Interpersonal Communication In The Movie Crash

For this movie analysis paper, I have chosen the movie Crash (2004) to write and investigate the interpersonal communication between the characters. The synopsis for the Movie from IMDB is as follows, “Over a thirty-six hour period in Los Angeles, a handful of disparate people's lives intertwine as they deal with the tense race relations that belie life in the city. Among the players are: the Caucasian district attorney, who uses race as a political card; his Caucasian wife, who, having recently been carjacked by two black men, believes that her stereotypical views of non-whites is justified and cannot be considered racism; the two black carjackers who use their race both to their advantage and as an excuse; partnered Caucasian police constables,

one who is a racist and uses his authority to harass non-whites, and the other who hates his partner because of those racist views, but who may have the same underlying values in his subconscious; a black film director and his black wife, who believes her husband doesn't support their black background enough, especially in light of an incident with the racist white cop; partnered police detectives and sometimes lovers, one Hispanic female and the other black male, the latter who is dealing with a drugged out mother that feels he isn't concerned enough about taking care of family; an East Asian man who is run over but who is hiding some valuable cargo in the back of his van; a Persian store owner, who feels he isn't getting satisfaction from American society when his store is robbed time and time again; and a Hispanic locksmith, who just wants to keep his family, especially his young daughter, safe in a seemingly unsafe world.”
Among the many characters in this film, we will specifically look at the character Jean Cabot, played by Sandra Bullock, and her interactions with her husband and other characters throughout the movie. Although most of her conversations are racially motivated, I will analyze other aspects of her interactions and communication to see their strengths and weaknesses. I will also give recommendations on how the communication styles could be improved and apply different communication theories. Through this analysis paper, I hope to have an overall understanding of interpersonal communication and can apply it in my own communication.
Interactions with Jean and her husband
The first scene we see with Jean is when she is returning from dinner with her husband. From the conversation they are having, where her husband Rick implies that Jean is “jealous of Karen”, who is his assistant, they were already having a minor conflict. Dr. Woods explains in her book Communication Mosaics that conflict is “the expression by people who depend on each other of different views, interests, or goals and the perception of differences as incompatible or in opposition” (p.g.137). This conflict escalates after they were carjacked at gunpoint by two black males. Once home after the ordeal, they have a locksmith changing the locks on their door, which Jean notices is Latino. This sparks a reaction from Jean, as she is still affected by the events that happened earlier that day.
We can tell from her nonverbal behavior, such as her low tone and crossed arms when telling her husband that she needed to talk to him for a moment, that she was already angry and defensive before this conversation. When Jean tells Rick “I want the locks changed again in the morning.”, Rick is baffled and has a neglect response to her demand saying, “Why don’t you just lie down? Have you checked on James?” Dr. Wood explains that a neglect response occurs “when a person denies or minimizes a problem.” Rick tries to minimize her worries telling her to go to bed and asking if she has checked on their son. This causes Jean to reply with a voice response, “Of course. I’ve checked on him every five minutes since we’ve home. Do not patronize me. I want the locks changed again in the morning.”
Due to Rick’s response to Jean’s demand, the conflict climate became defensive and disconfirming. Since Rick did not endorse or acknowledge Jean’s feelings or demand, it made Jean feel disconfirmed, which then escalated their conflict. Paraphrasing Dr. Wood, she explains that disconfirmation is not the same as disagreeing, but it is being told we do not exist or matter or that our feelings and thoughts are crazy or wrong (p.g.133). A solution to have avoided this conflict would be with effective listening. Since Rick is preoccupied with his election and how the event will affect his campaign, it created an obstacle to listen to his wife’s worry and he only practiced pseudolistening. Pseudolistening is explained as “pretending to listen” (p.g.117). He should have tried to understand Jean’s perspective and used minimal encouragers to get her to explain why she felt the way she did and ask her questions. Dr. Wood explains the key to effective listening are being mindful, suspending judgment, understanding the other’s perspective, and expressing support (p.g.122-124). Practicing effective listening will change a disconfirming climate to a confirming one.
Jean and Maria’s Interactions
The interactions with Jean and Maria are scattered within the movie. The first interaction between the two is during Jean and Rick’s argument when Maria announces in the middle of their conflict that she will be returning home. While Rick acknowledges her and tells her goodbye and thanks her for staying, Jean does not give her any recognition and ignores her. We can tell from that interaction that Jean has created a disconfirming climate between them. Later in the film, Maria is coming back from dropping Jean’s son from school. While Maria talks about her car problems and Jean’s son, Maria interjects by asking her, “Are these clean or dirty?” referring to the dishes in the dishwasher. Maria confirms they are and Jean complains, “You know Maria, just once I would like to wake up and find these dishes in the cabinet.” To which Maria responds, “Si senora.”. Through this interaction, we can see that Jean does not acknowledge Maria as being on the same level as her and ignores all that she says.
All of this changes when after a phone conversation where Jean is speaking to a friend, she falls down the stairs and gets a bad sprain. After trying to get in contact with her friends and husband, the only person to come help her was Maria. We can see her change towards Maria via her phone conversation afterward with her husband. Jean tells her husband, “I tried calling you. I couldn’t get through to anyone. Not Kath, not Marge, not Julie…..Maris drove me to the emergency. Carol was the only one that was home and she said she couldn’t come get me because she was getting a massage. She’s been my friend for ten years.” From here, we can see that Jean’s view of Maria changed dramatically. As we learned from Dr. Wood, communication isn’t a linear model but is more transactional. She explains that “communication changes over time as a result of what happens between two people” (p.g.14). We can see through the course of time and this event, that the communication and climate between Jean and Maria improved to a positive and confirming climate.
In the beginning, Jean stereotyped Maria as being a second-class citizen due to her race and did not trust her.

Due to her wrong perception, it caused her to only practice pseudo and selective listening around Maria, as she deemed her communication as insignificant. After falling down the stairs and having none of her friends come to her aid, she was faced with the expectancy violation theory, which Dr. Wood explains as “a theory claiming that when our expectations are violated, we become more cognitively alert as we struggle to understand and cope with unexpected behaviors” (p.g.49). As Jean explained, her friend of ten years did not come to help, but Maria who she had mistreated up until then, came as soon as Jean called her to take her to the emergency room. It went against the schemata that Jean had constructed in her mind of the people in her life. Although Jean treated Maria badly, not even recognizing or acknowledging her, she did not judge or hold a grudge against her, instead went to her aid when she needed it most. We could say that throughout their communication exchanges, Jean has been a downer, “a person who communicates negatively about us and our worth” and Maria an upper, “a person who communicate positive messages about us and our worth” (p.g.189).

Even after returning her home from the hospital, Maria still stayed to care for Jean, helping her sit up and getting her comfortable in bed. Jean then tells Maria, “Do you want to hear something funny? You’re the best friend I’ve got.” Jean begins to change the climate from a disconfirming to a confirming and positive one by beginning to acknowledge Maria. With the changing climate, Jean’s perception of Maria changed from the negative stereotype she previously had, being able to distinguish and throw away her inferences and judgments she had of her because of her

race.
Conclusion
I have analyzed two different interactions with Jean from the movie Crash (2004). While with one interaction, I saw ways it could have been improved or prevented, I also saw the development and change a disconfirming and toxic interaction, to the beginning of confirming and positive one. Through this movie, I learned the importance of effective listening and how keeping your perception in check is important for your relationships and own self-growth. The reason I chose Jean was that she seemed completely different to me and I wanted to understand her way of thinking and why she might have reacted in such ways in the film. With this, I will practice and apply this analysis so that I can also have perspective and try to understand others before I place my judgments on them to better my communication skills.