EXPECTANCY VIOLATIONS THEORY AND "MIDNIGHT IN PARIS"
Expectancy Violations Theory and "Midnight in Paris"
Evan F. Tryens
Bloomsburg University
1
EXPECTANCY VIOLATIONS THEORY AND "MIDNIGHT IN PARIS"
2
As members of society, we have expectations for what should and should not occur in our
everyday interactions. When these expectations are violated, be the violations good or bad, we
are forced to make adjustments in the interaction or to the way we perceive that person. When
scholars study the way our expectations are violated and how we change when this occurs, their
studies fall under the expectancy violations theory. EVT can be used as a theoretical framework
for understanding various mediums. One of those mediums is film. In this paper, the film
"Midnight in Paris" will be analyzed.
Expectancy violations theory will be used as a tool to make sense of the complex
interpersonal relationships between the characters in the film. The use of expectancy violations
theory is justified for this purpose because of the frequency in which the characters are exposed
to expectancy violations and their drastic effect on how the characters behave. "Given the
frequency with which we encounter others who deviate from expected behaviors in their daily
transactions, it becomes an important communication issue to determine if and when such
violations have favorable as opposed to detrimental consequences" (Burgoon & Hale, 1988).
This quotation, co-authored by Judee Burgoon who developed expectancy violations theory,
stresses the importance of analyzing society under this lens. This theory will assist in uncovering
a deeper understanding of character interactions and reactions in "Midnight in Paris". In this
paper I will firstly outline the major tenants of expectancy violations theory and provide a
summary of the film. I will then apply expectancy violations theory as a framework for
understanding the film. Finally, I will provide a reflection on the semester of communication
EXPECTANCY VIOLATIONS THEORY AND "MIDNIGHT IN PARIS"
3
theory. Before the theory can be applied, a general understanding of the theory must first be
attained.
Expectancy violations is an objective theory that was first applied to proxemics; "the
study of people's use of space as a special elaboration of culture" (Griffin , 2012, p. 85). EVT is
part of the socio-psychological tradition. It is broken down into three core concepts. The first of
these concepts is expectancy. Burgoon (1993) says that expectancies, "serve as framing devices
that define and shape interpersonal interactions. People plan and adapt their own communication
according to the kind of encounter and communication style they anticipate from the other actor"
(31). In short, expectancy is how we act based on how we think others will act. Expectancy is the
basis of EVT. The second core concept is violation valence or, "the perceived positive or
negative value assigned to a breach of expectations, regardless of who the violator is" (Griffin,
2012, p. 90). Many studies may interpret violation valence in an effort to understand how people
react to different variables. For example, one study had, "Managers evaluate job candidates who
varied in their response latency to an e-mail (1 day, 2 weeks, and silence for more than a month)"
(Kalman & Rafaeli , 2011). The study then attempted to understand how the lateness or
quickness in response to an email affected their violation valence. Violation valence is
significant because when interpreted, one can begin to understand which way a person's valence
will go after a violation occurs.
The final core concept which relates to violation valence is communicator reward
valence. Communicator reward valence is defined as, "the sum of positive and negative attributes
brought to the encounter plus the potential to reward or punish in the future" (Griffin, 2012, p.
91). In essence, communicator reward valence helps one to decide how someone should be
treated in the future, or if that person should possibly be avoided altogether. When coming into
EXPECTANCY VIOLATIONS THEORY AND "MIDNIGHT IN PARIS"
4
an interaction, each person has an interaction position; "A person's initial stance toward an
interaction as determined by a blend of personal requirements, expectations, and desires"
(Griffin, 2012, p. 93). This quote shows that multiple people may come to the same interaction
expecting different things or having different personal requirements. During the interaction or
afterwards, a person will change how they are acting if who they are interacting with is not
meeting their expectations (Griffin, 2012, p. 93). In sum, once an expectation is violated, a
person will change something in the interaction or make an adjustment. The theory that outlines
this adjustment is interaction adaptation theory. EVT's role in communication is that it seeks to
understand how people react to an unexpected or unaccounted for element or elements in an
interaction. Now that the major tenants of EVT have been outlined, I will summarize "Midnight
in Paris" and apply EVT to the film.
"Midnight in Paris" (2011) is a film about Gil, a writer, and Inez, his fiancée, who travel
to Paris. Gil's motivation in traveling is to clear his mind and gain inspiration for his upcoming
novel. Inez plans to spend her time in Paris as a vacation. She wants to see sights like Rodin's
garden and go dancing in the evenings. Along the way, the couple meets up with Inez's parents
and their friends from home (Paul and Carol). One evening after declining to go out for latenight drinks, Gil decides to wander the town. He enters an old-fashioned cab after being
beckoned in, and when he exits he finds himself in the 1920's. When there, he meets some of his
heroes such as T.S Eliot, Gertrude Stein, Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemmingway, Scott and Zelda
Fitzgerald, and many more. He also becomes enchanted with Picasso's ex-girlfriend, Adrianna.
While Gil is mystified with Adrianna and the 1920's, Inez thinks Gil is delusional and ends up
spending more time with Paul. Gil begins to live his days by night, taking the old cab back in
time and getting inspiration from Hemmingway while Stein proofreads Gil's novel. By the films
EXPECTANCY VIOLATIONS THEORY AND "MIDNIGHT IN PARIS"
5
end, Gil has decided that he will move to Paris and that he and Inez will not work out. The movie
leaves the viewer with Gil walking off-screen with a Parisian girl whom he met at a street side
stand.
It is apparent from the beginning of the movie that Gil and Inez expect very different
things during their stay in Paris. One central theme that causes expectancy violations between
both Gil and Inez is spending time with Paul. One time after a night out as couples, Inez wants
Gil to come dancing with Paul and Carol. Gil does not want to go dancing with the group, which
disappoints Inez. Though disappointed, Inez does not want to miss out on the opportunity to go
dancing and Carol agrees to "share" Paul with Inez. Gil takes the night to go walking through
Paris alone. Later in the film Inez wants Gil to come with her and Paul to tour some gardens.
When Gil declines, Inez becomes visibly and verbally upset. She attempts to brush the situation
off again by saying that she's not going to sit around all day just because Gil doesn't want to
leave the hotel. In both situations here, Gil expects Inez to spend time with him and be happy
with just enjoying the Parisian atmosphere. Inez expects Gil to go out and see the touristy sights
with Paul. For both individuals, there is a negative violation valence. Gil becomes somewhat
jealous of the amount of time Inez spends with Paul and Inez is frustrated that Gil won't go along
on the activities Paul has planned. As this continuation of expectancy violations occurs between
the couple, Inez begins cheating on Gil with Paul. This is Inez's communicator reward valence
for Gil. She decides that because Gil will not spend the time with her that she repeatedly expects
from him, she will punish him and get her needs met by cheating on him. It can be argued that
the initial expectancy violation experienced by both Inez and Gil ultimately leads to the
dissolution of their relationship.
EXPECTANCY VIOLATIONS THEORY AND "MIDNIGHT IN PARIS"
6
Another main scenario when expectancy violations occurs in the film is when Gil and
Adrianna travel back in time to the 1890's. When there, Adrianna becomes enchanted with the
era. Though Gil is interested in the scenery of the time, he is more in love with the 1920's and
asks Adrianna when she plans to return. To Gil's surprise, Adrianna informs him that she does
not want to go back to the '20's and plans to stay in the 1890's. This violation leads to Gil
forming a negative violation valence and he realizes that he must leave Adrianna forever.
Though Gil entered the 1890's expecting to leave with Adrianna after a period of time, he had to
change his plans and ultimately goes back to the 1920's without her. This violation brought about
a communicator reward valence that had Gil changing plans from starting a life with Adrianna to
never seeing her again. If Adrianna had met Gil's expectations of returning to the '20's, the two
likely would have continued their relationship.
Communication Theory has exposed me to a lot of newfound information. Specifically, I
was surprised to learn about all of the scholarly communication theory research that has been
done recently and is continuing today. It seems as if most of the theories that were covered in
this course were founded within the past 40 years. One specific theory that really stood out to me
was cognitive dissonance theory. My Grandfather is a lifetime smoker and after learning about
smokers and dissonance I had a conversation with my family about the concept. I was also
particularly interested in the idea of selective exposure. When doing research or looking
something up, I now occasionally catch myself only reading the answers that I want to hear.
Because many theories can be extremely abstract, I find that the most reasonable theories are
those that can be seen in the real world. Though I can't say that I see the world differently after
this class, I can sometimes spot aspects to certain theories at work in my everyday interactions.
An example would be with expectancy violations theory. I have learned that if someone tends to
EXPECTANCY VIOLATIONS THEORY AND "MIDNIGHT IN PARIS"
7
violate an expectation of, say, planning to meet up at a specific time, I will be less likely to
include them on my plans in the future if they do not have a legitimate excuse. Before this class I
may not have noticed myself forming this communicator reward valence, nor would I have had a
term for it had I noticed it. I have found that unless someone has prior knowledge of these
different theories and makes a conscious effort to identify them in everyday interactions, they
may go unnoticed.
In this paper I have discussed expectancy violations theory and it's tenants. I then
summarized Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" while including background information on the
film's main characters. Following the summary I applied EVT as a theoretical framework to
better understand the interactions between the film's characters. Finally, I provided a reflection
on this semester's communication theory class. I would recommend "Midnight in Paris" to movie
lovers, not only because it is one of my favorite movies, but because the movie exemplifies how
EVT can affect multiple relationships. Specifically, the movie shows how EVT can stress the
importance of spending time and being near a significant other. It also shows the importance of
how a couple should always be on the same page before going into a situation together. Through
doing this analysis, I have gained a greater appreciation for how powerful a single violation or a
string of violations can be in a relationship. I now have a greater understanding of how the
smaller negative violations can lead to larger repercussions over time. After researching
scholarly sources, I feel that I have a strong understanding of the EVT and feel that this
understanding will help me in future interactions and relationships.
EXPECTANCY VIOLATIONS THEORY AND "MIDNIGHT IN PARIS"
8
References
Burgoon, J. K., & Hale, J. L. (1988). Nonverbal expectancy violations: Model elaboration and
application to immediacy behaviors. In Communication monographs (Vol. 55, pp. 5879). Retrieved April 23, 2013, from
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/citedby/10.1080/03637758809376158#tabModule
Burgoon, Judee K. "Interpersonal expectations, expectancy violations, and emotional
communication." Journal of language and social psychology (1993). EBSCO host. Web.
24 Apr. 2013. <http://jls.sagepub.com.navigator-bloomu.passhe.edu/content/12/12/30.full.pdf+html>.
Griffin, E. A. (2012). A first look at communication theory (Eigth ed., pp. 84-97). New York:
Mcgraw-Hill.
Kalman, Yoram M., and Sheizaf Rafaeli. "Online pauses and silence: chronemic expectancy
violations in written computer-mediated communication." Communication research 38.1
(2011). EBSCO host. Web. 24 Apr. 2013