Communication In Interpersonal Communication

Interpersonal Communication shows up in many movies. Nell is a movie directed by Michael Apted in 1994. Nell is about a girl that lives in a cabin the woods with her mother. When her mother dies Doctor Jerry Lovell comes to cabin and hears Nell. Doctor Lovell talks to Doctor Paula Olsen about Nell and has her come see Nell. They both have different ways to “help” Nell. The judge gives them three months to observe Nell and make the right decision. Doctor Paula wants to put Nell into a mental institution, while Doctor Jerry wants to have her stay where she is a live in the cabin. They believe that Nell does not speak English, when in fact, she does. She speaks aesthetic and a language her and her twin sister made up. Jerry tries to learn Nell’s …show more content…
Communication in the Real World: An Introduction to Communication Studies was published by the University of Minnesota Libraries. According to this textbook there are seven main purposes of listening to conversation; they are, “to focus on messages sent by other people or noises coming from our surroundings; to better our understanding of other people’s communication; to critically evaluate other people’s messages; to monitor nonverbal signals; to indicate that we are interested or paying attention; to empathize with others and show we care for them (relational maintenance); and to engage in negotiation, dialogue, or other exchanges that result in shared understanding of or agreement on an issue.” (Author unknown, 2016). Every conversation will have a purpose of why you are listening. In the movie Nell there are many examples that pop up in the movie of the types of listening and the purpose. The three types of listening that show up in Nell the most are informational, critical, and empathetic listening. Informational listening is used with the goal in mind of comprehending and retaining the information from the conversation. Whereas, critical listening is used to analyze or evaluate a message based on the information presented verbally or the information that can be gathered or inferred from context. Empathetic listening is one of the most difficult form of listening. This type …show more content…
One of the most difficult parts of verbal communication is the expression of feelings because there is a proper place, a how, a why, and to whom a person should express their emotions. In the movie Nell many emotions are conveyed in conversations. One of the most prominent conversations is when Doctor Lovell and Doctor Olsen have to take Nell to court to see what the outcome is of them observing her for three months. Nell has not spoken to anyone since she was taken to the hospital a few days prior to the courtroom. Jerry (Doctor Lovell) sees Nell as a daughter and starts to get very defensive for Nell when the other people want to take Nell to a lab and do some testing on her. He starts to create chaos when Nell stands up and says, “Je'y? spee' fo' Nell”. (Author not Credited, n.d.). Nell asked Jerry to interpret what she is saying so that everyone in the courtroom can understand her. Nell starts off talking to the judge, then slowly turns around and starts talking to Paula (Doctor Olsen), and finally turns to the audience and addresses them about her thoughts. Jerry is speaking Nells and says, “She says, since her mother died, she's been alone. She's been afraid. Everyone's frightened, everywhere The sweet Lord soothes our tears. Our many tears. Our world has...many people in it, Nell. People who can be your friends. But you have many things to learn. Don't you want that?