Every day, human relationships, global business, and national ties are made a success by communication. People's ability to converse literary makes the world a functional place to live. Effective communication, therefore, ensures that human beings swap information, emotions and relate through both verbal and nonverbal messages. Basic institutions that impart education rely on active personal correspondence to affect their mandate. Business and primary human interaction such as that in families and public speaking require communication to function. Virgin (2018) puts effective communication as not only being about speaking and reading but also the comprehension of the message. Functional communication relies on the ability of a person to channel their intended message to the intended audience successfully. Ineffective communication occurs when the predetermined recipient of the information does not understand the information. If that intended message is distorted or becomes dissimilar when the respondent receives it, tension is likely to build, and people are bound to disagree. This research paper will scrutinize a modish American teen comedy film "Mean Girls," to demonstrate the different features of interpersonal communication. Moreover, the scrutiny will expose the importance of effective communication in a social domain, and the implications of miscommunication in the day to day life. The thesis: Interpersonal communication is quite crucial in the development of viable human relationships steers this work. Critical elements of interpersonal communication that will be explained include power and control, emotional support, interpersonal management, self-exposure, self-recognition, and verbal and non-verbal cues.
The 2004 film, ‘Mean Girls,' revolves around the school life of a teenager, Cady Heron. Not long ago, Cady, who was home-schooled in Africa where she spent most of her life, relocated to the United States from Africa. She is bombarded with the school-life experiences and challenges the average teenager in America faces. Some themes that the film addresses include betrayal, power, bullying, peer pressure, and conflict. The principal characters are Cady, Gretchen, Regina, and Karen who are in a group christened as the Plastics. Through these characters, interpersonal communication is manifested in its various aspects. The consequences of poor interactional communication skills on teenage bonds are also evident from the film.
“Mean Girls” explores personal friendships at depth. The Plastics, Regina the mean leader of the group, the gullible Karen and Gretchen are friends who have strained relationships. According to (Kartaszewicz 2014), whatever Regina says goes while Karen does not question any move Regina makes. She follows the assumed leader of the Plastics blindly. Gretchen wants to fit in. The latter even questions some of Regina’s ideas. When Cady enrolls into the new school, she eats in the bathrooms on her first day because she cannot seem to make a friend. She makes friends out of reserved friends Janis and Damian before joining the flamboyant Plastics. Dire miscommunication leads to many controversies in the group as each friend tries to survive or outwit another. Altercations and competition characterize their friendship. Interpersonal interaction has to be built on effective communication for it to run unscathed.
Analysis of The Selected Communication Elements And Their Use In The Film
According to Maharjan (2018), interpersonal communication expresses emotions, information, and insights that take the form of a message and which are imparted using both verbal and nonverbal communication. The structure and the content of the communication portray not only the traits of the people speaking but also their social roles and relationships. Initiation is a fundamental element of interpersonal communication that mainly involves the first impression. When two people meet, coincidentally or in an arranged situation, the very first actions they take to initiate a relationship are what concern initiation. Commonly, being warm, smooth and enchanting, with a little humor probably, in your first conversation creates a good impression of the speaker.
Kartaszewicz (2014) thinks that Cady's recruitment by the Plastics was not as warm and charming. Ineffective communication skills make the Plastics and Cady's first conversation seem uncomfortable. Regina, a deliberate effort to strike a conversation with Cady, asks why Regina does not know her. This question was awkwardly put bringing Cady to an uncomfortable position. Regina's sarcastic question portrays her as an arrogant girl who is so full herself. Conventionally, individuals with effective interpersonal communication start first-time dialogues with compliments or showing interest in the other persons' well-being. In another instance of ineffective communication skills, Gretchen compliments Cady's bracelet, calling it "so fetch." Cady does not seem to understand what the term means indicating that there was an interpersonal communication failure between the two, instigated by Gretchen.
"Mean Girls" also exposes another vital element of interpersonal communication that is responsiveness. Responsiveness occurs when a person tries to understand the needs of the people close to them, and also avail themselves to accommodate those people. This element of interactive communication goes a long way to ensure relationships are viable and free of conflict. Kartaszewicz (2014) Observes that the chief flaw in the Plastics relationship is all the members focusing on only themselves. Cady's group, the Plastics, suffers from poor responsiveness. Every member of the group is self-centered and egocentric. Self-disclosure, another vital element of interactive communication relates quite closely with reactivity. Self-disclosure demands that an individual be willing to provide some information about themselves to their close friends or colleagues. Members of the Plastics are devoid of this, further disrupting their chances to sustain a good relationship. Practical interpersonal communication unlike that of the Plastics relays sound emotions and sentiments.
Emotional-support is another important aspect of regular interactive communication. Empathy and motivation are components of emotional support. Occasionally, partakers in a relationship need to uplift each other to show support. This reinforcement nurtures wholesome and long-lasting bonds. Kartaszewicz (2014) concludes that the inability to show compassion even in troubled times makes the Plastics portray poor emotional support. Cady refuses to show support to her nemesis-turned-friend, Regina when Gretchen chased her away from their table for donning sweatpants on a Monday. Regina is putting on weight, and she doesn’t have enough clothes that fit. Rather than showing her empathy, they disrespectfully expel her from the table, communication that is devoid of emotional reinforcement limits healthy relationships.
Intimate, fruitful and long-lasting social relationships foster reliable interpersonal communication. As maintained by Socialmettle (2018), when there is a lack of communication, its importance is manifested. "Mean Girls" defies interactive communication causing discord in the midst of many characters, specifically, the Plastics. Most characters in the film are victims of miscommunication. Crucial aspects of interpersonal communication featured in the movie include responsiveness, self-disclosure, initiation, verbal and nonverbal cues to mention but a few. The absence of these aspects as illustrated by most of the cast necessitates an improvement in the delivery of information because ignoring some of these crucial elements will only cause strife, the correct application of the aspects of interpersonal communication and proficiency in the delivery of information nurture healthy relationships.
References
Kartaszewicz, L., (2014). An Analysis of Interpersonal Communication. SlideShare. Retrieved from
https://www.slideshare.net/lkartaszewicz/mean-girls-presentation
Maharjan, P. (2018). Interpersonal Communication Skills - Businesstopia.
Retrieved from
https://www.businesstopia.net/communication/interpersonal-communication-skills
SocialMettle. (2018). Importance of Communication. Retrieved from https://socialmettle.com/importance-of-communication
Virgin. (2018). The art of communication.
Retrieved from
https://www.virgin.com/richard-branson/art-communication
