61 That day is the first time for Gretta to meet Violet. They then spending
time together at the park and going for shopping. After they are done with the shopping, Dan and Gretta go to a restaurant to have dinner. At the restaurant,
Gretta starts the conversation by talking about what they have done on that day together with Violet. Gretta is impressed seeing how Dan and Violet are spending
their time together. However, since Dan has a family problem, it seems that he does not want to talk about the topic related to his family. Therefore, he expresses
an utterance which is different from what he meant. The underlined utterance above
“What, are you the fucking social services now?” shows that Dan compared Gretta with a social service worker. A social
service worker is someone who always deals with family problems, but Gretta is not. Gretta is only trying to give impression to Dan that it is nice seeing Dan
together with his daughter. Saying that Gretta is a social service worker is the expression to compare Gretta with the social service worker because Gretta talks
about Dan‟s family matter. On the other hand, the underlined utterance which is expressed by Dan also implies that he is not comfortable if there is someone
talked about his family problem. Therefore, by using metaphor in the utterance, Dan is doing the face threat toward Gretta but he lets Gretta to interpret his actual
intention. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
62
B. The Factors that Influence the Application of Politeness Strategies by the
Four Main Characters of Begin Again
This section discusses the factors that influence the four main characters in Begin Again
movie when applying the politeness strategies. The analysis of this section is based on the theory of the factors that influence the choice of politeness
strategies proposed by Brown and Levinson 1987. There are two factors that influence the choice in applying the politeness strategies, namely payoffs and
sociological variables. The discussion of payoffs will be based on the findings in the previous section. The sociological variables include social distance, relative
power, and ranking of imposition.
1. Payoffs
According to Brown and Levinson 1987, payoffs are the advantages that will be obtained by the speaker who applies the politeness strategies. Since there
are four strategies of politeness, each strategy provides different payoffs. Positive politeness gives a speaker a benefit in satisfying
the hearer‟s positive face of being admired or liked. Bald on record will give a chance to the speaker to be clear and
honest in expressing something. Bald on record also helps the speaker to avoid to be seen as manipulator. Negative politeness gives a speaker benefit in satisfying
the hearer‟s negative face where he can obtain freedom of action and imposition. Off record gives a benefit to the speaker in avoiding the responsibility of doing
the face threat. Another benefit that will be obtained by the speaker is that the speaker can give a chance to the hearer to be seen to care for the speaker. The
63 deeper discussion about payoffs in each strategy can be seen in the following
sections.
a. Positive Politeness Payoffs
The payoff of positive politeness strategy is being able to satisfy the hearer‟s positive face. The payoffs can be obtained through giving compliment to
the hearer. The situation in which the speaker can obtain positive politeness payoffs can be seen in dialogue 12.
Dialogue 12 Setting
: Troublegum’s house
Situation : Dan aimed to Troblegum to help him.
Participants : Dan and Troublegum Dan
: “Good, man. That‟s pretty much it.” PP
Troublegum : “Damn, that was like some paranormal activity shit moving
through me. ”
Dan : “You know me.”
Troublegum : “I‟m just so happy to see you.”
In dialogue 12, Dan gives compliment to Troublegum because Troublegum welcomes him by doing rap. Dan gives compliment for Troublegum
because he wants to satisfy Troublegum‟s positive face. By satisfying Troublegum‟s positive face, Troublegum will obtain the feeling in which he is
admired by Dan. If Troublegum has the feeling of being admired by Dan, he will be willing to hel
p Dan in fulfilling Dan‟s wants. Therefore, by performing positive politeness, Dan can obtain the payoffs of being able to satisfy
Troublegum‟s positive face. Moreover, Dan also can deliver his intention easily to Troublegum.
Another example of positive politeness payoff is being able to satisfy the hearer‟s positive face by giving an order or offer. The example is illustrated in the
64 scene in which Dan invites Gretta to go with him picking up his daughter. The
conversation between Dan and Gretta is illustrated in the dialogue 13.
Dialogue 13 Setting
: Top of a Building Situation
: Dan gives offer to Gretta to pick up Dan’s daughter
Participants : Dan and Gretta
Gretta : “This wind is good, right?”
Dan : “It‟s not too loud. It‟s good, it‟s good. You want to come to get
Violet?”PP Gretta
: “Is that OK?” Dan
: “Yeah, come on” The second dialogue shows that through the offer that is given to the
hearer, the speaker shows that he shares his desire to the hearer. It also shows that Dan wants Gretta to know him and his life deeper. This means that the speaker
starts to be comfortable with the hearer and wants to get closer to the hearer. Therefore, by giving offer to Gretta, Dan will obtain the payoff of being able to
get closer with Gretta. Moreover, Dan‟s willingness to make Gretta know more
about him indicates that Dan wants to share his wants to Gretta so that they can share and accomplish the same wants.
Based on the discussion above, it can be concluded that the speaker applies a positive politeness strategy because he expects to obtain the payoffs. The payoff
that can be obtained by the speaker in Begin Again is that the speaker can satisfy the hearer‟s positive face. Furthermore, it is also possible that the speaker can get
closer to the hearer since positive politeness payoffs allow the speaker to share the desire with the hearer.
65
2. Bald on Record Payoffs
The idea of bald on record payoffs is giving a chance for the speaker to be clear, honest, and to avoid to be seen as manipulator Brown Levinson, 1987.
The utterances which can give a chance for the speaker to obtain the payoffs illustrated in dialogues 14 and 15. The following dialogue is the conversation
between Steve and Gretta in which Steve orders Gretta to check her boyfriend on the video.
Dialogue 14 Setting
: Steve’s House
Situation :
Gretta comes to Steve’s house and talking about Gretta’s boyfriend.
Participants : Steve and Gretta Steve
: “People are going crazy for that here. When I play a show, and the people know I went to college in Bristol, the first thing they ask
is if I know your boyfriend. ”
Gretta :
“Tell me about it, I‟m becoming “Dave Kohl‟s girlfriend” back home. I‟m like, “Hello, we used to be a team. What happened?”
Ah, you know what they say, get your songs in a movie. ” BoR
In the dialogue above, Steve tells Gretta that every time he performs in a show, there are a lot of people who ask him whether he knows Dave Kohl or not.
Dave Kohl is Gretta‟s boyfriend who becomes famous because he sings for a movie. In the dialogue above, it shows that Gretta
gives respond to Steve‟s story and asks Steve to tell her more about what others think about Dave. The
underlined utterance above is expressed clearly and directly in which Gretta wants to know more about the story when there are a lot of people asking about Dave.
Thereby, Gretta can obtain the payoff of bald on record in which she can have a chance to be clear and direct in expressing something.
66 Another situation of bald on record payoffs is where the speaker can avoid
being seen as a manipulator. The example of bald on record payoffs is demonstrated in dialogue 15. In dialogue 15, Gretta is expressing the utterance
through bald on record strategy because she expects not to be seen as a manipulator.
Dialogue 15 Setting
: At the Café Situation
: Dan is offering Gretta to cooperate with him in producing Gretta’s songs.
Participants : Dan and Gretta Gretta
: “I‟m not a performer, I write songs from time to time.” Dan
: “Are all the songs as good as that one?” Gretta
: “Are you really an AR man? You look more like a homeless
man.” BoR Dan
: “I‟ve been celebrating all weekend, I signed a band and we got carried away. That‟s some songs you got there. I promise you it
could be a big hit. Plus, you‟re beautiful.”
The dialogue above shows that Dan is offering Gretta to work together with Dan in producing music. After Dan listens to Gretta when she is singing on
the stage, Dan comes to Gretta and tells her that he is interested in her song. Dan‟s
appearance is not in the good condition which makes Gretta think that Dan is more like a homeless man. The underlined utterance above shows that Gretta
expresses her thought without doing the face redress. In addition, the language which is used in the underlined utterance tends to be impolite. However, the
underlined utterance allows Gretta to obtain bald on record payoff in which she will not be seen as manipulator. This means that Gretta wants to show her thought
that she is not really sure about the job that is offered f or Gretta since Dan‟s
appearance is not really convincing. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
