Post 3: 2 Movies

Assignment: Pick two of your favourite feature length movies. What is the equilibrium for the film. What event disrupts the equilibrium. What re-establishes it and/or invites a new order of stability. What social values are reflected in this film?

The Goonies (1985)

Equilibrium - The town of Astoria has been bought by a golf course and they plan on demolishing all of the houses in order to put in a new development. With only a few days remaining until they have to leave their town, the main character, Mikey will have to move away from his best friends, Chunk, Data, Mouth. 


Disequilibrium - While packing in their attic, Mikey and his friends come across a treasure map of "One-Eyed Willie's" fortune that they believe can save the town. The group consisting of Mikey and his friends, Mikey's brother, his girlfriend and her friend Stef, call themselves "The Goonies." The end up in an abandoned house where the treasure is supposed to be under when they encounter a visit with a family of fugitives, the Fratellis who are trying to find the treasure for themselves. The Goonies also face a number of booby traps and near-death experiences while trying to find the treasure which also impedes their journey, as well as having the Fratellis trailing them.


Equilibrium - Each member plays an important role in the journey to find the treasure. The Goonies send Chunk to go get help, but he becomes captured from the Fratellis. Chunk gets placed in the same room as Sloth, the deformed brother of the Fratellis. Sloth befriends Chunk and they go and save the rest of The Goonies from the Fratellis. The cave the treasures is in begins to collapse from a booby trap being set off. The Goonies all manage to escape through a small hole and show off the jewels they were able to keep which value is more than enough to save the town.

Miss. Congeniality (2000)

Equilibrium - Gracie Heart is an agent for the FBI and is seen as a tom-boy, with no feminine qualities in her appearance. She is dedicated to her job, she lives alone, and the only people she talks to are those who she works with. She made an error in judgement with her last assignment which caused her boss to put her on a desk job.


Disequilibrium - The FBI learns of a bombing threat to the Miss United States pageant. They have to send a female agent undercover in order to prevent the bombing and keep the contestants safe. FBI agent Eric Matthews is assigned the case and has to pick a female member of the FBI to go in the contest undercover. All of the females are either on maternity leave or are unsuitable for the contest, except for Gracie. She has to undergo a full make-over in both her appearance and demeanour to compete in the pageant. 


Equilibrium - During the competition, the FBI believe that they caught the suspect but Hart and Matthews believe otherwise and stay back to continue the investigation against their boss' wishes. Gracie learns that the director of the pageant is being replaced. Gracie becomes the runner-up to her close friend Cheyrl Fraiser when she discovers that the bomb is inside the crown and saves her from being murdered. In the end, Gracie was chosen as Miss. Congeniality by her fellow contestants.