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The Breakfast Club (Intercommunications)
John Hughes’ 1985 film, The Breakfast Club, gives countless examples of the
principles of interpersonal communication. Five high school students: Allison,
a weirdo, Brian, a nerd, John, a criminal, Claire, a prom queen, and Andrew, a
jock, are forced to spend the day in Saturday detention. By the end of the day,
they find that they have more in common than they ever realized.
I will begin by selecting a scene from the movie and using it to explain what
interpersonal communication is. The interpersonal transaction I chose to
isolate was the scene where we see Bender and Claire going through each other’s
wallet and purse. Claire inquires about the pictures of girls in Bender’s
wallet and Bender asks about the number of items in Claire’s purse. This scene
shows that interpersonal communication is a dynamic process. In previous
transactions between the two characters, they are hostile towards each other
and self-disclose minimally. In this conversation, Claire calmly asks Bender
personal questions, although Bender is still watchful of what he
self-discloses. Interpersonal communication is inescapable. While Claire is
asking these questions, no matter how Bender responds, he is still sending
Claire a message about himself, which is a form of communication. Interpersonal
communication is unrepeatable, in that Claire probably wouldn’t ask the same
kind of questions after realizing Bender’s disbelief in monogamy. The
conversation couldn’t be reenacted exactly the same. Interpersonal
communication is also irreversible. After this interpersonal transaction, it
would be impossible for Bender to argue that he believes in monogamy or for
Claire to argue that she doesn’t. Even if they were to say they didn’t mean
what they said, the transaction would still have some sort of effect on both of
them. Interpersonal communication is complicated because Claire must take
everything she knows about Bender in consideration before she forms her
questions. When she asks Bender why he doesn’t believe in monogamy and Bender
doesn’t respond, Claire doesn’t take into consideration the fact that Bender
likes to disclose very little about himself. This scene also shows that
interpersonal communication is contextual. If Bender and Claire weren’t in detention
together, they wouldn’t even be talking to each other. Furthermore, if they
weren’t in detention together, they wouldn’t be as nice to each other as they
are. They would probably be much more defensive and self-protective in a
different context. Interpersonal communication is governed by rules. One of
these rules is that people should respect the other’s privacy. In this
situation, when Bender is reluctant to explain why he doesn’t believe in
monogamy, Claire sees this and backs off.
In Claire and Bender’s conversation, there are a few nonverbal messages both
characters send. Claire is curious and intrigued by Bender. This can be seen in
her posture towards him and her usage of direct eye contact. Bender seems to be
somewhat disinterested because of his avoidance of eye contact and unanimated
facial expressions. When Claire (discussing monogamoustic relationships) asks,
“Why not?” it is clear that Bender doesn’t want to answer the question by his
cold look and quick change of subject.
There aren’t any verbal misunderstandings between the two because Claire
persistently asks for clarification on every one of Bender’s responses. Claire
asks, “Are all these your girlfriends?” Followed by, “What about the others?”
Bender replies, “Some I consider my girlfriends and some I just consider.” Due
to Bender’s vague response, Claire asks, “Consider what?” If Claire didn’t keep
asking for explanations, she would misunderstand Bender because of his
vagueness.
In this interaction, both characters display characteristics of an assertive
communication style. Claire shows assertiveness in the way she forms her
questions according to Bender’s responses. She doesn’t act bossy or pushy with
her inquiries, but simply shows her interest and curiosity. When Bender refuses
to answer a question, Claire respects Bender’s decision and ceases to
investigate further. But, when Bender responds with, “How come you got so much
shit in your purse?” Claire shows her assertiveness by refusing the question,
firing back with, “How come you got so many girlfriends?” Bender is assertive
as well in this scene in that he chooses to answer the questions he wants. In
any other scene, Bender would be described as aggressive. However, here he
happens to not hurt anyone’s feelings or be blatantly obnoxious.
A few gender issues are apparent in this interaction. We can see Claire show
her femininity as she investigates Bender’s relationship history. She asks,
“Are all these your girlfriends?” And she goes on to ask about his belief in
non-monogamous relationships. The book states that “feminine cultures value
relationships, caring for the less fortunate, and overall quality of life”.
Bender doesn’t necessarily show any characteristics of femininity or
masculinity. He’s not very involved in the conversation in the first place, so
his gender is not very apparent in this scene.
I think one of the most significant self-disclosures in this film was Allison’s
story about being a nymphomaniac. First of all, she’s hardly said a word to
anyone the whole day. Claire is asking Andrew if he would go to school naked.
As they’re discussing this, Allison jumps in with, “I’d do that!” She follows
that up with, “I’d do anything sexual, and I don’t need a million dollars to do
it either.” The others are all shocked because she never talks and on top of
that she’s now self-disclosing such personal information. Allison goes on to
tell them she’s a nymphomaniac and that she’s had sex with her married
psychiatrist on various occasions. She doesn’t assess this as a high-risk self-disclosure
because, as she says later, she is a compulsive liar. The only reason she is
saying all of these things is for attention. Claire notes her disgust in
Allison’s comments, saying, “Do you have any idea how completely gross that
is?” and telling her she is crazy. Allison isn’t very surprised by the group’s
reaction to her disclosure, since she only said it for the reaction she knew
she would get.
The film, The Breakfast Club, is an impressive work of art, addressing almost
every aspect of interpersonal communication. This is easily seen here, as I’ve
gone through and shown how all these principles of interpersonal communication
apply to real-life, using only two short interpersonal interactions from the
movie. I’ve explained aspects of interpersonal communication, nonverbal
communication, verbal misunderstandings, communication styles, gender issues,
and self-disclosures. With that said, I believe I have demonstrated my ability
to apply principles of interpersonal communication with simulated real-life
examples.