THE PROPOSAL is a romantic comedy movie that was released in 2009, directed by Anne Fletcher. The movie revolves around a workplace love story and an enemy (kinda) to a lover. This article will provide a character analysis of the two main characters in the movie, Margaret Tate and Andrew Paxton.
There are 2 main characters in the movie, Margaret Tate (played by Sandra Bullock) and Andrew Paxton (played by Ryan Reynolds). A brief introduction to the character, Margaret Tate is an orphaned Canadian who will be deported (due to her expired visa) from the States and will be losing her job. Meanwhile, Andrew Paxton is Margaret’s assistant who will be Margaret’s saviour afterwards. Margaret does not want to lose her job, so she forces Andrew to be her “fake fiance” hence she will not be deported.
The first character is Margaret Tate. She is the editor in chief at a book publishing company named Colden Books. About her character, our group thinks she is an independent woman. She is smart, charming, and reputable. With her as the editor-in-chief at the company, her staff seem to fear her. It is shown in the first scene in the movie. When she arrives at the office, all the people in her department pretend to be busy with their work. Andrew, her assistant, is ready in her room in the office with a cup of coffee. Her reputation also affects her style, no wonder that her fashion sense represents her personality, showing that she has the power and that she is a woman with class. From the movie, it was told that both of her parents are dead. From that experience, it might have some impacts on her personality. The cause of her cold behaviour is she has never felt a family-love for a long time. She is the type of emotionless woman who works for herself. She shows coercive power that makes the working place uncomfortable. The gap between the boss and the employees is visible. Yet, she is rich and financially stable. But, she seems unable to express her emotion. With her honourable position at the company, she obviously has an assistant who helps her to get her work done and do all the assistant-work.
To make her plan about the fake marriage works, Margaret has to go to Andrew’s hometown in Sitka, Alaska. When she first arrives in Sitka, Andrew does not help her bring her luggage. That causes her difficulty, bringing a large suitcase while walking with a pair of high heels on the rocky street. While in Sitka, Margaret does not use her fancy clothes. Showing that her characteristic also changes drastically. When she starts to learn about the love of Andrew’s family, she begins to act more softly than usual. From this moment, she starts to feel the warmth of family love. In the end, she decides to tell Andrew’s whole family that her being Andrew’s fiance is only an arrangement to prevent her from being deported from the States. She does not have the gut to do so to Andrew’s family, especially to Andrew’s grandma. With her character development, our group thinks that she is a dynamic character.
The next character is Andrew Paxton. He is the second lead character in The Proposal. Working as an assistant, he has done a good job. The reason why he agrees to be Margaret’s fake fiance is that he forces her to give him a promotion as the editor in the division. There is nothing that is so special about his character. His dream is to work in New York as an editor in a book publishing company. But, his father wants him to continue the family business that has been built by both of his parents. Andrew’s job as an assistant is not taken as seriously by his father. Even his father told him to stop playing around. Rather than taking over the family business, Andrew enjoys more working in New York. Apparently, doing things that make him happy, such as his job in New York and reading books do not satisfy his father much.
Andrew is a good and hardworking assistant, as said by Margaret. Although, he has some nicknames for Margaret, such as witch and Satan’s mistress. Those nicknames are made due to her personality at the office that made the employees call her so, including Andrew. Throughout the movie, our group does not see any character development that is significant from Andrew. Therefore, our group thinks that Andrew’s character is static. The only change from his character is his grown feelings for Margaret, from hate to love.
At the end of the movie, both Andrew and Margaret fell for each other. Typical rom-com movie with a cheap ending. Despite the low rating on Rotten Tomatoes, I think that this movie is entertaining. The sarcastic jokes between Andrew and Margaret are amusing. Moreover, there are some scenes that make us laugh out loud.
