The_Breakfast_Club

The Breakfast Club The Breakfast Club gives examples of the principles of interpersonal communication. Five high school students: Allison, an emo, Brian, a nerd, John, a criminal, Claire, a prom queen, and Andrew, a jock, are in Saturday detention together. By the end of the day, they find that they have more in common than they thought. I began by selecting a scene from the movie and using it to explain interpersonal communication. The interpersonal exchange I chose was the scene where Bender and Claire go through each other’s wallet and purse. Claire inquires about the pictures of girls in Benders wallet and Bender asks about the number of items in Claire’ purse. This scene shows that interpersonal communication is a dynamic process. In previous transactions between the two characters, they were hostile towards each other and had minimal self-disclose. In this conversation, Claire calmly asks Bender personal questions, although Bender is still watchful of what he self-discloses. Interpersonal communication is unavoidable. 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 would not ask the same kind of questions after realizing Benders disbelief in monogamy. The conversation could not 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 does not. Even if they were to say they did not 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 does not believe in monogamy and Bender does not respond, Claire does not 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 were not in detention together, they would not even be talking to each other. Furthermore, if they were not in detention together, they would not 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 others privacy. In this situation, when Bender is reluctant to explain why he does not believe in monogamy, Claire sees this and backs off. In Claire and Benders conversation, there are a few nonverbal messages both characters send. Claire is curious and intrigued by Bender. This is 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 asks, why not (about monogamy)'  It is clear that Bender does not want to answer the question by his cold look and quick change of subject. There are not any verbal misunderstandings between the two because Claire persistently asks for clarification on every one of Benders 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 Benders 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 Benders responses. She does not act bossy or pushy with her inquiries, but simply shows her interest and curiosity. When Bender refuses to answer a question, Claire respects Benders 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 any ones feelings or be blatantly obnoxious. A few gender issues are apparent in this interaction. We can see Claire show her femininity as she investigates Benders 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 does not necessarily show any characteristics of femininity or masculinity. He is 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 has 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 is a nymphomaniac and that she has had sex with her married psychiatrist on various occasions. She does not 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 is not 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 impressive, addressing almost every aspect of interpersonal communication. This is seen here, as I have 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 have explained aspects of interpersonal communication, nonverbal communication, verbal misunderstandings, communication styles, gender issues, and self-disclosures.