Amadeus (1984)

Amadeus features two talented musicians, namely Antonio Salieri and Mozart who shares incredible talent and passion over their compositions, though however, shared a friendship that was manipulative due to Salieri's raging jealousy on Mozart's musical gift which he presumed was a gift from God.

From this film, jealousy can be seen as the main theme revolving around the characters' established relationship, for it is notably portrayed as a fuel to Salieri's brutal plan on tormenting Mozart psychologically alongside his health in order to gain fame by taking credit over the written magnificent Requiem which he had pressured Mozart to write and ultimately leading to his death.

Salieri's root of jealousy in this case, may be a result of a self serving bias thinking pattern, which by definition, explains an individual's tendency to attribute their success internally but attribute their failures in an external manner. As illustrated from the film, Salieri believed that God is mocking his mediocre musical talent from Mozart, and felt defeated and challenged. Rather than working on his mistakes and taking Mozart's expertise into account to improve his musical improvisations in a positive manner, he attributed his weaker competence to the hands of God whom he perceived to have betrayed him. This self serving bias pattern portrayed by Salieri can be seen as an ego protection mechanism to sustain his self esteem, alongside helping him to cope better with his underrated abilities as compared to Mozart.

On the other hand, his perception of his relationship with God can also be seen as a form of egocentric bias, which bases on a tendency to rely too heavily and on one's own perspective and point of views, or in other words, believing they are special. This form of state on placing excessive importance towards oneself which in this case for Salieri, has led to the satisfaction of his ego and ultimately stirring bitterness from his brooding state of jealousy. For instance, Salieri displayed a repeated obsession on his special relationship with God and his given talents due to his good sacrificial deeds for God, but was taken aback when he found another competitor whom he felt was a sign of mocking of his talents from above. This displays a distorted form of perception of the world against oneself which can breed feelings of resentment and jealously that are highly detrimental if not managed in a proper manner

One of the prominent take home message which I've found vital enough to ponder on is that the greed for power can sometimes lead to something that could turn out to be more destructive, and ultimately leaving one to nothing substantial in hand but feelings of enhanced bitterness, guilt and failure which Salieri has demonstrated in his plan that has ultimately failed when the Requiem is left unfinished. He later attributed his plan failure as a sign of God robbing his source of glory from the Requiem which again displays a highly destructive form of perception that has led to worsen his psychological state on dealing with his unresolved feelings of envy and jealousy and consequently making him insane towards the end. It also signifies that how we attribute ourselves in regards to our thinking patterns is vital to determine our course of actions that can be either positive or negative, and we should constantly regulate and manage them in a manner that does not bring us more harm.