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CHAPTER 4 THE QUARTER-LIFE CRISIS EXPERIENCED BY MEGAN IN LYNN
SHELTON ’S LAGGIES
4.1 Intrinsic Aspects 4.1.1 Narrative Elements
In this chapter, the writer will describe the intrinsic and extrinsic aspects of the movie. For the intrinsic aspects, the writer will analyze characters, setting,
conflicts and cinematography elements. Meanwhile, the writer will explain about the social problem experienced by the character for the extrinsic aspect.
4.1.1.1 Character
There are two kinds of character, which are major character and minor character. Here is the character appeared in the movie Laggies.
4.1.1.1.1 Major Character
Major character is the character that mostly appears from the beginning to the end. The major characters in this movie are:
1 Megan Burch Megan Burch is the main character of the movie. She suffers from the
quarter-life crisis period because she still cannot figure out what she wants to do for her future while people at her age have already achieved something for their
life and future. As you can see from the picture below which is taken using medium shot, it shows Megan who has no proper job but working as a sign girl
for her father‟s tax company.
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Picture 4.1 00:03:34
Megan‟s Mom : Megan, I don‟t think that I like this new habit. I spoke with Anthony and he said that you were meeting with
career counselor today. Megan
: God, I know exactly what she‟s going to say. It‟s just a waste of time
Megan‟s Mom : Megan, honey, I don‟t want to see you throw away your education. You have an advanced degree
Laggies, 00:08:39 – 00:09:00
Megan Burch is the main character of the movie experiencing quarter-life crisis because she is in her mid-20s getting her advanced degree but still cannot
figure her future out. She cannot figure about who she is and what makes her happy. As we can see from the dialogue between Megan and Allison bellows:
Megan : I didn‟t realize that my dad wanted to work until 6:00.
Allison : I can‟t believe that you‟re still filling for your dad‟s old sign girl.
Megan : Well, You know, I‟m still trying to figure out what kind of
counseling I‟m going to do. Laggies, 00:04:10 – 00:04:16
2 Anthony Anthony is Megan‟s boyfriend. As we can see from the picture which is
taken using medium close up shot, Anthony is calm and quite. He works as a photographer. Anthony is Megan‟s long lasting boyfriend since high school. He is
a procrastinator and not a progressive person.
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Picture 4.2 00:07:32
Anthony : I know it‟s taken me a really long time to get here.
Megan : What are you talking about? Anthony
: Okay, Well you know how I took that guy‟s seminar last month? It comes up that I‟m a procrastinator.
Laggies, 00:11:44 – 00:11:59
Anthony : That‟s awesome Meg. I‟m so all for that, you know they do
this thing where they give you the animal to help you visualize new behavioral patterns. And mine was shark. It
helped me to remind me that I need to keep progressing, otherwise I‟ll just sink. Laggies, 00:22:59 – 00:23:20
From the dialogue above, we can conclude that Anthony is a procrastinator. He likes to delay everything, for example, his relationship with
Megan and because he is slow in a progressing, that is why he waits for so long to eventually propose and ask Megan to get married.
3 Craig
Picture 4.3 00:34:00
Craig is a lawyer whose house is used as Megan‟s escapade when she gets the period of quarter-life crisis. He is a cool father and a really annoying
lawyer. As we can see from the picture above, He is good looking and looks
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younger than his age. This picture is taken using medium close up shot which shows how annoying Craig is.
Craig : Senior year, I was voted “best gorgeousness” and most likely
to pump gas when I get older. And then I realized it would be fairly easy for me to argue for a living if I wasn‟t doing it on
my behalf. Laggies, 00:42:29
– 00:42:59 From the dialogue above, we can see that Craig is popular when he was
young because his good appearance but people do not like his behavior as he got older.
4.1.1.1.2 Minor Character
1 Allison
Picture 4.4 00:24:56
Allison is one of Megan‟s high school best friends. As we can see from the picture 4.4, she looks annoying and arrogant. She likes to complain and
intervene someone‟s business. She is the character who gives Megan pressure over her career and relationship. She is also the one who brought up the conflict
with Megan. Allison is strict yet loyal to her friends. Picture 4.4 is taken using close up shot and shows clearly the expression of the character.
Allison : Well, it is not like everybody else‟s.
And why would you tweak the nipples on Buddha? That seemed, like, disrespectful.
Megan : Disrespectful to who?To you? Did you convert to Buddhism?
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Laggies, 00:06:18 – 00:06:52
Allison : I feel like I should tell Anthony that you never left. Megan
: What are you talking about? Oh my God. You‟re supposed to be my friend. I mean it was you and me and Savan and
Danielle before he ever even asked me out. Allison
: But I‟m not going to tell him. Because he bought a ring and he‟s going to propose you. Yeah that‟s right. He did.
Laggies, 00:58:50 – 00:59:15
From the dialogue above, we can see that Allison always has a conflict with Megan, first when they are visiting their friend‟s new restaurant and Megan
makes a joke with the nipples of the Buddha which becomes the decoration of the restaurant but Allison seri
ously criticizes Megan‟s behavior by saying that it was a disrespectful action. In the second dialogue, it can be inferred that Allison likes to
intervene Megan‟s relationship life yet she is still loyal by not saying to Anthony if Megan lied to him.
2 Annika
Picture 4.5 00:30:54
Annika : Uh yeah I don‟t know. I mean it‟s kind of seems stupid to
plan that far in advance when you‟re just gonna change your mind anyway, right?
Laggies, 00.30.50 – 00.31.03
Annika is a high school student who coincidentally meets Megan and turns into her best friend. Annika is simple minded and loyal to her friends.
Picture 4.5 is taken using close up shot and shows the expression and mimic of the
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character. Annika is a simple-minded teenager where she thought that planning far for future is just a waste of time if she will change her mind anytime. Annika
appears in Megan ‟s exploration towards her future life. She is the one who gives
Megan the space to think about her future and get a new perspective on her life.
4.1.1.2 Setting
Setting explains about the place, time and situation of the events happened in the movie.
4.1.1.2.1 Setting of Time
The setting of this movie is taken in the modern era where many young adults get a chance to experience quarter-life crisis because the life in modern era
gives many possibilities to explore their life more. It can be seen from the usage of online chatting, the architecture of the modern buildings and modern clothes
worn by the character.
Picture 4.6 Picture 4.7
Picture 4.8
00.49.45 00.09.29
00.09.48 We can see from the picture 4.6 that the online chatting or video call is
already common, and it is shown from the picture 4.7 where the building is sophisticatedly built and it is taken using extreme long shot to depict the
advance of the country. Furthermore, we can see from the clothes people wore for the wedding in picture 4.8 which is taken using a long shot. It depicts that
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women in the modern era will just wear one piece dress and men wear a suit for the wedding. Therefore, from those pictures, we can conclude that the
setting of time in the movie is in modern time.
4.1.1.2.2 Setting of Place
1 Megan‟s Father‟s House and Office
Picture 4.9 00:08:25
Picture 4.10
The scene at the beginning of the movie mostl y takes place in Megan‟s
father‟s house Picture 4.9 and Office Picture 4.10 where Megan do her job as her father‟s assistant while she is figuring out her willing job. Picture 4.9 and 4.10
are taken using a long shot to depict a landscape or place. 2
Annika‟s House
Picture 4.11 00:32:28
The scene, in the middle and almost to the end of the story, takes place in Annika‟s House where Megan asks to give her the accommodation for a week
because she wants to give herself time to think about her life and future. Picture 4.11 is taken using long shot and depicts the setting of the place clearly.
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4.1.1.2.3 Setting of Social Environment
The movie discusses the social environment of young adult and teenager. At first, it shows the social environment of the young adults in which they talked
about their business, marriage and future life supposed to live by the young adult when they gathered. Meanwhile, when the main character suffers from the
quarter-life crisis and decides to take some time to think about her future, she meets her teenage friend coincidentally and lives with her for a while. She tends
to hang out with her teenage friends because she thinks that the life of the teenager is simpler and not stressful. At that time, we can see the environment of
teenagers who like to hang out and party.
Picture 4.12 Picture 4.13
Picture 4.14
00.05.11 00.05.15
00.36.00 From the picture 4.12 and 4.13, the young adults gather and talk about
adult stuff such as, marriage and future plan, meanwhile in the picture 4.14, we can see those teenagers gathered up for a party in someone‟s house whose parents
are out of town. Megan is in those situations where in the beginning of the scene she is still hanging out with her adult friends and talks about adult stuff otherwise
when she is in her quarter- life crisis period she escapes to Annika‟s house and
starts to join the party of teenagers.
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4.1.1.3 Conflict
There are two types of conflicts which are internal conflict and external conflict. In this thesis, the writer will analyze about the external conflict between
the main characters with the other characters. 1 Conflict between Megan and Allison
External Conflict happened between Megan and Allison. Picture 4.15 and 4.16 are taken using medium shot and show the gesture and expression of the
characters.
Picture 4.15 00:06:28
Picture 4.16 00:06:58
Allison : wait, why would you put Matt‟s name in it?
Megan : Well, this is supposed to be about you, right? Allison
: No, They are about marriage, they‟re not about my marriage. Megan
: Right, but it‟s a joke like everyone else‟s Allison
: Well, it is not like everybody else‟s. And why would you tweak the nipples on Buddha? That
seemed, like, disrespectful. Megan : Disrespectful to who?To you? Did you convert to Buddhism?
Laggies, 00:06:18 – 00:06:52
At the beginning of the movie, a small conflict happens between Megan and Allison. They argue about something that is proper and improper for joking.
In that conflict, it shows that Megan had a totally different perspective from her friend. On that scene, Megan and her friends play some games about marriage
stuff and it can be inferred that her friend can get the rules of the games while Megan cannot get it. It seems like Megan‟s joking does not match with her friends‟
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joking anymore. It also shows that Megan cannot fit into her surroundings anymore.
2 Conflict between Megan and Annika
Picture 4.17 01:12:25
Picture 4.18 01:12:47
Annika : Are you married? Megan
: I‟m only engaged. Annika : only engag
ed. Who‟s the A? Megan
: You don‟t know him. Annika : My dad knows about him?
Megan : No. Annika : Are you going back to him?
Megan : Yes. Annika
: God, you‟re even worse than my mom. You know, at least when she pulled my dad into her bullshit, she
didn‟t know she was gonna leave.
Laggies, 01.12.37 – 01.13.20
The conflict between Megan and Annika happens when Annika coincidentally finds Megan‟s engagement ring where there is Megan and
Anthonys initial name craving on it as you can see from the picture 4.17 and 4.18 which are taken using the medium shot. She gets angry about that situation
because she knows that Megan has an affair with her father but in fact, she is a woman in a relationship. She even compares Megan to her mother who left her
when she was young. She thinks that Megan is worse than her mother because Megan knows that she will leave but she still makes a relationship with Annika
and her father.
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3 Conflict between Megan and Craig Another conflict happens by the end of the movie between Megan and
Craig when Megan confesses to Craig about her real situation. This picture is taken using medium shot and shows the expression and gesture of Megan and
Craig.
Picture 4.19 01:20:25
The conflict becomes more intense when Megan told Craig that actually she is a woman in a relationship and going to marry tomorrow. However she has
already given him hope to have some kind of relationship with her, so that makes him more upset.
Megan : Craig, I‟ve got something to tell you, you‟re gonna hate me
Craig : I doubt that. Megan
: I‟m not waiting for a new apartment. My boyfriend, the one that I got “best couple” with, he proposed. And I needed
some time. I‟m engaged to be married. Craig
: So you, so you didn‟t lose your lease? That‟s not why you‟ve been staying over?
Megan : No, I just needed to get my head together, and I gave myself a week.
Laggies, 01:17:21 – 01:19:37
Megan decides to stay in Annika‟s house mainly because she wants to escape from many pressures she got in her life and she wants to give herself time
to overcome her quarter- life crisis. But then, she meets Annika‟s father, Craig,
who listens well to her problems. At the beginning, Megan lies to Craig that she
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cannot move to her new apartment because she loses her lease so he lets her stay in his guest room. However, it turns out that they have a good feeling to each
other. So after Megan confesses everything about her real situation, Craig gets angry and leaves Megan without words.
4 Conflict between Megan and Anthony The conflict happened in the end of the movie when Megan decides to
break off her relationship with Anthony because she feels that they do not belong to each other anymore. Picture 4.20 and 4.21 are taken using close up shot and
show clearly the expression and mimic of the characters.
Picture 4.20 01:27:23
Picture 4.21 01:27:37
The conflict ends when Megan and Anthony are about to get married abroad when suddenly, Anthony tells their friends that they will marry. He also
sends their picture to the chat group. That makes Megan shocked and realized that something is wrong. They do not belong to each other anymore. They are trapped
somewhere in the past. Megan
: No. No, I mean that we can‟t be together. Megan : How am I gonna explain this to you, right? The animal
thing, right? God, Anthony. That could never be my speed. But if it helps you to understand what I‟m trying to say to
you, then, I‟m a snake. I‟m a snake that‟s been dragging my old skin around with me for way too long. I‟m a snake. You
have to see this about me. I‟m dropping out. I‟m dropping
out of the group. Anthony
: Okay, I mean, that‟s okay, „cause that‟s them, and you can
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just cut down on the amount of time you hang out with them. „cause that‟s just them. That‟s not us.
Megan : No, you‟re still part of the group. You and me, we‟re
somewhere back there. You know, we‟re in the past. Laggies, 01:25:55
– 01:28:00 From the dialogue above, we can see that Megan is aware of her quarter-
life crisis. When she said that she is dropping out of the group, it means that she has no longer fitted into her society, she does not belong to that surrounding
anymore. Meanwhile, Anthony is still part of the group. It means that they are not in the same situation. They are somewhere in the past where they cannot get out
of it. When Megan gets aware of her situation, she tries to get out of it so she decides to break off her relationship.
4.2 Extrinsic Aspects 4.2.1 The Definition of Quarter-life Crisis
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