Mr. and Mrs. Smith
Mellissa Correia
Mate Selection & Relationship Forming
It is clear that the ideal mate theory was applied. This is due to the fact that this theory supports love at first sight. When they saw each other, they saw a huge physical attraction. They were only together for 6 weeks but they had already formed a strong attraction for one another and made immediate judgement that they were lovable enough for marriage.
Mate Selection & Relationship Forming
Companionate Marriage
Labour Division: Jane is the one who cooks dinner but they both come home at the same time so from that, I assume that they both do equal amounts of house work. It is evident in the movie that they perform gender related tasks. This is proven by how Jane keeps all of her spy/assassin technology in the kitchen while John keeps his in the shed outside. (This proves where they spend most of their time)
Negotiate: In the movie Jane had gotten new curtains. She wanted to know if John liked them and when he said that he didn't and how he didn't want to redecorate the entire house she said that he will "grow to like it" (referring to the curtains) and it seemed like she was going to redecorate even if he didn't like it. The couple pretty much always stayed in this mindset even during the end of the movie but they were able to comprise in some aspects and listen to each others wants/needs better.
Stage: When the couple first got married and when they were engaged it is clear that they were in stage one of marriage. Completely in love and having a good time together. When the couple goes through their problems during the majority of the film, they were in stage two. They had conflicts to deal with and they were ready to separate. Although, after they realized that their companies wanted them both dead, they worked to resolve all issues allowing them to move into stage three.
Impact of Family & Society
The first was that they were keeping secrets from one another.
The second was a societal/workplace factor. This actually helped them keep their marriage alive but it took a lot of hard work. Jane and John were from rival spy/assassin companies which to society is a big no and the workplaces wanted them both dead for it thus influencing how they treated each other (first negatively and then they helped each other stay alive).