Running head: CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Character Analysis: Cognitive Behavioral Theory

Amanda Eagan
Virginia Tech

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

Mitchie Torres is the leading character of the 2008 Disney Channel Original Movie,
Camp Rock. Mitchie is a high school student with a strong passion for music. Mitchies interest
in singing and songwriting drives her aspiration to attend a musically focused summer camp
known as Camp Rock. However, she is extremely disappointed when her parents tell her that
they simply cannot afford to send her to camp as her father is expanding his hardware store and
her mothers catering business is just starting to take off. Luckily though, when Mitchies mother
sees how upset she is, her mom arranges for the catering company to provide food for the camp
so that the family receives a steady source of income and Mitchie is also able to attend Camp
Rock at a discounted rate, as long as she helps out in the kitchen. Once she arrives at camp,
Mitchie develops a whole new image for herself in order to fit in with the popular crowd by lying
about her mother being the president of Hot Tunes TV in China, a music focused television
station, (Lafferty, Banks, & Diamond, 2008). Throughout her time at camp, Mitchie interacts
with a variety of different people with many different experiences and perspectives and learns a
lot along the way about the importance of honesty and the power of just being herself.
Mitchies initial inclination to lie about herself and give off a certain appearance seems to
be grounded in false perceptions of herself and the world around her, or what is known as
irrational beliefs (Corey, 2013). Cognitive behavioral theory holds that individuals sometimes
have rigid and extreme beliefsabout events and situations which impact their emotions and
are maintained by self-indoctrination (Corey, 2013, pp. 291-292). In other words, what a
person believes to be true about themselves, their environment, and the relationship between the
two impacts the way someone experiences and makes sense of the world. Although these beliefs
may be extreme and self-deprecating, they are consistently reinforced and maintained through
repetition often by the individuals themselves (Corey, 2013). The goal of cognitive behavioral

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therapy, therefore, is to help people learn to accept themselves despite their imperfections, and,
as a result, experience emotions less radically and destructively (Corey, 2013).
Mitchies main irrational belief is that she has to be a popular in order to be liked, and
this misconception seems to drive almost all of her decisions. Albert Ellis, a founder of cognitive
behavioral therapy, believes that people do not need to be accepted and loved, even though this
may be highly desirable (Corey, 2013, p. 293). For Mitchie, however, fitting in appears to be
more of a need than a desire as it impacts everything from what she portrays about her family
background to how she chooses to showcase her musical talent. The deep rooted and selfperpetuated nature of Mitchies belief that being popular is so not a so what is showcased when
her mother confronts her about her new friend group not aligning with Mitchies normal
preferences (Lafferty, Banks, & Diamond, 2008). Her mother says Youve always been so,
and Mitchie interrupts by finishing her sentence with invisible when really her mom was going
to say independent (Lafferty, Banks, & Diamond, 2008). Mitchie consistently tears herself
down and does not believe that who she is is good enough so she pretends to be something she is
not in order to improve her perceived reputation and self worth.
As previously mentioned, one of the main ways Mitchie goes about boosting her image is
by covering up her family background. Before she even meets any of the other campers, Mitchie
is seen going through her mothers clothing to find an outfit because, according to Mitchie, the
other kids at the camp have a lot and [her] usual is not going to cut it (Lafferty, Banks, &
Diamond, 2008). The message that Mitchies lived experience is not sufficient is reinforced when
Caitlyn, a less popular camper, tells Mitchie that its all about the bling, and Tess, Peggy, and
Ella, the popular girls, walk away from her because they are unimpressed after she discloses that
her father owns a hardware store (Lafferty, Banks, & Diamond, 2008). Mitchies irrational belief

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

that she is not good enough leads her to construct an image based off of the fallacy that her
mother is the president of Hot Tunes TV in China.
When Mitchie says that she has gotten to meet a large number of celebrities and been in
multiple music videos because of her moms position, this image brings her almost immediate
popularity that, in turn, reinforces her self-defeating thoughts (Lafferty, Banks, & Diamond,
2008). She is also encouraged to maintain the lie despite the large amount of physical and
emotional energy that it takes to do so. For example, in addition to sneaking out of her cabin
extra early in the morning to go help in the kitchen, Mitchie also consistently takes extra steps to
conceal her obligations. When it is time for her to join the other campers for meals, she goes out
the kitchens back door and around to the front door of the dining area instead of just walking
through the connecting door, and she also goes the long way when handling food deliveries so no
one sees her (Lafferty, Banks, & Diamond, 2008). She also always has to be ready to offer
reasonable explanations for things that are seemingly inconsistent with her story. When, for
instance, Mitchie is questioned about only having one bag of clothes she says that she threw
most of her clothes away because she got tired of them, but kept something considered
unfashionable because it came from a boutique in China. Furthermore, when a popular camp
counselor comes into the kitchen to complain, Mitchie douses her face in flour so he is unable to
identify her, but she doesnt wash off all of the flour before class and covers it up by saying that
the flour is actually Chinese body powder (Lafferty, Banks, & Diamond, 2008).
Mitchies experience as detailed above seems to fit nicely within the A-B-C framework
described by Corey, 2013. According to this framework, an event occurs and what a person
believes about that event causes them to react in a healthy or unhealthy manner (Corey, 2013). In
this case, Mitchie not having the same expensive material possessions as her peers and being

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

rejected for her fathers occupation results in the belief that she is not good enough and will not
be liked by any of her peers. Here she demonstrates that she possess an irrational belief cited by
Ellis and Dryden, 2007 that [she] must do well and win the approval of others (as cited in
Corey, 2013, p. 293). Because Mitchie does not gain the acceptance of others for who she is, she
becomes emotionally distraught, and does everything she can to maintain a lie in order to gain
acceptance.
If Mitchie were my client, it would be my responsibility to introduce disputing
interventions to help her detect, debate, and discriminate her irrational beliefs (Corey, 2013, p.
294). Because music is such a vital piece of Mitchies life, I would utilize singing and
songwriting within the cognitive methods of disputing irrational beliefs and doing cognitive
homework. I would encourage Mitchie to explore the misalignment of being extremely
passionate about music, yet always singing backup in order to maintain her status as a member of
the popular group. By helping her answer questions such as why must I hide who I am in order
to fit in? and am I really invisible if Im not the most popular person at camp? I hope that
Mitchie would be able to develop a more positive self-image and begin to challenge her
irrational thinking on her own. Continually, songwriting could be a great outlet for Mitchie to
make lists of [her] problems, look for [her] absolutist beliefs, and dispute these beliefs in a way
that resonates with her and allows her to further pursue her musical aspirations (Corey, 2013, p.
298).
If Mitchie were my client, an important consideration would be the cultural factors that
influence the way she experiences her day-to-day life as well as the counseling processes. For
example, Mitchie seemingly identifies as a white female with a middle class socioeconomic
background. Mitchies financial situation is prominently evident throughout the entirety of the

CHARACTER ANALYSIS

movie. Not only was she initially unable to attend camp, but she, unlike her peers, has the added
stress of having to work in order to make ends meet even when she does end up being able to go.
Being surrounded by kids from affluent families with few financial worries and many expensive
things, she is constantly reminded of her lack of privilege and desire to fit in. This could prolong
the counseling process as Mitchie is both directly and indirectly given messages that she is
different and potentially undeserving of attending camp or being in relationship with more
privileged others. Race, on the other hand, doesnt seem to have as much of an impact on
Mitchie as she identifies as part of the majority so she doesnt have to think about it everyday
like she does with her socioeconomic status. By understanding Mitchies lived experiences and
perception of those experiences, cultural factors included, I as her counselor would be better able
to identify her irrational beliefs and develop strategies to help her dispute and overcome them.

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7
References

Corey, G. (2013). Theory and practice of counseling and psychotherapy (9th ed.).
Belmont, CA: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
Lafferty, K., & Banks, E. (Producer), & Diamond, M. (Director). (2008).
Camp Rock [Motion picture]. United States of America: Disney-ABC Domestic
Television.