Movie Communication Analysis Paper(crash Movie)

Crash Movie Communication Analysis

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Crash Movie Communication Analysis

Conflicts are an inevitable fact of human existence. Interpersonal conflicts are widespread especially in a culturally diverse setting when factors like stereotyping, perception and lack of interpersonal communication skills play their role. The movie Crash shows a similar situation in which people were coming from culturally diverse backgrounds and having certain perceptions about each other enter into conflicts. Use of effective conflict management strategies and communication skills could have helped the characters to come out of conflicting situations. When many cultures and races are brought together, different conflicts occurred who brought about both negative and positive outcomes disclosing the fact that communication skills and theories are essential for effective conflict management.

'Crash' is an American dramatic film, written and directed by Paul Haggis. The crash was released in 2004, and it won the Academy Award for being the best picture. The movie was set in Los Angeles, and it comprises a series of collisions and confrontations between broad cross-sections of people who have racially based misconceptions about each other. The movie begins with the aftermath of a car accident, and a hand full of people intertwine as they face the conflicts due to their racial and cultural differences. Intercultural communication and conflicts play a considerable role in the characteristics of the movie Crash.

The movie Crash tells the several stories which depict how ineffective communication results in interpersonal conflicts. One of the scenes in which the conflict occurred and then got resolved was when two black men ran over the Asian man. Anthony hits the man with the stolen car, and the conflict initiates as they start arguing what to do and what not to do. The conflict is maintained by the fact that they have already stolen a car and in case they get caught they will be confronted by not only the charge of theft but also the charge of murder. Anthony thinks that they must run away, but his friend is of the view that they must take the victim of the accident to the hospital. This conflict was resolved by adopting the conflict management style of confronting, as they adopt the ways of problem-solving, collaborating and start looking into the possible solutions.

The collaborating style of conflict management involves looking at the issue to find out the solution ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a5kpfgcsh5","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf (\\uc0\\u8220{}Conflict Resolution,\\uc0\\u8221{} n.d.)}","plainCitation":"(“Conflict Resolution,” n.d.)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1348,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/UJF27WRF"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/UJF27WRF"],"itemData":{"id":1348,"type":"webpage","title":"Conflict Resolution","URL":"http://www.globalprojectmanagement.org/index.php/global-project-management-framework/global-teams/conflict-resolution","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",3,16]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (“Conflict Resolution,” n.d.). This strategy involves listening and agreeing to another person's opinion if it leads to the solution. As Anthony tells his friend that “If we leave this man here, he dies. Then we are up for murder charges”. Then his friend participates with him in dragging the man out and dropping him to hospital emergency room and driving away so as his life is saved and they are safe from the charge of murder and theft. They first thought of their situation and then adopted a strategy accordingly. This conflict could be better resolved if they do not fight over the matter and listened to each other analyzing the situation they both were in. their fight and shouting could have been a disaster for them.

One of the supportive communication climates was realized in the film when Mr. Cabot uses his effective listening skills to ensure that his wife feels good about their relationship. He listens to the concerns of his wife and pays attention to what she says. He also responds to his wife timely and understands her well that she is afraid of the car hijacking experience. He comforts his wife by agreeing that he will get the locks changed in the morning and she must keep calm. He calms down her wife and sets the right tone of his voice which is the key to resolving conflicts CITATION Bao16 \l 1033 (Bao, 2016). He doesn’t respond in the same manner as his wife, and the interpersonal conflict between them ends this way.

A situation of defensive communication climax is that when Officer Ryan who is trying to obtain help for his father who is not in good condition. He blames the African American Shaniqua Johnsons for being unqualified and unable to perform her duties. He says that she is not qualified and "a more qualified white man" could have done the job better. She responses angrily and refuses to help further. His disconfirming response to that girl worsens the situation, though he was worried for his father he created a defensive climax by insulting her for her service. The disconfirming response damaged the self-worth of the person and thwarted the conflict resolution.

Relationships are essential to living a good life as friends and family support each other throughout the ups and downs of life. Social relationships are important to provide emotional support and are vital for the physical and mental health ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"a1s6983qeek","properties":{"formattedCitation":"{\\rtf (\\uc0\\u8220{}The importance of social relationships over the life course,\\uc0\\u8221{} 2016)}","plainCitation":"(“The importance of social relationships over the life course,” 2016)"},"citationItems":[{"id":1352,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/KZ6JCU69"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/FGhKhGPG/items/KZ6JCU69"],"itemData":{"id":1352,"type":"post-weblog","title":"The importance of social relationships over the life course","container-title":"Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research","abstract":"Photo Credit: Freeimages.com/Lukasz Brzozowski Article By Mark C. Pachucki, Ph.D. The World Health Organization now recognizes social relationships as an important social determinant of health throughout our lives. Yet, the acknowledgement that social ties can shape our morbidity and mortality has been at times an uphill struggle. This is because the analysis of the effects of …","URL":"https://obssr.od.nih.gov/the-importance-of-social-relationships-over-the-life-course/","language":"en-US","issued":{"date-parts":[["2016",8,30]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (“The importance of social relationships over the life course,” 2016). Interpersonal communication skills and theories are effective in reducing the interpersonal conflicts and hence enhancing the interpersonal relationships. Theories help to understand others better; for instance, relational maintenance behavioral theory explains how people maintain their relationships. Social exchange and equity theory guide why equal benefits are essential for a relationship. Uncertainty reduction theory guides that to reduce the uncertainty people tend to know each other better. Apart from these, all the communication skills and theories guide how relationships can be made better by understanding each other and reduction the interpersonal conflicts. The movie Crash is a clear depiction of what happens when people lack communication skills

In a nutshell, conflict management, communication climax, and effective communication skills are needed for a variety of conflicts. The movie Crash shows numerous conflicts and on and off the conflicts in the movie were due to the lack of application of skills. In some cases, the characters were able to resolve the conflicts either by using the right strategy or confirming message. However, communication skills and theories are vital for conflict resolution and relationship enhancement.

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY Bao, Y. Z. (2016). The research of interpersonal conflict and solution strategies. Psychology, 7(04), 541.

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Conflict Resolution. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2019, from http://www.globalprojectmanagement.org/index.php/global-project-management-framework/global-teams/conflict-resolution

The importance of social relationships over the life course. (2016, August 30). Retrieved from https://obssr.od.nih.gov/the-importance-of-social-relationships-over-the-life-course/