The Interpersonal Conflict in Television or Film paper
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Ashford University *
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COM200
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Communications
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Jan 9, 2024
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The Interpersonal Conflict in Television or Film paper
Elijah Droz
Interpersonal communication/ COM200
Bonnie Stiemke
1/23/2020
Conflict is a common theme in many movies and Television shows. Conflict is often the driving force and main plot point of shows and movies. There are so many levels to explore within conflict which makes it such a good plot point. Bevan defines conflict management as “using constructive and positive behaviors such as cooperating, listening, and apologizing when in conflict or disagreements with the partner” (Bevan, 2019). Essentially conflict is a disagreement or opposing viewpoints between two or more people. Conflict is something everyone will deal with at some point in their life. No one will agree with each other all the time so tension is inevitable.
The program I choose to review was the Disney movie Frozen
. There are a lot of twists and interesting plot points in Frozen due to the many levels of conflict. One of the largest conflicts in the movie is the separation and tension between Elsa and Anna because of Elsa’s powers. The reason this conflict starts is because Anna’s memories are erased of what Elsa did to
her as a child. The memory erasing is start of the conflict not being handled well. The parents of Elsa and Anna acted selfishly by erasing Anna’s memories and making else feel shame by having to hide her powers. Elsa’s parents projected their own fears onto their daughters and made an irrational decision, without thinking about how it would affect their daughters’ relationship. Because of the poor handling of the conflict Anna just thinks that Elsa doesn’t like her and is being distant for no good reason. This one instance of conflict sets off a chain reaction of future conflicts. This conflict meets the criteria for interpersonal conflict because there is an issue between two people that need a relationship from each other. “There are at least two interdependent parties; the individuals involved need one another in some way, and their choices affect one another” (Bevan, 2019). The parent’s choices have directly impacted the relationship of their children. Elsa is also indirectly affecting Anna’s feelings by being distant. The conflict is
not being handled effectively because this falls under the avoidance conflict style. “The avoidance conflict style occurs when there is a low concern for yourself and a low concern for the other person” (Bevan, 2019). Elsa is the one avoiding the situation because that is what she was told to do, so it is not entirely her fault.
Two strategies outlined in Bevan that the characters in Frozen used to address conflict was embrace your communication and use “I” statements. Elsa express her disproval to Anna of her marriage to Hans. These were not the correct strategies to use given the situation so it caused an argument. An example of two different strategies the characters could have used to resolve the
conflict more efficiently according to Bevan are determine the appropriate time and place to express your thoughts and emotions and express your thoughts and emotions constructively. Elsa
let too much time pass without letting how she felt be known. Waiting to finally speak up when Anna was getting married was not the correct time to express all her bottled up emotions. If the parents didn’t act irrationally when their daughters were young all of the conflicts in the movie would have never occurred.
In conclusion conflict is prevalent in everyday life, but if you take the correct steps to manage emotion you can limit conflict. The multitude of conflicts in Frozen could have been avoided if the character’s would have practiced the conflict management strategies detailed in Bevan.
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Reference Page
Bevan, J. L. (2020). Making connections: Understanding interpersonal communication. (3rd ed.).
Chapters 8 & 9
https://content.ashford.edu/books/Bevan.6245.19.1/sections/references