Movie Analysis: Mr. Holland's Opus

Mr. Holland’s Opus is a film that follows the life of Mr. Glenn Holland from the 1960s to the 1990s (Herek, 1995). Mr. Holland was a musician, a teacher, a husband, a father, and a friend, yet his character had flaws. The movie portrayed not only the highlights of Mr. Holland’s life, but the trials he experienced and the mistakes he made. The story examined how he used interpersonal concepts such as confirming and disconfirming messages, defensive and supportive behaviors, and how he handled conflict. “Social scientists use the term confirming communication to describe messages that convey valuing, and disconfirming communication to describe those that show a lack of regard” (Adler, 2005, p.333). One type of confirming message Mr. Holland …show more content…
Mr. Holland also used disconfirming messages. For example, he verbally abused his students when the entire class performed poorly on an exam. He criticized and yelled, “These tests are pathetic!” to the students (Herek, 1995). In addition to confirming and disconfirming messages, Mr. Holland exhibited the defensive and supportive behaviors. He used various types of defensive messages, such as superiority and evaluation. Adler (2005) states that superiority is “any message that suggests “I’m better than you”” (p.347). Superiority occurred in Mr. Holland’s Opus during a scene between Glenn and his son Cole. Cole opened a window to help get rid of the smell from his science experiments, which consequently scattered the sheets of music his father was working on all over the floor (Herek, 1995). Cole helped his father pick up the music, but his father replied out of anger, “This is off limits to you!” and that he was only making things worse (Herek, 1995). Another type of disconfirming message he used was evaluation. One form of evaluation is “you” language…” which is a “… judgmental statement…” (Adler, 2005, p.344). Glenn came home from work the day John Lennon died and appeared upset (Herek, 1995). …show more content…
Holland experienced numerous conflicts during his lifetime, especially in his teaching career. Conflict is defined “as an expressed struggle between at least two interdependent parties who perceive incompatible goals, scarce rewards, and interference from the other party in achieving their goals” (Adler, 2005, p.373). The main conflict Mr. Holland had with teaching was ‘incompatible goals’. He had spent time traveling in a band, but his true passion was to write an award winning piece of music that would bring him fame and riches. So, he decided to utilize his teaching degree and got a job at a high school as a music teacher so that he would have more time to work on his music. At first he hated his job because the students were unmotivated and he did not have time to compose music. Once he found out his wife was pregnant, he decided that he needed to make teaching work in order to provide for his new family. He began to relate to the kids and start to make an impact. After decades of teaching, the school had to get rid of the music department due to budget cuts and Mr. Holland lost his job. As he was about to leave his classroom for the final time he said, “It 's almost funny. I got dragged into this gig kicking and screaming, and now it 's the only thing I want to do” (Herek, 1995). Little did he know that hundreds of people gathered to say thank you for the impact he made in their life. Gertrude, now a Senator, gave a speech and said, “We are your symphony