The Breakup

Relationships are complicated, not every relationship will last, and this seems to be the most apparent with romantic relationships, as these types of relationships two partners will often come together and open-up to each other and become very close. Every relationship needs effective communication, and this is evident in the film, The Breakup; starring Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn. This film ties in with Interpersonal Communications very well as it portrays its message of poor communication very well. Models of Relational Dynamics, couples conflict styles, crazymakers, and conflict in relational systems are some of the topics that the film perfectly depicts. Beginning a relationship is usually different from person to person, but with

The first stage is known as initiating, and although this is a very brief exchange between Gary and Brooke, as Gary offers her a hot dog at a baseball game, it catches Brooke’s attention. Afterwards, Gary invites Brooke for drinks and progresses towards the experimenting stage. The film then presents the audience with photos of the two together, now in the intensifying stage, and the audience can conclude that they are past the integrating and bonding stages as well as they are seen with Brooke’s friends and family. The issues are shown in the early stages of the movie as Brooke asked Gary to bring her twelve lemons and he only brings three, not understanding that she needed them for a centerpiece, which led to him questioning Brooke’s reasoning for getting the lemons if they were not going to be eaten, this in turn then presents the conflict of Gary not listening, there is a difference between hearing and listening. Gary

These conflict styles depend on four major points, the relationship, the situation, other person, and the goals you want to complete at the end of the conflict. Table 12.1 (pg. 392) portrays factors in which you must consider when choosing the most appropriate conflict style, for example, if it is an issue that is of little importance and the costs of confrontation outweigh the benefits try using the Avoiding style, although it is a lose-lose both parties can calm down and wait until they are in the right state of mind before confronting each other. In the film the avoiding style is not used as both Gary and Brooke stay in the condo together, instead they use more of a Competing style as Brooke brings in some men to try to get Gary jealous as he is not willing to try to get Brooke back. From my personal experiences I will usually turn to the Accommodating style, it is a loss for me, but a win for the other party, and this is because I do not like seeing friends or romantic partners of mine disgruntled, so I will take all the blame and point out when I am wrong, even when I know I am right, just to ensure that they can get over it and are not upset with anything that has happened. If I were to