Communication and Behavior Analysis: How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the movie 'How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,' focusing on communication theories and behavioral patterns exhibited by the main characters, Andie and Benjamin Barry. The analysis explores how the characters' communication styles, including verbal and nonverbal cues, impact their interactions and the development of their relationship. It delves into the application of communication theories, such as the interactionist theory, to understand the characters' motivations, perceptions, and the influence of their social environments on their actions. The report examines gender differences in communication, conflict resolution, and the role of professional ambitions in shaping their behaviors. The analysis also addresses the use of nonverbal cues, miscommunication, and the characters' evolving feelings. The report highlights how societal expectations and individual personalities influence the characters' actions and the dynamics of their relationship, making it a relatable exploration of modern-day relationships.

Running head: HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN TEN DAYS
Movie Analysis
Name of the Student:
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Author Note

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How to lose a guy in 10 days is a movie which is based on a cartoon book. The movie is a
romantic comedy with has been directed by Donald Petrie. The movie has an amusing plot which
is, to a great extent, very predictable. As the story unfolds, the readers are acquainted with Andy,
Anderson and Benjamin Barry, who are the main characters of the movie. Andy Anderson writes
in one of the most famous women’s magazines of the country. While, on the other hand is
Benjamin Barry, who happens to be an executive, who is extremely ambitious and lives across
the street. Throughout the movie, Andie is seen trying everything to drive the boy away while,
Barry, tries to make her fall in love with him, in a course of time of ten days. The two characters
play bets for the success of their intentions, while neither of them are aware of each other’s true
feelings and intentions. It is intriguing to the readers as they get to experience tension between
the two characters while they engage in the execution of their personal plans which give rise to
series of misperceptions about one another and conflicts in the plot. Communication process, in
the movie, also expresses a lot about the characters and their motives, which shall be discussed in
the paper. The thesis of this essay is to review the movie with respect to some theories of
communication and behavior.
Andie is a successful columnist who writes for a series on 'how to', in the Composure
magazine, which is among the most well-known women magazines in the country. She writes on
various topics each day, which intrigues the intended audience. When one of her colleagues go
through a very rough breakup, she witnesses her suffering for the cause and decides to write an
article on 'How to lose a guy in ten days' to provide them with a testimonial for avoiding the
mistakes which are committed again and again, with the intention of helping other women. It can
be understood that Andie is passionate about her intentions, and here actions are motivated by
her intentions. The article, thus, intended to make women realize about the things which should

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never be done in a relationship. She brews hope that her editor would give a green signal to the
article which would also assure her that Andie is capable of undertaking more serious projects
which cover political scenarios and events. Even though Andie writes the article to serve a
testimonial for the women on what are not to be done while being in a relationship, but also to
serve her greater purpose to make growth in her professional life, by convincing her editor of her
worth.
On the contrary, Barry, who is very ambitious about his career, glued to a project due
with a rich diamond merchant. He is tired of the monotony with promotions made for sports
events and intends to crack a bigger deal. He considers himself to be extremely popular among
women and, while having a discussion with his boss, he asserts his opinion of being capable of
writing pitches for women. One can interpret that Barry is very much driven by the perception
which he has about himself, as he believes that he can bewitch or charm any woman. He thus,
expresses his confidence to woo a woman and gain the things he desires for, if he wins a bet. He
thus assures his boss that he can make any woman fall in love with him within just 10 days of
time. The boss agrees to the proposal to see if he can actualize the claim, with a promise of
allocating him a bigger project which he would get to lead, if he wins.
How to lose a guy in 10 days is a movie, in which several nonverbal cues have been used,
as the form of communication, which allow the audience to know about what the real intentions
and motives are, of the character, rather than what is made apparent through their forced
behavior. Andie does the exact opposite of what she is expected to do, as she believes that, by
doing such things, she would be able to make the guy disinterested and eventually leave her. On
the other hand, Barry too, continually tries to accommodate the situations he is thrown in, in
order to make her fall in love and prove to his colleagues and boss that he is actually capable of

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doing so. Gender differences can be understood with the help of the communication styles as
have been exhibited by the characters.
The readers are provoked to think about the actions and intentions, which can be traced in
a person, which is linked to the professional life. Both the characters are seen, trying to secure
their positions in professional career, for which their lives revolve around making decisions
which would ensure such an outcome to make it big and significant in their respective
workplace. At this juncture, the responses of the characters can be analyzed with the help of
interactionist theory of understanding the responses of a person. The interaction with people
determine identity formation of the people, in this case, what Barry and Andie wish to think of
themselves as, professionally. According to the interactionist theory, the personality of a person
is very crucial for determining his or her behavior. This theory can be applied in order to
understand behavior pattern of the two characters and why they behave that way. The reactions
and responses to situation and events, of Andie and Barry, as seen in the movies, are motivated
from their respective social environment and their own personalities (Strauss & Maines, 2017).
The motives and intentions of the people differ on how they perceive their own reality and how
are they wish to be perceived by their social surrounding.
The responses of a person are very much dependent on how the person faces the
particular situation. Thus, the reactions of the person are based on his/her personality as well as
social environment. Both the characters choose to take up a challenge on their own, only to win
something they desire, but for different motives which serve their own purposes. Their
professional goals, drive them to behave the way they did and take up a challenge to repel a man
and win over a woman, for their professional goals to be achieved (Strauss & Maines, 2017).
They both are professional and look for ways to make progress. Everything that follows hereafter

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are based on their professional ambitions and thus they behave that way, even though, sometimes
their actions are erratic. However, their complex responses are based on the setting in which they
are feel the compulsive urge to complete their goals. Andie wishes to complete the article on
how to lose a guy in 10 days, through a personal quest, while on the other hand, Barry challenges
to win over a woman, as it’s very easy for him, and get her to the ball, due in the next ten days.
Thus, both of them try their best to complete their motives, through various actions and
expressions.
The story makes progress Andie becomes a character who brings into play range of
actions and emotions, with which she intends to make Barry lose interest in her. While, only the
opposite happens, as Barry makes effort to please her. Even Barry is made to go through several
embarrassing moments as he tries to be nice to her and she continues to make Barry end the
relationship. Benjamin constantly puts effort to lure her in order to win the bet which he had
placed before his boss to get the best project which we would get to lead. The two characters are
seen deceiving one another only to accomplish their personal goals. This is the modern day
scenario and thus, is very relatable with reality. They both show determination to achieve what
they had started off this attempt in the first place.
The movie might as well come across as silly as the characters constantly try to be what
they are not and exhibit a lot of ingenuity in the plot. Andie pretends to be everything she is not,
only to actualize her intention to make the guy lose interest, which will enable her to complete
the article. While Barry constant tolerates the tantrums which are thrown at him, by Andie, just
with the hope of taking her along to the ball, which would make him win the bet which he had
placed with his boss. The irony is that none of them are aware of each other’s motive. They try to
deceive each other for the completion of their intended task, whereas they end up deceiving

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themselves in the process as they end up falling in love, which they are made to acknowledge,
after a lot of disagreement, conflict and miscommunication.
The character’s thoughts and feelings have been presented in front of the readers and
often other characters in the story to allow people to understand what the true motives and
encouragement are. The feelings and characters are revealed though such nonverbal cues and
communication. Even though he feels completely the opposite of what his actions were like, he
still attempted to accommodate and tolerate the behavior. Nonverbal cues, for communication,
plays a very important role, and in today's world, nonverbal cues play very important roles in the
process of communication (Burgoon, Guerrero, & Floyd, 2016). The story initiates with the
setting of a meeting, which Andie is a part of, in which Andie is seen expressing her disgust
through expression, to a friend. It is at this moment Judy asks them to maintained silence, by
placing her finger on her lips, suggesting silence. Here, even silence is a means of
communication. There are other nonverbal communication too, which can be paid close attention
to, in order to study their intention and the meanings meant.
The story intensifies as the story makes progress and they deceive themselves by
developing feelings and emotions, which they did not intend to, in the first place. He thus, starts
putting efforts and becoming more affectionate. These messages are often misread and
interpreted through nonverbal cues which leads to troubles and miscommunication. There have
been times in the movie when they disagreed on their choices, even though it was known to them
that they both had opposing interests. Thus, the characters are also seen to be assertive and
defensive in the movie. Barry responds to Andie's actions and responses in supportive manner,
which intensifies her feeling and she doesn’t even realize when she starts developing attachment

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and feeling for Barry. Barry, as a supportive person, ensures that Andie is fine and is able to
reduce the intensity.
The style of communication, became ineffective in several situations, which often led to
miscommunication and misunderstanding (Phutela, 2015). These lack of understanding of each
other's ideas and intentions, it even led to conflicts. However the two characters continue fooling
each other to find out, after confrontation about each other’s lies that they have started feeling for
each other, which they did not intend in the first instance at all. Andie over does everything with
the intention of being able to successfully keep the guy at bay, by resorting to bizarre behavior
pattern. She tries to project the stereotypical image which is associated with women and their
responses, which is also very crude. The communication patterns, traits and interaction
processes, with the surroundings are driven by the societal expectations and perception (McLeod,
2014). She becomes the exact opposite of what she is, to experiment on the things which drives a
guy off. The stereotypical image of the woman has been used by the director put across the
meaning that, those behavior are often the reason behind aversion. Andie is seen losing
rationality and coherence often. She behaves in ways, which are hard to associate with her as she
becomes overtly possessive, expecting, those traits are the ones, which makes a guy lose interest
and eventually break off ties. Her erratic behavior even poses threat to Barry’s privacy and
autonomy in life, as she invades his space. If her behavior is traced in accordance with the
relational stages, it is found that the resorts to integrating and bonding behavior rigorously.
Andie makes attempts to make their relationship unbearable from the first meeting, as she makes
everything awkward between them by uttering the weirdest and unpredictable things but Barry
accommodates them to, to serve his own purpose.

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It is interesting to note, that when Barry and Andie do not try to be someone who they are
not, they do not conform to the established stereotypical traits and associations which are drawn
to their own gender. Whereas, they adopt those, when they are playing for the bet. Andie and
Ben are characters who are presented to be dynamic, but they are, very much governed by their
social surroundings, personal goals, motives, aspirations and desires. They can be best
understood with the help of the nonverbal communication, as the characters are seen carrying
out, which also result in misinterpretation and communication. The communication and reactions
of Barry and Andie can also be understood with the help of interactionist theory, which suggest
that each of their desires and actions are result of the social processes.

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Reference
Burgoon, J. K., Guerrero, L. K., & Floyd, K. (2016). Nonverbal communication. Routledge.
McLeod, S. (2014). Theories of personality. Retrieved on January, 15, 2017.
Phutela, D. (2015). The importance of non-verbal communication. IUP Journal of Soft
Skills, 9(4), 43.
Strauss, A. L., & Maines, D. R. (2017). An interactionist theory of action. In Continual
Permutations of Action (pp. 47-72). Routledge.
Bibliography
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0251127/