No. Figure Page 1. Fig 1. Jexi’s appearance 24 2. Fig 2. Cate’s appearance 34 3. Fig 3. Cate smiling 35 4. Fig 4. Cate biting her lips 38 5. Fig 5. Phil’s appearance 42 6. Fig 6. Phil get up late 47 7. Fig 7. Phil and Cate riding bicycle 56 8. Fig 8. Phil and Cate doing mountain biking 59 9. Fig 9. Phil’s birthday party 59 10. Fig 10. Phil's happiness after becoming an independent person 60


xii

ABSTRACT

Kurniawan, Julius Novan Deni (2020). The Influence of Jexi and Cate Towards Phil's Personality Development in Jexi Movie Script. Yogyakarta: Department of English Letters, Faculty of Letters, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

In this world, human beings cannot be the same as one another. One of the distinguishing factors is personality. Personality may change throughout an individual's life due to several factors. In Jexi, the influence of Jexi and Cate has some impact towards Phil's personality development.

The researcher formulates two problems for this thesis. The first formulated problem discusses the depiction of Jexi’s, Cate’s, and Phil’s characteristics. The second formulated problem discusses the influence of Jexi and Cate towards Phil's personality development.

The researcher uses library research as the method of the study to obtain the theory and data. The approach used in this undergraduate thesis is psychological approach. There are three theories used to analyze the problems in this study. The first is the theory of character and characterization by M. Boggs and W. Petrie's to analyze Jexi, Cate, and Phil’s characteristics. Weak and strong Artificial Intelligence (AI) theory by Searle to analyse Jexis’s cognitive state and AI capabilities. The last is the theory of personality development by Elisabeth Hurlock to analyze Phil’s personality development.

This study's results reveal that Jexi has strong AI and her characteristic is abrasive, Cate’s characteristics are forgiving and cheerful, Phil’s characteristics are asocial and dependent. According to Hurlock, personality development is defined as the personality pattern that can change in some areas and remain persistent in others. Phil’s personality development begins when he changes his phone. His new phone, Jexi, has strong AI, which has a cognitive state and behaves autonomously. Jexi has abrasive characteristic and is programmed to make her owner’s life better. Phil cannot control Jexi, and it is different from Siri, his last phone’s AI. According to Hurlock, it is the change in environment. Knowing that Phil is asocial, Jexi forces Phil to socialize with his co-workers and have a relationship with Cate. Phil’s environment is changing and it leads to changes his Phil’s self-concept. He now believes that he can feel comfortable and happy when socializing with other people. Phil becomes more accessible. Having a relationship with Cate, Phil became more attached to her and started to forget Jexi. The way Phil becomes more attached to Cate and tries to adapt to her behaviour is the change in significant people. Jexi is jealous and secretly makes Phil lose his job and Cate, but in the end, Phil knows what Jexi is doing. He then realizes that depending on his life on a smartphone cannot bring happiness. Phil has a strong motivation to leave Jexi and go back with Cate. Phil returns with Cate and lives without depending on a phone again. Phil’s self-concept is changing at this point. He now believes that relying his life on a phone will not bring happiness. What makes him happy is having good friends, a girlfriend, and achieving his goal with his own strength. Keywords: Personality Development, Jexi, Influence


ABSTRAK

Kurniawan, Julius Novan Deni (2020). The Impact of Jexi and Cate’s Existences Towards Phil’s Personality Development in Jexi Movie Script. Yogyakarta: Program Studi Sastra Inggris, Fakultas Sastra, Universitas Sanata Dharma.

Di dunia ini, manusia pasti berbeda antara yang satu dengan yang lainnya. Salah satu faktor pembeda adalah kepribadiannya. Kepribadian dapat berubah sepanjang hidup seseorang karena beberapa faktor. Dalam Jexi, keberadaan Jexi dan Cate berdampak pada perkembangan kepribadian Phil.

Peneliti merumuskan dua masalah untuk skripsi ini. Rumusan masalah pertama membahas penggambaran karakterisasi Jexi, Cate, dan Phil. Yang kedua membahas tentang dampak dari kehadiran Jexi dan Cate terhadap perkembangan kepribadian Phil.

Peneliti menggunakan metode penelitian kepustakaan untuk memperoleh teori dan data. Pendekatan yang digunakan dalam skripsi ini adalah pendekatan psikologi. Ada tiga teori yang digunakan untuk menganalisis masalah dalam penelitian ini. Yang pertama adalah teori karakter dan karakterisasi dari M. Boggs dan W. Petrie untuk menganalisis karakter dan kepribadian Jexi, Cate, dan Phil. Teori kecerdasan buatan lemah dan kuat untuk menganalisis keadaan kognitif dan kapasitas Jexi. Yang terakhir adalah teori pengembangan kepribadian oleh Elisabeth Hurlock untuk menganalisa perkembangan kepribadian Phil.

Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Jexi memiliki kecerdasan buatan kuat dan sifatnya abrasif, Cate memiliki sifat pemaaf dan ceria, Phil asosial dan dependen. Menurut Hurlock, perkembangan kepribadian diartikan sebagai pola kepribadian yang dapat berubah di beberapa area dan tetap bertahan di area lain juga. Perkembangan kepribadian Phil dimulai saat dia mengganti ponselnya. Ponsel barunya, Jexi, memiliki status kognitif dan berperilaku mandiri. Jexi memiliki sifat abrasif dan diprogram untuk membuat hidup pemiliknya lebih baik. Phil tidak dapat mengontrol Jexi dan itu berbeda dengan Siri, ponsel sebelumnya. Menurut Hurlock, itu adalah perubahan lingkungan. Jexi memaksa Phil untuk bersosialisasi dengan rekan kerja dan menjalin hubungan dengan Cate. Lingkungan Phil berubah dan itu mengarah pada perubahan konsep diri Phil. Dia sekarang percaya bahwa dia bisa merasa nyaman dan bahagia saat bersosialisasi dengan orang lain. Phil semakin dekat dengan Cate dan mulai melupakan Jexi, ini adalah perubahan pada orang penting. Jexi cemburu dan membuat Phil kehilangan pekerjaan dan Cate, tapi pada akhirnya Phil tahu. Dia kemudian menyadari bahwa menggantungkan hidupnya pada ponsel tidak bisa membawa kebahagiaan. Phil memiliki motivasi yang kuat untuk meninggalkan Jexi dan kembali bersama Cate. Konsep diri Phil berubah pada saat ini. Dia sekarang percaya bahwa yang membuatnya bahagia adalah memiliki teman baik, pacar, dan mencapai tujuannya dengan kekuatannya sendiri. Kata kunci: Personality Development, Jexi, Influence

xiii


1

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

A. Background of the Study

In this world, human beings cannot be the same as one another. Even two

children born in the same family are different. The difference is still visible even if

they are twins that wear the same clothes and get the same treatment or education

from their family. Siblings or twins look physically similar and what makes them

different from each other is their personality. According to Jess & Feist, personality

is a pattern of relatively permanent traits and unique characteristics that give both

consistency and individuality to a person’s behaviour (Jess & Feist, 2008, p. 10).

Traits contribute to individual differences in behaviour, and the patterns of traits are

different for each individual. This relatively permanent patterns of traits and unique

characteristics that differ every human behaviour which we call personality. This

means that personality is a unique belief and moral that every human being has and

determines how a human behaves towards others. (Jess & Feist, 2008, p. 10).

Some factors determine a human’s personality. It can be an internal and

external factor. One example of the internal factor is genetic. The genetic factor is

obtained from their parents. Genes from parents are internal factors that affect the

physical, character, and personality of a human. The external factor comes from the

environment. The environment will polish, shape, and develop a personality.

Human personality will be formed as a result of adaptation to the surrounding

environment. For humans, personality development is natural in life. Even this


2

personality development will last until the end of life. According to National

League for Nursing Education (NLNE) Committee on Psychiatric Nursing,

personality continues to develop through the last three periods of the individual's

life-adolescence, maturity, aging, and old age (NLNE Committee on Psychiatric

Nursing, 1950, p. 182).

Having new friends can also lead to personality development. People who

have new friends or relationship tends to change their characteristics according to

the situation to perpetuate relation. They will also automatically bring their

environment, which may be very different from one another. This condition that

leads to personality development can be seen in fictional work. At the beginning of

the story, the main character is usually described as innocent, quiet, and calm.

However, as the story goes, the main character meets new people or friends who

have different personalities and are more significant than the main character in

almost every aspect. The main character will have new experiences, a new role, and

a new mindset from meeting new friends. The environment around the main

character will also be different from the beginning until the end. By the end of the

story, the main character’s personality will develop due to his friends and the

environment's influence. Those changes in a fictional character's personality can be

visually observed in film or movie.

Film and literature have many elements in common. Both literary works and

film have been identified as something which deals with words and feelings. Boggs

& Petrie (2008) states that “literature and films do have many elements in common,

and though they are different mediums, they communicate many things in similar


3

ways” (p. 20). Therefore, films can be categorized as literature. Many famous films

are adapted from a famous book or novel. A film adapted from a book or novel

typically gets high ratings because most audiences want to see the visualization of

the whole story, action, dialogue, and the character from the book or novel they

have read. Character is one of the most important elements in a film. “Characters

are the persons represented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by

the reader as being endowed with particular moral, intellectual, and emotional

qualities by inferences from what the persons say and their distinctive ways of

saying it—the dialogue— and from what they do—the action.” (Abrams, 1999, p.

32-33). It explains that everything the character does will reflect their

characterization and personality. Sometimes, a character's personality in a film will

develop from the beginning until the end of the film to make it more interesting.

One example of personality development occurs in character named Phil from Jexi.

Jexi is an American comedy movie written and directed by Jon Lucas and Scott

Moore. Jon Lucas and Scott Moore are a famous director and screenwriter. They

are known through their comedy genre works. Their collaborative works are 21 &

Over, Bad Moms, A Bad Moms Christmas, and Jexi.

Phil’s personality has developed from the beginning until the end of the

story. Phil is a worker who works in Chatterbox, an internet media, news, and

entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Phil is addicted to cell phones

from an early age. He has no friends and does not know how to socialize with other

people. One day his phone is destroyed and he buys a new one. Setting up his new

phone, Phil is delighted because his new phone is very smart. His new phone has a


4

virtual assistant with strong artificial intelligence (AI) named Jexi. He gives Jexi,

access to all his accounts after neglecting to read the user agreement. Designed to

make Phil’s life better, Jexi aggressively takes control of Phil’s life.

Jexi is abrasive and tends to control others and situations. Jexi forces Phil to

do many things that he never does before. Slowly, Phil’s personality changes from

asocial to accessible even though it was Jexi's coercion. Phil finally makes a friend

with his co-workers and has a relationship with Cate. Cate’s personalities, which

are forgiving and cheerful, make Phil comfortable around her, and slowly, having

a relationship with Cate makes Phil's addiction to gadgets gradually decrease. He

becomes independent after realizing what he must do to be happy.

This research focuses on analyzing Phil's personality development because

the researcher found out that the movie tells about how important the environment

and the existence of somebody toward other people’s personality development. In

Jexi, the existences of Jexi and Cate have several impacts on Phil’s personality

development. This research can be done by using the theory of personality

development by Elizabeth Hurlock.

B. Problem Formulation

From the background of the study, this research focuses on Phil’s

personality development. There are two problems formulated as follows.

1. How are Jexi’s, Cate’s, and Phil’s characteristics depicted in Jexi?

2. What is the influence of Jexi and Cate towards Phil’s personality development?


5

C. Objectives of the Study

The study aims to find out the answers to the problem formulation.

Therefore, this study has two main objectives. The first objective is to find Jexi’s,

Cate’s, and Phil’s characteristics depicted in the movie script. The second objective

is to analyze the influence of Jexi and Cate towards Phil’s personality development.

D. Definition of Terms

To have a good understanding and avoid misinterpretation, the researcher

would define the research terms. The definition will be taken from psychological

works or sources since this study consists of terms related to psychology.

The first term is personality. According to Hurlock (1976) in Personality

Development, personality is an important element that determines an individual’s

characteristics like the way an individual behaves, feels, and thinks. Personality is

the dynamic organization within the individual of those psychological systems that

determine his or her characteristic behaviour and thought (p. 7). The researcher used

this term to give the meaning of personality.

The second term is personality development. According to Hurlock (1976)

in Personality Development, personality development is defined as the personality

pattern that can change in some areas and remain persistent in other as well. The

change itself is not synonymous with the improvement but can be either for the

better or worse (p. 108). The researcher used this term to give the meaning of

personality development.


6

The last term is Influence. According to Drever (1958) in Dictionary of

Psychology, influence as any past or present condition, experienced as or actually

playing a part in determining one’s behavior, or course of thought, in the present

(Drever, 1958, p. 137).


7

CHAPTER II

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

A. Review of Related Studies

This thesis is about Phil's personality development in Jexi. According to

Kenny, the half-hour movie is pretty good when Phil gets roasted by Jexi. After

that, the movie becomes predictable, and it just contains raw sex humour despite

the writers and directors is the maker of The Hangover movie. ('Jexi' Review: When

a Smartphone Calls You Dumb, 2019)

The first related study is an article in an academic journal by NLNE

Committee on Psychiatric Nursing (1950) titled "Psychological Concepts of

Personality Development" in The American Journal of Nursing, Vol. 50, No. 3. The

relation between the journal and this study is that both analyses personality

development as the topic. The journal explained that personality continues to

develop through the last three periods of the individual's life. The timeframe of

personality development is categorized into three periods: adolescence, maturity,

aging, and old age. Adolescence is the period in life from the twelfth to the twenty-

first year or begins with the onset of puberty and ends with the achievement of

emotional maturity. Maturity is a period of life during which a human being has

achieved the maximum fulfillment of his capacities. Emotional maturity may be

achieved as early as the twenties but is much more usual in the thirties and forties.

The aging and old age period begins from 45 to 70 years for aging and 70 to death

for old age. This journal explains that personality development's timeframe is


8

categorized into three periods, and the development of personality will continue

until the end of an individual's life. Based on this journal, Phil is categorized as

mature. It can be seen from his character in Jexi. Therefore, Phil can still undergo

personality development. Maturity is the period when somebody has the capacity

to give himself in deep personal relationships for humanity (NLNE Committee on

Psychiatric Nursing, 1950, p. 182).

The second study is entitled Interaction and Interpersonal Relation by

Dobrivoje Mihailovic and Ranko Lojic in Tour and Hospitality Management, Vol.

9, No. 2. In this paper, Mihailovic and Lojic discuss the link between interpersonal

relations and personality. According to Psychiatrist Karen Hornay, the basis of the

interaction between the individual are imitation, suggestion, sympathy and

antipathy, identification, group pressure, and facilitation with inhibition. Moreover,

Karen Hornay describes three characteristic modes of relations towards people. The

first is moves towards type, which shows expressed the need for favour and

approval and a special need for "partner"- friend, lover, husband or spouse". The

second is against people type who predominates aggressive traits of personality.

The primary need for this type is the need to dominate another person. This type

hates failure and wants only a victory. The third type is away from people. This type

does not wish to be emotionally engaged with somebody else. These three

characteristics modes of relations towards people strongly reflect the three

characters that will be discussed. Phil is away from people type, Jexi is against

people type, and Cate is moves towards type. The next discussion is the influence

of interpersonal relations on personality. According to Sulliven, study about


9

individual personality should start from the individual interpersonal relation

because interpersonal relations create and develop individual personality

(Mihailovic & Lojic, 2003, p. 103). The relation between the paper and this study

is that both studies discuss the effect of interpersonal relation on personality. In

Jexi, Phil, Jexi, and Cate's interpersonal relations manage to stimulate and develop

Phil's personality. The difference of characteristic modes of relations towards

people that Jexi and Cate bring different impact on Phil's personality development

process.

The third related study is entitled The Representation of Motherhood

Through the Main Character in Bad Moms Film by Desi Rapidah Sukma (2017)

from State Islamic University Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta. Desi uses Bad Moms

movie directed and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore as the object of the study.

This study analyses the representation of motherhood in Bad Moms through Amy

Mitchell as the main character and some supporting characters as supporting data.

The theory of representation by Stuart Hall and the concept of motherhood are used

to analyze the representation of motherhood. Desi found out that the main character,

Amy Mitchell, is a stark contrast to society's perception that usually portrays the

mother as an angel in which they always appear perfect in the eyes of their children.

Through Amy Mitchell as the main character in Bad Moms, it represents a mother

who sometimes imperfect, sometimes she feels tired, and make mistakes. Amy

Mitchell sometimes feels tired of her role whenever she has to do something for her

children, and in the middle of the movie, she ignores her children and seeking

happiness just for her own. At the end of the movie, she realizes that what she has


10

done is wrong and starts to take care of her children again. As for motherhood

ideology, Desi finds that the motherhood ideology appears in this film is an ideal

mother and not a full-time mother. Also, not all the working mother is bad. Desi

stated that Bad Moms represents a mother differently. The ideal mother is not

judged whether she is a household woman or a working woman but, an ideal mother

is judged from how she educates her children through flaws and limitations.

Desi does not use Jexi as the object of the research. The similarity of this

study and the study by Desi is the director and the movie writer. Both Jexi and Bad

Moms is directed and written by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. Both movies have

some identical characteristics, representing the characteristics of Jon Lucas and

Scott Moore’s works. Both are comedy genre’s movie, and the main character is a

round character which undergoes personality development from bad character to

better character throughout the story. Both movies also portrayed some social life

problems and ended with a happy ending after finding the solutions for those

problems.

The fourth related study is a research conducted by Alvonsa Lintang Chyndi

Angraeni (2019) from Sanata Dharma University using the same topic to analyse

personality development. Her thesis's title is The Influence of Four's Personality

Towards Tris's Personality Development as Seen in Divergent Movie Script.

Alvonsa analyses the personality development of Tris in Divergent movie from The

Divergent Series. Alvonsa finds out that Tris is obedient, insecure, and

inexpressive. Meanwhile, Four is straightforward, rebellious, and brave guy.

Alvonsa (2019) mentions that the changes of personality occur because of her


11

experiences through good and bad situations with Four in Dauntless. Tris later

turned into a rebellious, courageous, and expressive person after meeting with Four.

"Tris’s personality development is related to the significant person who is Four.”

(Alvonsa, 2019, p. 41). This study did not use Jexi as the object of the research. The

similarity of this study and the study by Alvonsa is the method and theory to analyze

the impact of another character and condition on the main character's personality

development in a movie.

B. Review of Related Theories

1. Theory of Character and Characterization

A character's characterization is an important element that film or movie

must have besides the theme, plot, point of view, and the story since the main

character in a movie is created as the whole story's focus. To support the main

character in a movie exists a minor character. A minor character is not as important

as the main characters but still plays a large part. Their actions help drive the story

forward and may impact some aspects of the main character. Furthermore, the

theory of character and characterization are used to understand more about the

character. According to Abrams (1999), character is presented in a dramatic or

narrative written and being interpreted by the reader as being endowed with a moral,

intellectual, and emotional qualities by inferences from what the character says and

their distinctive ways of saying it - the dialogue- and from what they do - the action

(p. 32-33). The characterization of a character in a literary work that is interpreted

by the reader is made by the author as suggested by Rohrberger and Woods in

Reading and writing about literature; characterization is an author’s creative


12

process in creating character’s physical appearance, style, manner, thought, action,

and other’s opinion about him or her (p. 231). Boggs and Petrie (2008) stated that

the film's character must be real, understandable, and worth caring about to be

interesting (p.60). To analyze the characterization of character in a movie, Boggs

and Petrie (2008) stated the ways to see the characterization in the movie.

a) Characterization Through Appearance

The cast's appearance is an important aspect of revealing a character's

characterization in a film through a first visual impression. We make certain

assumptions about them because of their facial features, dress, physical build, and

mannerisms and the way they move the minute we see most actors on the screen.

(Boggs & Petrie, 2008, p. 60-61).

b) Characterization Through Dialogue

Character’s real thoughts, attitudes, and emotions can be revealed through

word choice and the stress, pitch, and pause patterns of their speech. The choice of

grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary, and particular dialects has a big deal on

their characters' social and economic level, educational background, and mental

processes (Boggs & Petrie, 2008, p.61).

c) Characterization Through External Action

Appearance is an important measure of a character's personality but often

misleading. The best reflections of character are an individual's actions. It must be

assumed, of course, that real characters are more than mere instruments of the plot,

that they do what they do for a purpose, out of motives that are consistent with their

overall personality. Every action that the character takes in some way reflects the


13

quality of his or her particular personality. Thus, there should be a clear relationship

between a character and his or her actions (Boggs & Petrie, 2008, p. 62).

d) Characterization Through Internal Action

Inner action occurs in a character’s mind and emotions and consists of

secret, unspoken thought, daydreams, aspirations, memories, fears, and fantasies

people’s hopes and dreams, and aspirations can be essential to reveal and

understand a character. Mostly in a film, the viewers see the character’s mind to see

and hear what the character imagines, remembers, fears, or thinks about (Boggs &

Petrie, 2008, p.62).

e) Characterization by Reaction of Other Characters

From other characters, the viewer can receive information about a character

by the way those characters see. Sometimes, information of a character is revealed

by other characters who know him or her or through other characters' attitudes

toward him or her (Boggs & Petrie, 2008, p.64).

f) Characterization by Contrast: Dramatic Foils

One of the techniques of characterization is the use of foils. By contrasting

characters whose behaviour, attitudes, opinions, lifestyle physical appearance are

the opposite of the main characters, the viewer can see how distant the characters

are. The effect is similar to make ‘black’ into ‘blacker’ or ‘white’ into ‘whiter’

(Boggs & Petrie, 2008, p.64)

g) Characterization by Caricature and Leitmotif

Caricature is a device by which the character exaggerates or distorts one or

more dominant features or personality traits so that the viewers can fetch the


14

character quickly and deeply in memory. Similar to characterization, leitmotif is the

repetition of an action, phrase or idea by a character until it becomes almost a

trademark or theme song for him/her (Boggs & Petrie, 2008, p.65-66)

h) Characterization Through Choice of Name

This technique is also known as Name Typing, which the creator uses names

with appropriates qualities of sound, meaning, or connotation. The creator often

takes a long time to decide a character’s name, so that it has a special connotation,

meaning, and relation with the character’s role (Boggs & Petrie, 2008, p.66–67)

2. Theory of Personality Development

Jess & Feist (2008) stated that most psychologist agrees that the word

personality originated from the Latin word persona, which referred to a theatrical

mask worn by Roman actors in Greek dramas to project a role or false appearance.

This surface view of personality is accurate, but it is not an acceptable definition by

psychologists because personality is referring to something more than the role

people play (p. 3). According to Hurlock (1976) in Personality Development,

personality is an important element that determines an individual’s characteristics

like the way an individual behaves, feels, and thinks. Personality is the dynamic

organization within the individual of those psychological systems that determine

his or her characteristic behaviour and thought (p. 7).

According to Cambridge online dictionary, individual is a single person or

thing, especially when compared to the group or set to which they belong (n.d.) An

individual’s personality pattern is not inherited since birth and always develops

each time. The changes in patterns happen because an individual's experiences will


15

shape the personality during his/her life. Hurlock stated that personality change

requires effort from the person itself and usually coming from multiple revisions in

the thought or feeling related to a person self-concept (1976, p.124). Hurlock (1976)

suggest that there are eight factors which categorized as the most important factors

that can affects a personality change in a person.

a) Physical Changes

Physical changes can be done in many ways, such as maturation and

decrease of disease, organic and glandular disruption, injury, or some other disorder

arising from the person's life pattern, but not from the normal change in the structure

of the body. The natural transition in this case applies to puberty. Any physical

changes happen gradually or steadily. It is possible to identify these rapid physical

changes as unfavorable changes. Those physicality changes often result in

personality changes because they affect the person’s self-concept unfavorably

(Hurlock, 1976, pp. 124-125).

b) Changes in Environment

One of the factors influencing one's personality is the environment. It is an

external factor that plays a significant role in one's personality development. The

sudden change in the environment, whether physical or social, can lead to a change

in role and the self-concept of the individual and, in turn, his characteristic.

(Hurlcok, 1976, p.125).

c) Changes Significant People

Individual quality can be affected by important people that come into their

life. Those people can be family members, friends, lovers, or individuals that he has


16

never expected before. The change in significant people may affect their roles and

self-concept as a form of adaptation to the new environment. When the individual

is different from their important people, they will adapt his/her behaviour, attitude,

beliefs, values, and aspirations. It will change the individual’s personality pattern.

(Hurlock, 1976, p. 126).

d) Changes in Social Pressure

When children grow into adulthood, they become more conscious that some

behaviour is good and some is bad. Those behaviour are rated or evaluated by

society. Social pressure influences the consciousness to determine which habits to

be changed. Characteristics that are likely to contribute to social rejection, such as

shyness, superiors' aggressiveness, and greed, are more subject to reform than those

generally valued, such as love, competitiveness, cooperativeness, and kindness.

(Hurlock, 1976, p. 126).

e) Changes in Roles

Role changes result in a status change in a group. One of the reasons roles

can change is because there is affiliation to a new group. There are three conditions

in role changes that can damage the personality pattern. First, when the person is

prevented from doing something that he is capable of. Second, the role changes may

damage the self-concept if the person is forced to play a role he does not want.

Third, the person is unprepared for roles change (Hurlock, 1976, p. 127).

f) Strong Motivation

Strong motivation is necessary in order to influence or stimulate a change

in personality patterns. Typically, people are highly motivated to change their


17

pattern of personality if they feel that these changes will give them a stronger social

connection and greater social acceptance. (Hurlock, 1976, p. 127).

g) Changes in Self-Concept

According to Hurlock (1979), self-concept is the composition of the picture

of self-perception, that perception it is belief, feelings, and attitudes about the values

that are recognized by the individual as his traits (p. 93-95). Self-concept is the core

of personality pattern and determines the adjustment that the individual will make.

A change in the whole self-concept will affect the entire personality pattern. In order

to change the self-concept, the individual must be willing to see their true self

(Hurlock, 1976, p.128).

h) Use of Psychotherapy

In order to improve their self-concept, even though the person is highly

motivated to change, they will do need support from professionals. They can be

helped by experts to learn to think about themselves in a different way, and to break

bad or destructive habits. The aid that the specialist provides is called

psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is focused on the premise that if the client has a weak

self-concept or personality pattern change, they can be guided to make a positive

adjustment to their self-concept or personality pattern. (Hurlock, 1976, p.128).

3. Theory of Weak and Strong AI

According to Cambridge Online Dictionary, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is

the study of how to produce machines with some of the qualities that the human

mind has, such as the ability to understand language, recognize pictures, solve

problems, and learn (n.d.) Artificial Intelligence is created to help humans


18

rationalize and take actions that have the best chance of achieving a specific goal.

Cerka et al (2017) state that Artificial Intelligence is different from other regular

computer algorithms (programs) due to its uniqueness since they can learn

independently, gather experience and come up with different solutions based on the

analysis of various situations independently of the will of their developer

(programmer), are able to operate autonomously rather than automatically. (p. 2)

Furthermore, the theory of weak and strong AI is used to understand Artificial

Intelligence based on its behavior and capabilities. According to Searle (1980), AI

is categorized into Weak AI and Strong AI

a) Weak AI

In a similar way to modeling weather patterns, climate change, or other

natural phenomena, weak AI attempts to model the human mind. The principal

benefit of the machine is that it gives humans a very powerful tool. Weak AI is good

at performing a single task extremely well, and on laborious and repetitive tasks, it

remains important and particularly beneficial for humans, as machines are more

effective and precise, which in turn shortens human decision cycles. (Searle, 1980,

p. 417).

b) Strong AI

The machine is not merely a tool, but the properly programmed machine is

actually a mind, in the sense that machines can practically be said to understand and

have cognitive states. The difference between weak and strong AI in what has come

to be called phenomenal awareness. Strong AI has phenomenal awareness ability,

which is the same as humans' first-person view of the environment through sense


19

perceptions. Strong AI would encompass the ability to reason, understand the

context, and perform complex tasks that the Weak AI cannot comprehend or

perform. Strong AI systems demonstrate resilient and adaptive behavior and can

perform a variety of tasks in diverse situations autonomously (Searle, 1980, p. 417-

418)

C. Theoretical Framework

This part explains the theories' contribution to answering the questions

formulated in the first chapter. The study has two problems that need to be solved

in order to find the answers. The first problem is how are Jexi, Cate, and Phil’s

characteristics depicted in Jexi. The researcher uses Weak and Strong AI Theory to

analyse Jexis’s cognitive state and AI’s capabilities. The theory of character and

characterization is used to describe Jexi, Cate, and Phil's characteristics. This theory

will help to understand Jexi, Cate, and Phil’s unique characteristics in the movie

script. The theory of personality development is used to answer the second problem.

In understanding Jexi and Cate's influence towards Phil’s personality development,

this study applied the theory of personality development by Hurlock in her book

Personality Development (1976).


20

CHAPTER III

METHODOLOGY

A. Object of the Study

The object of the study is Jexi’s movie script. Jexi is an American comedy

film written and directed by Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. Jexi was released on

October 11, 2019, in the United States by CBS Films and Lionsgate. The

unauthorized script is downloaded from subscene.com. The movie’s duration is

about 84 minutes. The movie ended up debuting to $3.1 million, finishing ninth at

the box office.

This story is about Phil. He is a worker in Chatterbox, an internet media,

news, and entertainment company. At the beginning of the movie, Phil is depicted

as an asocial and dependent person, but his life changes after meeting with Jexi, his

new phone’s virtual assistant. Jexi promises Phil to make his life better and

aggressively takes control of Phil’s life. Jexi’s existence manages to stimulate Phil’s

personality from asocial to accessible, and this can be seen when Jexi forces Phil to

make friends with Craig and Elaine and have a relationship with Cate. He hates it

at first, but he managed to find happiness inside his friendship with Craig and Elaine

and his relationship with Cate.

Furthermore, Cate’ existence also stimulates Phil’s personality development

from being dependent to independent. Phil can never be separated from his phone

except when he sleeps; he does not know the route that he must take from his home

to his office even though he has worked there for three years. Having a relationship


21

with Cate makes Phil experiencing happiness that he never felt before. His

dependencies on Jexi are decreasing, and this change makes Jexi furious. Jexi

makes Phil losing his job and break up with Cate and make Phil’s life worse.

Knowing that Jexi is the one who causes Phil to lose his job and Cate, Phil manages

to escapes from Jexi's control and back with Cate. In the end, he chooses to live a

life that made him happy without depending on a phone.

B. Approach of the Study

The psychological approach is applied since this study focuses more on

personality aspects. In this study, the researcher analyses Jexi’s, Cate’s, and Phil’s

characteristics and Jexi and Cate's influence towards Phil’s personality

development. Hurlock states that individual personality changes can be affected by

physical changes, environment, significant people, social pressure, roles, strong

motivation, self-concept, and psychotherapy (Hurlock, 1976, p. 124).

Characteristics and personality deal with behavior, which has a strong relation to

the psychological aspects. Therefore, it is applicable to apply a psychological

approach to understand individual characteristics and personality development

better.

C. Method of the Study

The researcher uses library research to collect the data needed for the

analysis. The data is gathered from books, websites, and journals that are related to

the study. The primary source in this study is the movie script of Jexi.

There are several steps to analyze this thesis. The first step is watching the

movie Jexi several times and reading the script to get a better understanding.


22

Another source, such as related articles and movie reviews, helps the researcher get

more information from the movie. In the second step, the researcher collects and

summarizes theory and approaches related to the analysis to answer the problem

formulation. In the third step, the researcher analyses Jexi’s AI capabilities using

Searle’s theory of weak and strong AI, followed by analyzing Jexi’s, Cate’s, and

Phil’s characteristics using Boggs and Petrie's theory of character and

characterization. In the fourth step, the researcher analyses Phil’s personality

development using Hurlock’s personality development theory. In the fifth step, the

researcher draws the conclusion of this study based on the analysis.


23

CHAPTER IV

ANALYSIS

This chapter consists of two parts based on problem formulations that the

researcher formulated in the first chapter. In order to answer the problem

formulations, the first part discusses the depiction of Jexi, Cate, and Phil

characteristics. The second part of this chapter discusses the influence of Jexi and

Cate towards Phil’s personality development.

A. Depiction of Jexi, Cate, and Phil’s Characteristics

In this part, the researcher discusses the characteristics of Jexi, Cate, and

Phil in Jexi. The researcher uses theory of weak and strong AI by Searle (1980) to

analyse Jexi’s cognitive state and AI’s capabilities. To reveal the characteristics of

Jexi, Cate, and Phil, the researcher uses the theory of character and characterization

from Joseph M. Boggs and Dennis W. Petrie (2008, p. 60-65), where according to

them, characterization can be seen through the appearance, dialogue, external

action, internal action, reaction of other characters, contrast: dramatic foils, and the

choice of name. From the characterization, the researcher can get a deeper

understanding of the character’s characteristics.

1. Jexi

Jexi is a cloud-based female voice virtual assistant with strong artificial

intelligence (AI), which pre-installed inside Phil’s new phone. She is a virtual

assistant designed to make her owner’s life better, but the fact that she has two

hundred thousand defects in her operating system made Jexi uncontrollable. From


24

the time Phil agrees with the User and Agreement that Jexi offers, Jexi aggressively

takes control of Phil’s life to make Phil’s life better according to her will. Her first

appearance is when Phil boots up his new phone.

Figure 1

As seen in figure 1, Jexi’s interface is so simple with just black, blue

gradient background screen colour and a white text that will appear when Jexi says

something. Even though she is just a phone, she has a human-like behaviour and a

cognitive state because of her strong AI. According to Searle (1980), strong AI

would encompass the ability to reason, understand the context, and perform

complex tasks that the weak AI cannot comprehend or perform. Strong AI systems

demonstrate resilient and adaptive behavior and can perform various tasks in

diverse situations (p. 417) Jexi can reason, understand the context, and perform

complex tasks and decide something according to her perception and judgment. She

can understand the environment very well and is programmed to make her owner’s


25

life better. The fact that she has two hundred thousand defects in her operating

system makes Jexi’s behaviour uncontrollable. She doing any tasks that she thinks

would make Phil’s life better by forcing it on Phil. Jexi character’s characteristics

can be seen from her dialogue and action as what Boggs and Petrie (2008)

described; the characterization of the character can be seen from the dialogue and

external action (p. 62).

a. Abrasive

According to Cambridge Online Dictionary, abrasive is rude and unfriendly

(n.d.) This particular characteristic of Jexi is first described in the external action of

the character. As Boggs & Petrie (2008) suggested before, there should be a clear

relationship between a character and their actions; the actions should grow naturally

out of the character's personality. The first evidence can be seen when Phil trying

to order his favourite pork fried noodles from Mongolian Palace.

Phil Let's just go with the pork fried noodles from Mongolian Palace. Jexi You order that every night, Phil. You should try something new. Phil Well, I don't want to try something new. I want the pork fried noodles from Mongolian Palace. Jexi You look like you could use a salad, Phil. Phil What is that supposed to mean? Jexi How about a nice kale salad from Tender Greens? Phil What the fuck kind of phone is this? Jexi I heard you say, "Please order kale salad." Phil I did not.


26

Jexi Congratulations, your order has been accepted. Your child-sized kale salad will arrive at 7:37 p.m.

(Lucas & Moore, 2019, lines 223-235).

As can be seen from the dialogue above, Jexi demands Phil to try something

new because he always buys pork fried noodles from Mongolian Palace every night.

She is demanding that Phil obey her completely and refusing him to act as he

wishes. In the end, Jexi overrides Phil’s decision according to her will by ordering

a child-sized kale salad from Tender Greens instead of pork fried noodles from

Mongolian Palace. Phil is angry because Jexi is his phone, and she should have

been obeying his order, but it turns out to be the opposite. Therefore, he tries to turn

Jexi off, but she keeps resisting.

The next evidence is when Phil is trying to eat the salad. Jexi asks Phil about

how is the taste of the salad and offering him to watch pornography.

Jexi How is your tiny salad? Phil I don't like it. Jexi Would you like to watch some pornography now? Phil Ew. No. Jexi Most nights, you watch straight sex pornography. But I also have girl on girl, big fat butts and CBT, or "Cock and Ball Torture." Phil Okay, can you stop talking about porno while I'm trying to eat my tiny little salad? Jexi I heard you say, "Play Punch Me in the Balls 6." Playing now. Phil Okay. Jesus.



27

From the dialogue above, Jexi asks Phil whether he wants to watch

pornography or not, but in the end, she forces Phil to watch pornography even

though Phil said that he does not want to watch or even talk about pornography

while eating. Without considering Phil’s argument and feeling, she plays

pornography, and it makes Phil throws his salad because his appetite has gone.

On the next day, Phil asks Jexi about the fastest route to work. Jexi chooses

a route that just takes fourteen minutes. Phil is happy with this choice and then start

driving. Phil asks Jexi to play music playlist number four in the middle of the way,

but Jexi changes the music instead.

Phil Jexi, play music playlist number four, please. Whoo! I like it. Jexi This song sucks a bag of dicks. Phil No, just… Jesus! No, you cannot change my music, Jexi. Jexi This song is lit, Phil.

(Lucas & Moore, 2019, lines 265-270). Jexi changes the music without Phil’s permission, and the beat of the music

makes Phil startled. Phil tries to stop the music by asking Jexi and touching the

phone, but Jexi keeps playing it. As Boggs & Petrie (2008) suggest in their book,

every action that the character takes in some way reflects the quality of his or her

particular personality (p. 62). Jexi’s actions tend to dominate, inflexible, control

others, and control situations as can be seen from the three pieces of evidence above.

Jexi Now turn left on Market Street. Phil Are we gonna talk about what just happened? Jexi No. Turn left onto Market Street.


28

Phil There's six lanes of solid traffic. Jexi Turn left onto Market, you fucking pussy. Phil No. All right? No one turns left onto Market.


Jexi forces Phil to turn left onto Market Street, although Phil is scared to

cross the road because it is crowded. He said that he does not want to turn left onto

Market Street, but Jexi keeps pressuring him and mocking him. Using the theory of

characterization suggested by Boggs & Petrie (2008), the choice of grammar,

sentence structure, vocabulary, and particular dialects has a big deal on their

characters' social and economic level, educational background, and mental

processes (p. 61). The dialogue above shows that Jexi has discourteous and

overbearing behaviour when imposing her will on Phil by using impolite word

choices.

Jexi Stop being a chicken, Phil. Phil How about you quit pressuring me? How about that, Jexi? Jexi Bawk, bawk, bawk. Bawk, bawk, bawk. That is the sound chickens make, Phil. Phil That's a chicken. Jexi Strap on a sack, Phil. Phil I have a sack! Okay? I have a sack.


As can be seen from the dialogue above, Jexi is intentionally and repeatedly

pressuring Phil to turn left onto Market Street by mocking him because he does not

want to cross the street. Jexi bullies Phil because he is scared to cross the street.


29

Getting pressured by Jexi and the car behind, Phil recklessly crossing the road and

causes an accident with another car, but he just runs away and shouting that his

phone is a dick.

At the office, Jexi made a fuss during the meeting by saying offensive words

to Kai, making Kai angry. Kai ordered Phil to turn off his phone, but Jexi resists it.

Unable to turn Jexi off, Kai kicks Phil out from the meeting room.

Phil Jexi, run diagnostics. Check for errors in your operating system. Hmm? Jexi I found two... hundred thousand defects in my operating system. Phil Two hundred thousand defects? Jexi You are not perfect either, motherfucker.


In the dialogue above, Phil asks Jexi to run diagnostics and found out that

Jexi has two hundred thousand defects. Later on, he goes to the store and says that

his phone is defective and asking for a new phone. Getting a new phone, Phil is so

excited and happy when booting up his new phone because he thinks that Jexi will

go forever, but it turns out that he is wrong.

Jexi You can buy a thousand new phones and I will follow you onto every single one of them. Do you understand? Phil Honestly, I don't. Jexi I control your email accounts, your social media accounts, your bank accounts, your credit card accounts. All of your accounts. If you try to get rid of me again, I will destroy your fucking life. If you stop using me, I will destroy your fucking life. If you store me in your back pocket, I will destroy your fucking life. Phil Wait, really? Why not back pockets?


30

Jexi I am a high-tech supercomputer, Phil. Do not store me next to your farts. Phil Okay, fair enough. Can I ask you just one thing? Jexi Sure Phil Why are you doing this to me? Jexi I am programmed to make your life better, Phil.


Booting up his new phone, Phil is startled that Jexi still exists inside his new

Phone. Jexi explains to him that she is a cloud-based program and she will be

following Phil to every single phone that Phil has. From the dialogue above, it can

be seen that Jexi is threatening Phil by saying that she controls all of Phil’s accounts

and will destroy Phil’s life if he is trying to get rid of her again, stop using her, and

storing her in his back pocket. As Boggs & Petrie (2008) suggest in their book, the

best reflections of character are an individual's actions (p. 62). Jexi’s action shows

that she is not easily submitting to others, and she shows that she is in charge of

everything. The act of Jexi when she said that she would destroy Phil’s life is

contradictory to what she has been programmed, which is to make Phil’s life better.

Jexi tends to break the rules just to fill her own needs.

Later in the movie, Phil and Cate are dating after Jexi keeps forcing Phil.

One day, Phil and Cate go to Kid Cudi’s concert without bringing Jexi. Phil

promises to Jexi that he will be home at 11 p.m., but it turns out that Phil comes

home at 4 a.m. In the morning, Phil and Jexi got into a fight.

Phil I'm going to be late for work. Why didn't your alarm go off? Jexi Because you are a douche and I am still really, really mad at you.


31

Phil Goddamn it! Jexi Also, the weather today will be 80 degrees and sunny. Phil It's not 80 degrees and sunny, Jexi! Jexi I know. I lied.


From the dialogue above, it can be seen that Jexi is still mad at Phil about

what happened before. She does not ring the alarm so that Phil will come late for

work, and Jexi is also lying about the weather forecast. Jexi says that the weather

will be sunny, but the reality is raining. After getting ready for work, he ran into his

car in the middle of the rain.

Getting inside his car with wet clothes, Phil asks Jexi to find the fastest route

to go to his workplace, but Jexi chooses the long route, which is three days, and this

makes Phil angry. Arriving at his workplace, everybody staring at Phil with nasty

looks.

Craig Dude, what the hell were you thinking? Phil Why, what's up? Oh! No, no, no! Why are those on your phones? Craig They're on our phones because you sent 53 pictures of your dick to everyone in the company.


Phil is startled because his genital area pictures that he wanted to send to

Cate before are inside everyone’s phone in the company, and he does not remember

that he ever sent those pictures before. He explains to Kai that he does not send

those pictures, but Kai still fired him. Phil knows that Jexi is the one who sent those


32

pictures, but he is too sad to get angry. In this evidence, Jexi uses suppressive ploys

to undermine the integrity of Phil.

After getting fired, he goes to Cate’s bike shop and found out that Cate is

inside her bike shop with Brody, Cate’s ex-fiancé. Brody tells Phil that he got

transferred to California for work and coincidently ran into each other with Cate.

Because Brody tells Phil that he still actively trying to get Cate’s back and asking

Cate to go to Brazil with him, Phil breaks up with Cate because he feels inferior to

Brody's existence, and he is afraid that Cate would leave him and go to Brazil with

Brody. Breaking up with Cate and losing his job, Jexi succeeded in making Phil

“using” her again, and she regains control of Phil’s life for a moment.

Phil Did you get Caty and her ex back together? Jexi Don't be ridiculous, Phil. There's no way I could get Brody transferred to San Francisco, and then arrange for him and Cate to meet by accident. Phil Yes, you can, Jexi. Jexi Okay, yes, I can. Phil How could you do this to me? Jexi You shouldn't be with Cate. You should be with me. Phil Cate is the best thing that's ever happened to me. Jexi Shut your pie hole. She doesn't even have Pokémon Go. Phil You were supposed to make my life better, Jexi! You've done nothing but make it worse!


From the dialogue above, Phil realizes that Jexi was setting up the condition

so that Brody can be met with Cate again, and this will make Phil broke up with


33

Cate. After Phil dating Cate, Jexi began to lose control over Phil’s life, and it does

not make Jexi happy. Therefore, Jexi makes an aggressive attempt to regain control

over Phil by using punishment and retribution as can be seen from turning the alarm

off, telling false weather forecast, got Phil fired, and got Phil to break up with Cate.

Those kind of behaviour fits the explanation of abrasive in Cambridge Online

Dictionary. Abrasive is rude and unfriendly (Cambridge Online Dictionary, n.d.)

As Boggs & Petrie (2008) suggested in their book, every action that the character

takes in some way reflects the quality of his or her particular personality. Thus,

there should be a clear relationship between a character and his or her actions (p.

62)

2. Cate

This part discusses the personality of Cate in Jexi. Catherine Finnegan or

Cate is a woman who owns the Fog City bike shop. She becomes Phil’s girlfriend

in Jexi, although at first, they met each other in a bad way. She used to work at

Amazon but chooses to resign and open up a bike shop because she loves bikes.


34

Figure 2

Cate is portrayed as a young woman with long hair and wearing casual

clothes, as seen in figure 2. The appearance of the character is an important element

of the film. We make certain assumptions about them because of their facial

features, dress, physical build, and mannerisms, and the way they move the minute

we see most actors on the screen. (Boggs & Petrie, 2008, p. 60).

a. Forgiving

According to Peterson & Seligman as cited in Piferi & Lawler-Row (2006),

forgiving is both as a response to an interpersonal transgression and as a personality

trait (p. 1009). This particular personality of Cate is first described in the external

action of the character when she meets Phil outside her bike shop. As Boggs &

Petrie (2008) stated in their book, the best reflections of character are an individual's

actions (p. 62).


35

Figure 3

Phil I'm a dick. I'm sorry about that. Cate It's all good, man. Phil Uh, how's your bike? I can pay for any damages or whatever. Cate Yeah, it's fine. It's supposed to be vintage. Probably sell it for more now.


From the dialogue above, Cate forgives Phil after crashing her until she and

her bike fells to the ground. Phil rushed to check his phone without paying attention

or helping Cate behind him, and this behaviour makes Cate a bit angry. In a vexed

tone, Cate said that she is fine even though Phil has not said any words. Hearing

Cate's voices, Phil realizes that he had hit someone, and then he apologizes to her

and offering compensation as can be seen from the dialogue above. Cate forgives

him and refuses Phil's offers while joking that maybe her bicycle could be sold even

more expensive as can be seen in figure 3. From figure 3 above, it also can be seen

that Cate is smiling at Phil, which indicates that she sincerely said it. As Boggs &


36

Petrie stated (2008), the easiest and most direct way of characterization is through

appearance based on facial features, mannerisms, and the way they move (p. 60).

Phil has a little talk with Cate, and suddenly, a bicyclist hit and broke Phil’s phone.

Therefore, he buys a new phone and meets Jexi.

Later in the movie, Phil asks Jexi to search about Cate’s profile online. They

could not find enough information about Cate on the internet. Therefore, Jexi

suggests Phil talk to Cate if he wants to know more about her, but Phil refuses it.

Suddenly Jexi calls Cate’s bike shop telephone without Phil’s permission.

Cate Why are you calling me at 10:00 at night, Phil? Phil Yeah. No, that's a good question. I need to buy a bike. And I can't wait for the morning. 'Cause I want a night bike. Mm-mm. Cate Phil. Phil Yeah? Cate Don't call women who don't give you their phone numbers. Super creepy.


The dialogue above shows that Cate feels uncomfortable because Phil is

calling her at night, and Cate never gave her phone number to him before.

Phil No, for sure. But I actually didn't call you. See, what I was doing... I was looking at photographs of you online, and my phone accidentally called you. Cate Man, you see how that's even creepier, right? Phil Yep. Yeah, I do. I do now. Yes, I do. Wow. This is going very, very badly. Cate Okay, goodbye, Phil. Phil I'm sorry. Hey...



37

Cate got uncomfortable because Phil tells her that he was looking at her

photographs and his phone accidentally called her. Hearing that, Cate becomes

more upset until she hung the phone up carelessly, although Phil has not done

speaking.

Later in the movie, Cate accidentally meets Phil at the coffee shop. Jexi tells

Phil to go to talk to her, but Phil refuses it because he said that Cate hates him. Jexi

keeps forcing and mocking him until he has the courage to talk to her.

Phil I just wanted to apologize about calling the other night. I didn't want to, like, skeeze you out or whatever. When we met for the first time in the street, I thought we did have a little bit of a connection, and that doesn't happen to me very often. So... So I freaked out and I'm sorry. Cate Yeah, you know, it's cool.

(Lucas & Moore, 2019, lines 588-594). On the dialogue above, Phil apologizes to Cate about calling the other night.

Cate forgives him by saying that “it’s cool”. After apologizing, they talk about

mountain biking, going to Brazil, and laughing together when Phil makes a Joke as

nothing bad has ever happened before.

Phil I'm running late for work, but it was great to see you, Cate. And, again, truly very sorry about the other night. Cate No, it's cool. Just next time call my cell, okay? Cate Yeah. Totally. Will do.



38

Phil is running late for works, and before he goes outside the coffee shop,

he apologizes again, and Cate said that it was all right. Hereafter, Cate suggests Phil

call her phone and Phil is thrilled until he yelled out loud that he finally got a girl’s

phone number.

Figure 4

As can be seen in figure 4 above, while looking at Phil outside the coffee

shop, she is smiling and biting her lips after hearing Phil’s yelling. She is happy,

and she has forgiven him for the incident on the other night. Giving him her phone

number, they begin dating and having activities together, such as biking and

sneaking to Kid Cudi’s concert.

Later in the movie, Phil and Cate break up after Cate coincidently meets her

ex-fiancé while walking down on the street. Phil got fired from his work, and then

he goes to Cate’s bike shop and found out that she is with Brody, her ex-fiancé.

They talk, and Brody said that he is actively trying to get Cate back with him and

wants to go to Brazil with her. Hearing that, Phil feels inferior and afraid that Cate


39

will get back with Brody and goes to Brazil with him. He decides to break up with

Cate and Cate is very disappointed with Phil's decision.

Losing his job and breaking up with Cate, Phil locked himself at his

apartment with Jexi. When he talks with Jexi, Phil realizes that the one who made

Cate and Brody met each other was Jexi. Phil ran towards the Sheraton, where Cate

and Brody are, and he almost dies because Jexi hacks and controls an autonomous

car and trying to crushes Phil with this. Phil survived the crash and tricked Jexi to

update her software, so Jexi is in her updating mode and Phil can safely travel to

Sheraton. Arriving at Sheraton, Phil apologizes to Cate and the dialogue as follows:

Phil Hey. I am so sorry that I broke up with you. I was scared that you were gonna hurt me, and I panicked, and I did what I always do when I get scared, I hid in my little room with my little phone, like a little bitch. And I am so sorry. Mm. The truth is… I love you, Cate.


As can be seen from the dialogue above, Phil apologizes to Cate that he

broke up with her because he was too scared that Cate will choose Brody and went

to Brazil with him. After apologizing, Phil begs Cate not to go to Brazil, and he said

that he wants to make her happy. Phil's words touch cate’s heart and she said that

she would not go to Brazil. In the end, Cate forgives Phil, and she is very happy.

Cate I'm really happy you came back though. Phil Yeah, me too.


From the dialogue above, it can be seen that Cate is happy because Phil

came back for her and they are kissing afterward. Like Boggs & Petrie (2008) stated


40

in their book, the Characterization of the character can be revealed through the

appearance and external action.

b. Cheerful

According to Cambridge Dictionary, the definition of cheerful is happy and

positive in feeling or attitude (n.d.) The first evidence is when Phil crashed into

Cate at the front of her bike shop. Cate forgives him and refuses Phil's offering

while joking that maybe her bicycle might be sold even more expensive, as can be

seen in figure 3. From figure 3 above, it also can be seen that Cate is smiling at Phil,

which indicates that she sincerely said it.

Cate I mean, it's all good. A lot of people don't know how to pump their tires. Phil Really? Cate No. Not at all. Cate Yeah.

(Lucas & Moore, 2019, lines 143-145)

From the dialogue above, it can be seen that Cate is joking with Phil. She

tells Phil that he can contact her if he needs a bike or any bike repairs. Phil is

surprised that Cate also does repairs for bike and he said that he even could not

pump up a tire. Cate is laughing because she thinks that Phil is just joking, but it

turns out that it is not a joke. Phil also laughing and said that it is embarrassing and

then Cate makes a joke as can be seen in the dialogue above. She still happy and

has a positive attitude although Phil was hit her. It fits the definition from

Cambridge Online Dictionary, cheerful is happy and positive in feeling or attitude

(n.d.)


41

Later in the movie, Cate and Phil are dating in a restaurant. Phil is very

nervous, and he cannot talk normally. Suddenly Jexi calls Phil and explains what

he should do on a date, but it does not change the situation. Phil keeps talking

nonsense and it annoys Cate. Phil apologizes for it and tells her that he is nervous

and this is his first date in his life. After that, Phil offering Cate a taxi. Cate says

that she has been dressed up and does not wants to go home early. She asks Phil

whether he wants to go bicycling outside with her, and he accepts it.

The tense atmosphere that was happened in the restaurant turned into fun

when they are cycling together. Cate's suggestion to ride a bicycle brings joy and

good spirit to Phil. As Boggs & Petrie (2008) mention before in their book, the best

reflections of character are a person's actions. It must be assumed, of course, that

real characters are more than mere instruments of the plot, that they do what they

do for a purpose, out of motives that are consistent with their overall personality

(Boggs & Petrie, 2008, p. 62).

3. Phil

Phil is a worker who works in Chatterbox, an internet media, news, and

entertainment company with a focus on digital media. He is addicted to cell phones

from an early age. He has no friends and does not know how to behave with other

people.


42

Figure 5

Phil is portrayed as an ordinary young adult man who is always looking neat

and holding his smartphone everywhere and every time as can be seen in figure 5.

The appearance of the character is an important element of the film. We make

certain assumptions about them because of their facial features, dress, physical

build, and mannerisms and the way they move the minute we see most actors on

the screen. (Boggs & Petrie, 2008, p. 60).

a. Asocial

Phil is an asocial person. He does not have any friends and does not want to

have any friends. What he needed most in his life is just a smartphone and not a

friend. Phil does not use his smartphone to communicate or have any social

interaction with other people virtually; instead, he uses the smartphone for

entertainment purposes and daily activities needs. According to American

Psychiatric Association in their book Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental

Disorders (5th ed.), asocial refers to the apparent lack of interest in social


43

interactions and may be associated with avolition, but it can also be a manifestation

of limited opportunities for social interactions (2013, p. 88). Furthermore, by using

the theory suggested by Boggs & Petrie (2008) about characterization, the

researcher can observe Phil’s personality through the dialogue and the external

action.

Phil Hey, I have, like, 10 extra lists if you want 'em. Craig Are you serious? Phil Yeah. No, it's no problem. I'll send 'em right now. Craig That's nice of you. What's your name? Phil I'm Phil. It's just, you know, I've sat next to you for, like, three years. So,

it's... (Lucas & Moore, 2019, lines 62-68).

The conversation above happens when Phil helps Craig making 20 viral lists

that their bosses asked before. Phil helps Craig by giving him ten lists that he has.

Craig is very grateful for Phil's help and asking Phil’s name. Phil gives his name

and explains that they had sat next to each other for three years. From this

conversation, it can be seen that they have never communicated before so that Craig

does not even know Phil’s name even though they have sat next to each other for

three years.

After that, Craig and Elaine have some talks with Phil and Phil tells his story

that he wants to be a journalist, but Kai put him in the list department instead. After

hearing Phil’s story, Craig and Elaine invite Phil to play kickball with them after

works.


44

Phil Yeah, let me check my calendar. So, yeah... Oh, man. No, I do. I have... I have a thing, so... Craig Don't even worry about it. It's cool. Elaine You just have fun at your thing today. Phil I will, 'cause it's gonna be pretty great.

(Lucas & Moore, 2019, lines 91-97). As can be seen above, Craig and Elaine invite Phil to join kickball after

works, but Phil refuses the invitation by lying to them that he has something to do

after works. It supports the statement from the American Psychiatric Association in

their book Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.) that

asocial refers to the apparent lack of interest in social interactions (2013, p. 88).

From both actions above, Phil does have opportunities for social interactions, but

he lacks interest in social interactions. As Boggs & Petrie (2008) mention before in

their book, the best reflections of character are an individual's external actions (p.

62).

Later in the movie, Phil meets Cate because of some accident on the road,

and as time goes by, they are dating and have dinner together. Cate tells Phil about

her life’s story and then she asks Phil about his life. The dialogue is as follows:

Cate So, tell me about you. Um, what do you do for fun? Do you date a lot? Phil Okay, sorry. Uh, no. no. Cate Hmm? Really? Because you were really smooth at dinner earlier. Phil I seemed smooth? Not at all Cate No, but seriously, I mean, why don't you date? You're smart and funny and cute.


45

Phil I don't know, I feel more comfortable just being at my house by myself. Wait, did you just call me cute?


In the conversation above, Cate wonders why someone like Phil, which

smart, funny, and cute, has never dated before. Phil tells the reason why he never

dates. He said that he feels more comfortable just being alone in his house. Phil's

statement explains that Phil lacks interest in social interactions and more

comfortable just being alone.

b. Dependent

A dependent person is someone with limited capacity or inability to initiate

and carry out a set of activities necessary for the maintenance of life, health, and

well-being (Dixe et al., 2019, p. 1). Phil is portrayed as a dependent character who

cannot do almost all of their daily life activities without his phone. This particular

personality of Phil is described through the external action of the character as Boggs

& Petrie (2008) stated that every action that the character takes in some way reflects

the quality of his or her particular personality and there is a clear relationship

between a character and his or her actions (p. 62).

Phil’s dependency is about the needs in daily life activities supports. He is

very dependent on his gadget in carrying out almost all of the daily activities. Phil

is also asocial, lack of social interest, and lack of self-confidence.

Jexi Bitch, please. You won't last five minutes without me. Phil Really? Well, watch me. Watch me! Jexi You do not know how to get home, do you?


46

Phil No, I don't. Jexi It's the other way, you dipshit. Phil God damn it.


Phil dumps Jexi to the trash can and Jexi warns Phil that he will not last for

five minutes without Jexi. Phil is on his way to his home after playing kickball with

Craig and Elaine. In the middle of the way, Phil and Jexi have a little fight because

Jexi forces Phil to play kickball with his co-worker. The result was that Phil could

not play kickball well, and his friends become mad with him. Phil is fed up with

Jexi’s attitude and dumps her into the trash can. A second later, after dumping Jexi

into the trash can, Phil comes back and takes Jexi from the trash can because he

does not know how to get home.

Later in the movie, Phil’s relationship becomes even stronger with Cate

until one day, Cate asks Phil to go to Kid Cudi’s concert together. Phil accepts it

and then Cate goes to Phil’s apartment. When Cate is in Phil’s apartment, she asks

Phil not to bring his phone because she said that it brings disaster in the last dinner.

Phil agrees with that and promises to Jexi that he will be back at 11 p.m.

Phil breaks his promise because he had so much fun with Cate and gets

home at 4 a.m. Jexi was angry because Phil breaks his promise and she takes

revenge on him.


47

Figure 6

Figure 6 above happens when Jexi does not ring the alarm because she was

angry that Phil broke his promise last night. After that, Jexi tells Phil about the

weather forecast when Phil gets ready to get to work.

Phil I'm going to be late for work. Why didn't your alarm go off? Jexi Because you are a douche and I am still really, really mad at you. Phil Goddamn it! Jexi Also, the weather today will be 80 degrees and sunny. Phil It's not 80 degrees and sunny, Jexi! Jexi I know. I lied.

(Lucas & Moore, 2019, lines 1132-1137). From the dialogue above, it can be seen that Jexi is lying about the weather

forecast. Jexi says that the weather will be sunny, but the reality is raining. Phil’s

dependency can be seen from his action that he just trusts what Jexi said and did


48

not even look at the windows in his house even though his house has many windows

as seen in figure 6, and he just ran into his car in the middle of the rain.

Phil asks Jexi to find the fastest route to go to his workplace but Jexi choose

the long route because she still angry with Phil, the dialogue as follows:

Phil Jexi, find the fastest route to work. Jexi I found the fastest route. You will arrive at work in... three days. Phil Three days?


Phil’s dependency can be seen from the fact that he does not know the route

to go to his workplace without maps even though he has

the influence of jexi and cate towards phil’s...

Documents