The movie, The Green Mile, is a film that is based on a true story set in the state of Alabama during the Depression Era. The story is told by Paul Edgecomb, who during that time was the head guard on Death Row at the Cold Mountain Penitentiary. The former prison guard reflects on how he developed a unusual, relationship with one of the inmates that may be innocent. The inmate is John Coffey, an African- American man convicted of the rape and murder of two nine year old sisters. The prison guards begin to realize that Coffey has strange and mysterious healing powers that is leading the guards to believe putting the inmate to death would be a terrible mistake. Characteristics of Competent Communication, Cognitive Complexity, and Commitment are three interpersonal concepts that are used throughout the film in a couple different ways. .
Scholars have been able to identify a wide range of behaviors that are associated with Characteristics of Competent Communications. Despite the fact that Competent Communication varies greatly from one situation to the next, there are many different ways you can deal with the situation. Shortly after John Coffey was sent to the Penitentiary, everyone of the guards except Paul Edgecomb begins to make racial jokes and comments about him. The guards are certain Coffey, an African- American, is guilty of the crime he was convicted of without even looking at the evidence and hearing the whole story. Edgecomb develops a special relationship with Coffey while informing the other guards that insulting Coffey while he was there was uncalled for and out of line. Over time Edgecomb realizes that Coffey is a gentle man very unable of murder and that he also has a special and mysterious healing power. Coffey is able to heal Edgecomb's bladder infection and he also cures the Marshall's wife's cancer. Edgecomb has many choices on how to deal with this situation. He decided to deal with this by expressing his discomfort in a straight forward way and he also demands the guards to stop.
