Communication Theories within American Beauty.
The movie American Beauty is about a family who is coming apart at the seams. It uses many of the theories that we have touched on in this class but mostly the Interactional View. This theory is more prevalent then others because the core principles of it focus on the family as a system, rather than individual traits. And in this movie all the characters talk about is how messed up the family's communication is as a whole. .
Some examples of the communication theories are very evident in many scenes of this movie. One example is in the first dinner scene when they are sitting at the table. No one is really conversing at all and if they do it is to complain about the music or some minuet problem. This is a great example of Relational Dialectics. They have a lot of seclusion from on another which brings down their relationships. Another great example of these theories is how it is very difficult for any of the parents in the whole movie to talk to their children. Ricky's dad shows this extensively, especially when he beats Ricky up for having that video of Lester working out. But the reason he reacted this way was because he was fighting his own homosexuality and didn't want his son to become gay and have to deal with the suffering that he goes through because of it. However rather than talking with his son, he comes out fists first. .
Social Penetration Theory is highly prevalent in this movie as well. Jane is a good example of a person who doesn't let anyone into their "onion". She has a great deal of trouble in talking to her parents about very personal things. Also the mother has troubles with this too. She has a lot of depression in her that she is repressed down because she can't connect with her husband in a way that is healthy for their marriage to last. But on the other end of this spectrum, Ricky is a person who talks to Jane about his deepest personal feelings.