From the original article on October 11, 2012. Author: Chateau Heartiste.
A reader forwarded a scene from the movie As Good As It Gets, featuring a suave and somewhat caustic Jack Nicholson meeting Helen Hunt for dinner. The reader writes:
Here is a scene from Nicholson’s all time classic “As Good As It Gets” (spoiler, please don’t watch this if you haven’t seen movie, better to watch it in movie)
Even though it is on screen, it’s great! It’s all about him yet she felt so good.
Do you think Jack’s body language is like a true alpha?
Here’s the video. I do think it’s a great demonstration of alpha body language and game in action, but of course this is Jack we’re talking about. The man bleeds alpha, in role and in real life. Commentary below.
Link: video
0:24 — “Should I get her for you?” “No, that’s OK. I’ll just watch.” This is a glimpse into the inner world of the alpha. He’s going to take his time, just watch, move to her slowly, like a predatory big cat. No one will rush him. No one will disturb his mojo. When you think this way, your actions and behavior will follow suit. I don’t go in for new agey motivational stuff very much, but it’s true that forcing yourself into positive thought patterns will impact how you behave. There is a reinforcing feedback loop that runs from your thoughts out through your body and voice and vice versa. And studies have actually proven this phenomenon: when you assume alpha male physical poses, you feel more powerful and take more risks.
0:28 to 0:54 — The alpha male walks slowly to his prey. When he’s sure that she’s seen him, he doesn’t rush up to her like most betas would; he stops at a distance and allows the moment to percolate with blissful anticipation, which women LOVE LOVE LOVE.
1:03 — COME HERE. That hand wave is supremely alpha. Again, most beta males would have rushed over to the girl when she happily waved at them. An alpha accepts her wave, and shits on her expectations by motioning her to come to him. SHe is now sliding off her seat at this point, and no words have yet been exchanged.
1:04 to 1:48 — There’s a lot going on in this half minute that could befuddle the average man, but Jack stands rooted to his original spot when he first made eye contact with Helen Hunt. The king rarely approaches; the king is approached.
1:50 — She almost slips and says he’s “sexy”, but catches herself and dilutes her compliment a bit. The importance of this scene rests in his reaction; arched quizzical eyebrows, followed by a warm smile. What’s alpha here is not what is done, but what is omitted; he doesn’t latch onto her flattery like a needy beta who can’t believe his luck. He just accepts it and moves on to another topic.
2:02 — Showing a little bit of chivalry won’t kill you as long as you are alpha in all other ways.
2:10 to 2:20 — “You wanna dance?” “Well. I’ve been thinking about that since you brought it up before.” “And?” As she’s getting up from her chair assuming he meant he would like to dance: “No.” When you defy women’s expectations, you electrify their pelvic easements. Plus, this was damn funny.
2:24 — This is what we in the industry call a nuclear neg. Note: NOT recommended for newbs, or most any man really. There is a line where a neg, even an unintentional one, morphs into a blatant insult, which can crush a woman’s ego so thoroughly her shame shuts her down to further gaming. This is why Jack has to console her and, in his own alpha way, make amends. Helen Hunt is cute, but she’s no hard 10 club slut begging for abuse, so the nuclear neg worked against Jack.
2:44 — Notice that when Jack is quasi-apologizing, he never says “I’m sorry” (“I didn’t mean it that way” is the closest he comes to saying sorry) and he never stops delivering commands to her. “You gotta sit down. You can still give me the dirty look, just sit down and give it to me.”
2:50 — She demands he pay her a compliment. This sets up an alpha reply perfectly, because at this point her expectation that he will either say nothing or ramble stupidly or compliment something about her beauty are cemented firmly in place. The beta male would abide, ultimately disappointing her. The alpha male would do what Jack does next.
3:10 onward — He really takes his sweet time getting around to formulating that compliment. When a woman says “jump”, the beta male jumps. The alpha male ties his shoelaces and does a few warm-up stretches before accosting the ref about the rules of jumping and the distance he’s obliged to go. That is, when he feels like jumping.
3:25 — A good way to tease a woman is to overly dramatize your suffering and sacrifice that you do for her. Jack rubbing his hands and his forehead, and furrowing his brow because paying her a compliment is so tough, is just the kind of playful drama that chicks LOVE LOVE LOVE.
3:32 — “Can we order first?” This is the first time he up-ends her expectation. When his defiance crows thrice, she will be in love.
3:38 — Yelling across the room to place your order: alpha. This is the second time he defies her expectation.
4:05 — Helen: “I’m so afraid you’re about to say something awful.” My friends, you WANT to hear this line from a woman. You know why? Because it means you’re INTERESTING to her. INTRIGUING. And that’s a beautiful foundation for love sex and intimacy.
4:10 — “Don’t be pessimistic. It’s not your style.” General game note here: girls love it when you make a comment about what is or isn’t “their style”. To them, it means you’re connecting.
4:15 — “Clearly a mistake.” The Bill Clinton non-apology. Coming soon to a horde of admiring female fans near you.
4:20 — “I’ve got this.. what.. ailment.” He launches into a seemingly irrelevant story about himself that does not begin with a compliment for her. This is the third time he defies her expectation, and now the stage for love is nearly set.
5:15 — The payoff. Was it a compliment about her looks? Her eyes? Her generosity? Her dancing skills? No. It was a nebulous compliment about her that centered on himself. Why did she love it so much? Because a woman LOVES LOVES LOVES the thought that she is the one, the only one among all women, who can soften a hard man, coax him into her embracing redemption, and persuade him to turn his back, at least for a little bit, on his wild and independent and intemperate and free range masculinity.
Of course, she would be disappointed if he ever did such a thing in totality, because that would mean he’s no longer the project she can fix, the untamed thoroughbred she can break. He’d just be a lapdog if he ever acceded fully to her claimed demands and desires. This is something beta males don’t get about women; they do as their women tell them, and they never stop paying for their obedience.
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