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Interpersonal Communication In The Proposal, By Sandra Bullock

942 Words4 Pages

Interpersonal communication is the exchange of verbal and nonverbal signals between people who build relationships, share meanings, and accomplish social goals. In the movie, "The Proposal," Sandra Bullock is cast as Margaret Tate, an assertive woman who believes that "the real education is your attitude and behavior with others. It defines your whole personality, no matter how qualified you are.When Margaret learned that she was about to be deported back to Canada because she had broken the restrictions of her work visa, she convinced Andrew, her assistant, to marry her so that she could maintain her visa status in the U.S. and prevent being sent back to Canada. We can examine numerous ideas related to interpersonal communication as their …show more content…

According to the social penetration theory, partners progress from superficial levels of intimacy to greater levels. We can explain how the theory of social penetration works by using the metaphor of the onion model. Social penetration is the process of "peeling back" other people's layers of personal information to get to the core through interpersonal interaction. Self-disclosure, the deliberate act of disclosing information about oneself, is the most effective method of social penetration. For instance, Margaret and Andrew begin to make small talk with one another as soon as they are forced to sleep in the same room. She tells him that she got a tattoo of two swallows to remember her parents, who died when she was 16 years old. She even went on to talk about how she was feeling and told him that she went to the bathroom and wept after Bob made fun of her. Andrew probably realized that he cares about Margaret more than he thought. He was quietly processing what Margaret was saying to him. Andrew then asked her not to take it wrong when he says she's extremely lovely. He keeps the mood up by singing Margaret's favorite band's "It Takes Two," and they both end the night laughing and singing. We can see that they were able to bond through an open conversation, allowing their relationship to grow from superficial to more intimate. I think that effective communication is necessary for the exchange of information in order …show more content…

The process of balancing a relationship's advantages and disadvantages is explained by the social exchange theory. When Margaret finds out that her visa application had been denied and that she was going to be deported, this idea became clear. Margaret came up with the idea to marry Andrew, her assistant, as a response. They decided to take the risk and carry on with the fraud even though they were informed that this would have severe consequences if their engagement was found to be false. Their agreement's reward outweighed its implied cost, in their opinion. We learned in chapter 8 that while rewards (benefits like social status or intellectual stimulation) are things about a relationship that make you feel good, costs (like conflict or jealousy) are things that make you unhappy, stress you out, or hurt your own self-image or lifestyle. Margaret saw marrying Andrew as an opportunity to permanently reside in the United States and keep her job. However, the risk of lying was her possible deportation. Andrew paid $250,000 in fines and the possibility of five years in federal prison for marrying Margaret. However, the benefit of publishing his manuscript and receiving a promotion was significantly greater. Margaret and Andrew's efforts to improve their personal and professional lives demonstrate the social exchange

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