My Big Fat Greek Wedding
Theories of Communication as Seen in My Big Fat Greek Wedding
As human beings we use communication in many ways. This is why theories are developed so that we can categorize patterns of communication to better understand ourselves and others. Theories categorize the differences in communication between women and men, help to better understand the conflicts that arise between children and their parents, and help to develop a better understanding of communication in general. Patterns of communication such as these are exemplified in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
One misconception about the nature of communication is the assumption of finality. This theory states that when a statement is made there is a "that settles it" attitude for one …show more content…
Towne says that fact-opinion confusions occur when we label our opinions as facts. This is shown throughout the movie in many ways, Maria, Toula's mother, expresses almost all her opinions as facts. She states her opinions as though they are facts by the stern tone of voice she uses. Toula's father expresses this when he says that " There's two kinds of people, Greeks and everyone who wishes they were Greek", he says this as though it is a fact when it is clearly an opinion. One knows that there are more than two kinds of people and there are definitely people outside of the spectrum of being or wishing to be Greek. According to Towne parents are often the ones to offer their opinions as though they are facts, which is the case in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Towne believes that a better way for Toula's father to avoid fact-opinion confusion is to overcome them by labeling opinions with words and sentences that start like "It seems to me ..." That way the content, what is said, and the form, how it is said, makes sense and there is no confusion between fact and …show more content…
Toula is afraid that the marriage between Ian and her is not going to work because of the conflict that her parents present by disagreeing in her decision to marry a non-Greek man. Studies show that in reality conflict is necessary for relational growth. Toula wants to run away and elope, she falls into the myth of interpersonal conflict while Ian knows that the reality of interpersonal conflict, he tells her that he loves her no matter what her family believes and that they need to get married the right way and face their conflicting ideas with her parents so that the relationship will be able to grow. Conflict allows problems to be aired out, prevents stagnation and also prevents more serious conflicts from happening. The conflict would have been much more serious if they both bailed on their family to elope. The interpersonal problem between Ian and Toula's family is that he is not Greek, but despite their differences Ian sticks around and at the end of the movie during the reception Toula's Aunt is sitting on her husbands lap while everyone is dancing and she looks up and says, "Ian looks Greek". This is a pivotal moment proving the idea that conflict allows problems to be aired out and resolved. Joyce Hooker's studies on interpersonal conflict shows a stage progression model that conflicts tend to follow. The first step in an interpersonal
As human beings we use communication in many ways. This is why theories are developed so that we can categorize patterns of communication to better understand ourselves and others. Theories categorize the differences in communication between women and men, help to better understand the conflicts that arise between children and their parents, and help to develop a better understanding of communication in general. Patterns of communication such as these are exemplified in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
One misconception about the nature of communication is the assumption of finality. This theory states that when a statement is made there is a "that settles it" attitude for one …show more content…
Towne says that fact-opinion confusions occur when we label our opinions as facts. This is shown throughout the movie in many ways, Maria, Toula's mother, expresses almost all her opinions as facts. She states her opinions as though they are facts by the stern tone of voice she uses. Toula's father expresses this when he says that " There's two kinds of people, Greeks and everyone who wishes they were Greek", he says this as though it is a fact when it is clearly an opinion. One knows that there are more than two kinds of people and there are definitely people outside of the spectrum of being or wishing to be Greek. According to Towne parents are often the ones to offer their opinions as though they are facts, which is the case in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Towne believes that a better way for Toula's father to avoid fact-opinion confusion is to overcome them by labeling opinions with words and sentences that start like "It seems to me ..." That way the content, what is said, and the form, how it is said, makes sense and there is no confusion between fact and …show more content…
Toula is afraid that the marriage between Ian and her is not going to work because of the conflict that her parents present by disagreeing in her decision to marry a non-Greek man. Studies show that in reality conflict is necessary for relational growth. Toula wants to run away and elope, she falls into the myth of interpersonal conflict while Ian knows that the reality of interpersonal conflict, he tells her that he loves her no matter what her family believes and that they need to get married the right way and face their conflicting ideas with her parents so that the relationship will be able to grow. Conflict allows problems to be aired out, prevents stagnation and also prevents more serious conflicts from happening. The conflict would have been much more serious if they both bailed on their family to elope. The interpersonal problem between Ian and Toula's family is that he is not Greek, but despite their differences Ian sticks around and at the end of the movie during the reception Toula's Aunt is sitting on her husbands lap while everyone is dancing and she looks up and says, "Ian looks Greek". This is a pivotal moment proving the idea that conflict allows problems to be aired out and resolved. Joyce Hooker's studies on interpersonal conflict shows a stage progression model that conflicts tend to follow. The first step in an interpersonal