Cover Page

Sam Trumpower

Paul Blart: Mall Cop

SBU270.77 Summer 2021

Professor: Dr. Giunta

Author Note

The film analyzed in this correlation paper, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, being a comedy movie

directed toward a younger audience does not provide thorough character information.

Specifically, it lacks in providing the last names of characters, excluding Paul Blart, whose name

is in the title. Therefore, the characters discussed in this paper will be referred to by their first

names due to lack of information and due to the fact that this is how they are referred to in the

film.

Abstract
The following paper analyzes the film Paul Blart: Mall Cop through two main themes provided

by Dr. Giunta: (1) Balancing of work and family life and (2) Inappropriate fraternization with the

opposite gender in a work environment. In terms of the first theme, this paper suggests that Paul

Blart, the titular main character, struggles with balancing his work and family life because of

work and family life conflict occurring due to his recent divorce, also because his work life

causes him burnout so he cannot get satisfaction from his family/home life, and because he has

to work long hours to compensate for the loss of funds due to the divorce. In terms of the second

theme, three different characters are analyzed in terms of the theme: (1) Paul develops strong

feelings for his co-worker Amy, which causes him to act in an inappropriate way seemingly

without him realizing; (2) Stew constantly demeans Amy because of her gender and touches her

inappropriately; (3) Veck stereotypes women as weak and uses Amy as a hostage in a domestic

terrorist attack. So, while this movie is defined as a comedy, it has serious themes that will be

analyzed throughout this paper in more detail.

Keywords: work and family life, inappropriate fraternization, burnout, stereotype

Introduction
 The 2009 film Paul Blart: Mall Cop was produced by three production companies:

Columbia Pictures, Happy Madison Productions, and Relativity Media. The movie itself takes

place in New Jersey in which Paul Blart, a single dad, works as a security officer in a mall. Paul,

who wanted to be a police officer, takes his position as a mall security officer very seriously,

however after his wife left him, he has trouble focusing on his position; this causes Paul to gain

obvious feelings for a female coworker who he is constantly trying to impress. Paul’s love for his

job and his feelings for his coworker get him involved in a dangerous hostage situation that takes

place in the mall, but despite Paul’s comical awkward behavior and his lack of social awareness,

he saves the hostages and ends up dating his coworker. While this movie is a comedy there are

obvious ethical issues that occur in the workplace. Based on context clues from the movie, while

it is not explicitly stated, the story most likely takes place in the same year, or around the same

year, as the production year, which is 2009: the cell phones shown in the movie are similar to

ones that were common in 2009, the stores located inside of the mall, such as Victoria’s Secret,

are older models rather than newer, and the style of clothes/accessories people wear are from that

period. So, for the sake of this paper, the time period of the story will be listed as 2009. This

culturally defined correlation paper will cover two main themes provided by Dr. Giunta: (1)

theme four, balancing work and family life and (2) theme six, inappropriate fraternization with

the opposite gender while at work. Using these themes and utilizing information from the Gender

Issues in the Workplace lecture and readings, United States cultural objectives defined by Seton

Hill’s Liberal Arts Curriculum (LAC), and Catholic Social Teachings (CST) this paper will

uncover workplace issues that occur in a seemingly harmless comedy movie.

Gender Workplace Theme One: Balancing Work and Family Life

 Paul Blart: Mall Cop, taking place in New Jersey, while being a comedy, is still impacted

by the demographics of the state: this is point one in the discussion of a primary state. The

demographic information of New Jersey, all information being accessed from the United States

Census Bureau (n.d.), states that in the year 2010, close to the year 2009 when it is assumed the

movie takes place, the estimated population of New Jersey was 8,791,978 (People: Population,

para. 2), with whites making up 54.6% of the population, Hispanic/Latinos making up 20.9% of

the population, Blacks making up 15.1% of the population, and Asians making up 10.6% of the

population (Race and Hispanic Origin, para. 2, 4, 7, & 8). It is more common for Hispanic,

Black, and Asian populations to live in multigenerational households than whites, however Paul

would fall into the minority here, as he is a white man who lives with his mother, along with

Maya Blart, his daughter (Giunta, 2021, Week 5, Gender Issues at the Workplace: Family Issues

Compensation, continued, Multigenerational Households). The demographic information for

New Jersey, provided by the United States Census Bureau (n.d.) continues with the median

household income which places most of the population of New Jersey in the middle-class range;

Paul Blart and his family appear to be in the middle-class range: the family lives in a suburban

neighborhood where the houses are not overly large, but can easily fit a three-to-four-person

family. However, it seems that Paul and Maya are living in Paul’s mothers house, as in 2010

mall security officers average annual salary was $23,920 (Long, 2017, Average Salary, para. 1);

with this salary, if Paul and Maya were not living in the mother’s home Paul would then most

likely fall into the low-class range and would most likely live in a lower socio-economic

neighborhood or in an apartment.

In point two of discussing information from a primary state, the United States Census

Bureau also provides information on the overall workforce participation and unemployment by
gender: it states that 65.5% of people in the civilian labor force are male, while 60.2% are female

(Economy, para. 1 & 2). This seemed to line up with the movie as there are workers who are

main characters and shown in the background, however there were more male employees shown

than female employees throughout the entire mall. In terms of the unemployment rate, in early

2009, the New Jersey unemployment rate was 9.9% (State of New Jersey Department of Labor

and Workforce Development, 2010, TRENTON March 10, 2010, para. 1). While the issue of

unemployment rate was not addressed in the movie, the unemployment rate was not terrible at

the time; the mall and the security team seemed to be fully staffed, so unemployment most likely

did not affect the mall efficiancy too much at the time.

The theme covered in this section, balancing work and family life, plays a major role in

the movie; while it is not the focus of the movie itself, it is the reason behind many of Paul’s

behavior and thoughts, occurring on a deeper level in which the viewer must read between the

lines. Looking at the Blart family household with no context from the movie, they seem to be a

very happy and stable family. However, Paul deals with issues that he has repressed which

affects his mood. The first, and most prominent example we see in the movie of balancing work

and family life is the fact that Paul’s home life affects his work. Paul’s ex-wife left him after she

gained legal status in the United States; she essentially used him to gain citizenship. This causes

Paul to build up depressed feelings and become lonely, as his mother and daughter notice this

and try to assist him in developing an online dating profile. Not only does his family notice his

depressed mood, but a few of his coworkers also mention to him that he seems to not be his

normal self. This will no doubt impact how well Paul does his job. Work and family life can only

be balanced when a person is satisfied with how things are going in the working position relative

to the role that person is playing in their family (Powell, 2019, Millennials see Paternity Leave as
a Priority; p. 196, para. 3). Due to the fact that Paul’s family life is not satisfying him, his work

role is not doing that either simply because one affects the other. Paul’s depressed mood also

impacts his relationship with his daughter; Maya often has to be there for Paul more so than he is

for her. According to Dr. Giunta (2021), 63% of fathers feel that they do not spend enough time

with their children (Week 5, Gender Issues at the Workplace: Family Issues Compensation,

continued, Single Dads). Because Paul is working long hours and also suffering from his

depressed mood, he would most likely feel as though he falls into this category.

The second example of balancing work and family life theme in the movie is the fact that

Paul will bring up work related topics while he is at home, causing burnout. This is a common

occurrence in many United States homes. This is an instance where place and culture can be seen

shaping one another, which is point number four in Seton Hill’s LAC U.S. culture objectives. It

is common in many United States homes for people to bring the stress of their work home with

them which can cause family and work-related stress. According to Montanez (2020) 26% of

Americans take their work home with them, increasing the chances of burnout because of

overworking (We’re propelling the burnout epidemic, para. 1). So, not only will Paul continue to

suffer from his depressed mood he will also suffer from burnout because he cannot leave

workplace issues at work. This will also impact his personal time at home: the balance and

separation between work and family life is so important because it allows for career development

on the work side of a person’s life and in their family life it allows for the development of

personal relationships which will in turn cause less burnout (Montanez, 2020, We’re propelling

the burnout epidemic, para. 1). By increasing his rate of burnout by bringing work home with

him, Paul is also decreasing the personal time he has at home as working parents have reported

that they only have an average of 54 minutes a day of personal time due to the struggle with the
work and family life balance (Giunta, 2021, Week 1, Gender Issues in the Workplace, There’s

Not Enough Hours in a Day).

The third example shown in the movie of this theme is that because Paul must work such

long hours, it affects his home life. So, while Paul can be seen, as discussed, suffering from a

depressed mood and burnout from his job as a mall security guard, he must work long hours on

top of that. The balance between work and family life becomes even more complicated for a

parent when long hours are involved, this is because a parent’s workplace responsibilities can

ultimately negatively affect the quality of the childcare that they are able to provide (Giunta,

2021, Week 1, Gender Issues in the Workplace, Possible gender workplace-based issues). Paul

may have to work these long hours because his ex-wife left him after gaining her citizenship in

the United States. According to Dr. Giunta (2021) 62% of women earn about half of their

family’s income (Week 1, Gender Issues in the Workplace, Bringing Home the Bacon).

Assuming that Paul, Maya, and his ex-wife were living in their own home, it is more than likely

that it made most financial sense for Paul and Maya to start living in his mother’s home. As

stated before, Paul is not making a livable wage, so his ex-wife was most likely part of that 62%

of women that earn half of the income. Although all of the stress of a depressed mood, burnout,

and long hours is affecting Paul’s life, he still does his job to the best of his ability. Even though

his supervisors seem to care less about the job than Paul does, they still recognize that he takes

his job very seriously, and that he makes a good leader. The main qualities of a leader that Paul

possesses are his ability to elevate others, which, according to Dr. Giunta (2021) involves giving

direct reports to supervisors, his feedback to assist the company, and his willingness to help

subordinates grow (Week 7, Management and Leadership Skills, Leadership Lessons). This also

shows a lesson of the CST: Call to family, community, and participation. Paul is a social person
who is able to organize people and assist them in growing in their communities (Catholic

Charities, n.d., Call to Family, Community, and Participation, para. 1). Because Paul is able to

lead in this CST, he is able to save people from the hostage situation at the end of the movie.

Gender Workplace Theme Two: Inappropriate Fraternization

New Jersey, having a fairly large population, is a very dense state; there are many people

close together. So, despite the state not being too large geographically, it has about 62 shopping

malls overall (Malls & Centers, n.d., Malls and centers, locations, hours, map, phones and

contacts, para. 1). The mall shown in the movie had just under a dozen security guards who were

employed there. Assuming that all of the malls in New Jersey had about a dozen security officers

there that would put the total number of New Jersey mall security officers total at 744. This is a

small amount compared to the state’s three largest employers, which is point number five in the

primary state details: (1) the largest employer is RWJBarnabas Health, which has 31,683

employees and is in the healthcare industry; (2) the second largest employer is Rutgers, The State

University of New Jersey, with 26,170 employees, which is in the higher education industry; (3)

the third largest employer is United Airlines, which has 14,000 employees, and is in the aviation

industry (Choose: New Jersey, n.d., Largest Employers in New Jersey, para. 1, 2, & 3).

In the movie, there are themes of inappropriate fraternization with the opposite gender

and some sexual harassment (while it is nothing too harmful because of the nature of the movie,

it is still an underlying issue that can be observed). The first example of inappropriate

fraternization with the opposite gender that arises is through Paul’s actions. As discussed in the

section above, Paul’s ex-wife left him which left Paul with a very depressed mood which

affected his work and family life; Paul is constantly reminded of this, as his mother and daughter

bring it up to him multiple times. This causes Paul to gain strong feelings for another main
character, Amy. This leads Paul to do things that may be considered inappropriate and strange:

he starts to use the store security cameras to watch her, he constantly finds reasons to be at her

booth, and he tries to strike up conversations at inappropriate times. All of this makes Amy very

uncomfortable at points during the movie and it is clear that Paul is the source of her discomfort.

Paul seems to have a low socialization skill, which is the process of learning how to behave

(Giunta, 2021, Week 2, Gender Issues in the Workplace: Socialization, Socialization). This low

socialization seems to stem from his mother, who still babies him in ways a parent should not to

an adult child such as cooking him special lunches and providing false advice to not hurt his

feelings. However, when considering Paul’s fraternization with Amy, it appears that his

advances toward her are by no means meant to make her uncomfortable, he just does not know

how to properly introduce his feelings to her. This sort of behavior may have been what worked

for Paul’s ex-wife, or previous girlfriends in the past, so he may just not know how to conduct

himself; however, relationship building is not supposed to be done in a one-size-fits-all

procedure, so Paul is ultimately setting himself up for failure (Wensil & Heath, 2018, Suit

Yourself; para. 1.)

The second example from the movie that displays the theme is a different mall employee

named Stew; he speaks and touches Amy in inappropriate ways throughout the movie. Stew

seems to carry a stereotype in him in which he believes that all women want a man who tells

them what to do and controls their actions. According to Dr. Giunta (2021), all stereotypes are

learned: Stew has created a stereotype in his mind that causes him to view women as weaker

than men (Week 2, Gender Issues in the Workplace: Socializatio, Stereotyping). In almost every

scene in the movie that involves Stew and Amy, he makes a demeaning remark to her revolving

around her gender, which he seems to believe is going to impress her because he also has
feelings for her. Stew also makes physical contact with Amy that makes her very uncomfortable.

While Stew’s intentions do not seem seriously dangerous, what he does can be considered sexual

harassment, or on the cusp of it, as “verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute

sexual harassment” when it creates a hostile work environment (Powell, 2019, Sexual

Harassment; p. 165 – 166, para. 3). An alarming statistic comes into play when considering the

interactions between Stew and Amy: 45% of women are afraid that they are going to be a victim

of sexual violence simply because of their gender, while 35% of men said that because of their

gender they should expect pleasure (Maas, 2019, How this affects sexual expectations, para. 2).

It seems that Stew and Amy fall right into these statistical categories. Stew also has no concern

as to whether this makes Amy uncomfortable or the fact that he may be committing a crime. This

seems to be because men, while in group situations, tend to focus on displaying their skill,

knowledge, and/or humor (Giunta, 2021, Week 6, Gender Workplace Considerations. Economic

Impact/Data Sharing at Work/Teams, Workplace Experiences). This can be seen in the movie

when some of the mall employees are drinking together, and Stew makes what he thinks is an

impressive comment to impress Amy that is degrading to her in front of everyone. Stew also

constantly brings up his skill set in large group situations, so everyone knows that he is good at

his job. Unfortunately, this gender bias that Stew possesses about women would not be an easy

fix, as gender biases begin much earlier in the workplace and are difficult to fix (Mayhew, n.d.,

Workplace gender bias, para. 2 – 3).

The third, and final example of this section’s theme is more extreme and seems to be

more lighthearted than it would be in reality because the target population of this movie is a

younger audience and because the film is comedic. Veck, another main character also treats Amy

inappropriately because of her gender while he and his group of criminals take over the mall to
hack into the system and steal millions of dollars. When Veck takes over the mall, he keeps

several mall employees as hostages, so the SWAT team does not try and recover the mall. Amy,

being one of the people who was trapped, tried to lead the group to organize their escape, which

ultimately does not work. However, according to Dr. Giunta (2021) as women often perform

better in teams, she takes a risk of keeping her cell phone with her to communicate with Paul on

the outside (Week 8, Ethics and Career Issues, Masculinity at Work). In terms of the theme, not

only does Veck touch Amy inappropriately while forcing her on an airplane to escape, but he

also kidnaps her out of everyone because of her gender, to which he believes it would be easier

to take her because he views women as weaker than men. This is an example of another

character who displays gender stereotyping. Veck’s actions directly go against the CST of the

life and dignity of the human person. The Catholic Church states that all human life is sacred and

that any violence towards a person directly goes against this CST (Catholic Charities, n.d., Life

and Dignity of the Human Person, para. 1 & 2). Veck and Stew directly break this CST against

Amy as they both cause her physical and mental harm. Almost half of women who work

experience some sort of sexual harassment, Amy experienced it from two different men in the

span of a week (Powell, 2019, They won’t believe you anyway – they’re too busy with bro talk,

p. 164, para. 2).

The first point in the Seton Hill LAC U.S. cultural objectives is defined as being able to

explain the impact and importance of diverse perspectives when critically assessing a particular

issue or event in the United States experience. A life changing event for all Americans and one

that impacted many rules and regulations was the September 11 attacks on the World Trade

Center. The terrorist attack that killed 2,996 people, according to Angerer (2020), shaped how

America started to deal with future attacks of any sort (How many people died in 9/11 attacks?
Para. 1). In the movie, Veck organizes a domestic terrorist attack on the mall, this brings the

police force to the front door of the mall and eventually the SWAT team due to the hostage

situation. Because of 9/11, the United States was given an extreme and unfortunate wakeup call

on general safety and the safety of its citizens. In the case of this smaller incident, this would

hopefully also be a wakeup call for all mall security. When a person commits terrorism of any

kind, they are going to face a prison sentence from 20 years to life, and depending on the

severity, they may face the death penalty, which can be enacted for terrorism cases even in a

state that has banned the death penalty, therefore again showing the impact 9/11 had on the

United States (Carmichael Ellis & Brock, n.d., Terrorism Penalties, para. 2 & 3). However, since

Veck ultimately did not take anyone’s life, the death penalty was most likely not his sentence.

Even though Veck committed a terrible crime, according to the United States Constitution via

the Bill of Rights, Veck has the right to a public speedy trial with a jury present (Bill of Rights

Institute, n.d., Amendment VI, para. 1).

Conclusion

The movie Paul Blart: Mall Cop, while being a comedy movie directed toward a younger

audience, had underlying themes of work-related issues that were rather serious. This paper was

able to complete the Seton Hill University LAC U.S. cultural requirement number 5 which

allowed for a completion of an independent research project related to the course themes: gender

issues in the workplace. By analyzing this movie through the two themes of work and family-life

balance and inappropriate fraternization with the opposite gender; using the LAC cultural

requirements, enhanced by including the United States Constitution; Catholic Social Teachings;

and information from the state the movie took place in, this paper completed the requirement

number 5.
 References

Angerer, D. (2020, September). September 11 Attacks, History.com. Retrieved July 22,

2021. https://www.history.com/topics/21st-century/9-11-attacks

Bill of Rights Institute (n.d.). Constitution of the United States of America (1787), Bill of

Rights Institute. Retrieved July 22, 2021. https://billofrightsinstitute.org/primary-

sources/constitution?

gclid=CjwKCAjwruSHBhAtEiwA_qCppsr8qLeI9bzq1Rb_IvF1i7pa4Kc6pKafzyarQqJi5

Sal3cjl6XDpVxoCHQkQAvD_BwE&utm_medium=SEARCH&utm_term=CONSTITU

TION&utm_content=TEXT1&utm_source=GOOGLE&utm_campaign=EVERGREEN

Catholic Charities (n.d.). Principles of Catholic Social Teaching, Catholic Charities.

Retrieved July 22, 2021. https://catholiccharitiescamden.org/principles-of-catholic-social-

teaching/

Carmichael Ellis & Brock (n.d.). Federal Terrorism Chargers, Carmichael Ellis & Brock.

Retrieved July 22, 2021. https://www.carmichaellegal.com/federal-terrorism-charges

Choose: New Jersey (n.d.). New Jersey Profile, Choose: New Jersey. Retrieved July 22,

2021. https://www.choosenj.com/new-jerseys-assets/stats-and-facts/new-jersey-profile/

Giunta, C. (2021, Gender Issues in the Workplace, Week 1). SBU270.77, Gender Issues

in the Workplace, Greensburg PA: Seton Hill University.

Giunta, C. (2021, Gender Issues in the Workplace: Socialization, Week 2). SBU270.77,

Gender Issues in the Workplace, Greensburg PA: Seton Hill University.

Giunta, C. (2021, Gender Issues at the Workplace: Family Issues Compensation,

continued, Week 5). SBU270.77, Gender Issues in the Workplace, Greensburg PA: Seton

Hill University.
Giunta, C. (2021, Gender Workplace Considerations. Economic Impact/Data Sharing at

Work/Teams, Week 6). SBU270.77, Gender Issues in the Workplace, Greensburg PA:

Seton Hill University.

Giunta, C. (2021, Management and Leadership, Week 7). SBU270.77, Gender Issues in

the Workplace, Greensburg PA: Seton Hill University.

Giunta, C. (2021, Ethics and Career Issues, Week 8). SBU270.77, Gender Issues in the

Workplace, Greensburg PA: Seton Hill University.

Long, N. (2017, September). Average salary of a mall cop, Career Trend. Retrieved July

20, 2021. https://careertrend.com/average-salary-of-a-mall-cop-13659867.html

Maas, M. (2019, December). Toys began being marketed for gender in the 1940s, ow a

movement is pushing back, CNN. Retrieved July 22, 2021.

https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/19/health/toys-gender-conversation-wellness

Malls & Centers (n.d.). Shopping centers, malls in New Jersey, Malls & Centers

shopping guide. Retrieved July 22, 2021. https://www.mallscenters.com/malls/new-jersey

Mayhew, R. (n.d.). Implications of gender bias in the workplace, Chron.com. Retrieved

July 22, 2021. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/implications-gender-bias-workplace-

2865.html

Montanez, R. (2020, February). This work-life balance study reveals 3 major problems:

Here’s what we need to ask, Forbes. Retrieved July 22, 2021.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/rachelmontanez/2020/02/10/this-work-life-balance-study-

reveals-3-major-problems-heres-what-we-need-to-ask/?sh=4dd238437277

Powell, (2019). Chapter 7: Dealing with Sexually Oriented Behavior in the Workplace

(Sage).
Powell, (2019). Chapter 8: Managing the Work-Family Interface (Sage).

State of New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development (2010, March).

Mar-10-10 annually revised data show employment decline more than estimated in 2009;

January 2010 unemployment rate at 9.9 percent, employment decline by 9,100, State of

New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Retrieved July 21, 2021.

https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/NJ,US/PST045219

United States Census Bureau (n.d.). Quick Facts: New Jersey, United States Census

Bureau. Retrieved July 20, 2021.

https://www.nj.gov/labor/lwdhome/press/2010/20100310_unemployment_release.html#:

~:text=Declined%20by%209%2C100-,Mar%2D10%2D10%20Annually%20Revised

%20Data%20Show%20Employment%20Declined%20More,Percent%2C

%20Employment%20Declined%20by%209%2C100&text=TRENTON%20March

%2010%2C%202010%20%2DNew,9%2C100%20jobs%20over%20the%20month

Wensil, B. & Heath, K. (2018, July). 4 ways women can build relationships when they

feel excluded at work, Harvard Business Review. Retrieved July 22, 2021.

https://hbr.org/2018/07/4-ways-women-can-build-relationships-when-they-feel-excluded-

at-work