Sonny And His Father: Communication Analysis

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Watch the movie at __. The specific purpose of this paper is to analyze and explain the different forms of communication between Sonny and his father. The central idea of this paper is to show the inefficiency in Sonny and his father’s relationship. Both Sonny and his father are unable to communicate anything to one another with any common understanding. This paper will discuss the communication competence, the models of communication, communication characteristics, self-awareness, the meaning of words, non-verbal communication, listening styles, and the end with the elements of culture of the scene between Sonny and his father. According to Beebe, Beebe, & Ivy (2012), there are three criteria that make up being a competent communicator.…show more content…
However, he takes action in trying his very best, which even includes calling his father for advice. However, Sonny does lack symbolic self-awareness. His is not able to develop a representation of his thoughts and motives, which is why he is not able to deliver this news to his father in a way that his father can understand, and respond to in a calm matter. Sonny’s father lacks self-awareness as a whole. When Sonny’s father receives his son’s phone call, he lashes out at him immediately. There is barely any space for Sonny to explain himself to his father because his father is so upset with him. Both characters are too stubborn and alike to realize the thoughts going on in their own heads. They lack self-awareness, which is why the conversation between the two went the way that it did. In this scene we found that both characters lack self-awareness. This is why the conversation between Sonny and his father got so intense. Self-awareness is important for good communication. We will now examine the meaning of words in this…show more content…
“Words give us symbolic vehicles to communicate our creations and discoveries to others”. When Sonny told his father that he adopted a kid, the specific words he used had a strong influence on the dad’s reaction. Beebe, Beebe, and Ivy also noted that “when you label something good or bad you use language to create your own vision of how you experience the world”. In this particular scene, Sonny was stuttering a lot and his words symbolized his confusion of the current situation. Beebe, Beebe, & Ivy (2012) noted that “words and actions are tools we use to let someone know whether we support them or not”(p.76) Jack Gibbs has researched supportive and defensive communication for a couple years now and he defines defensive communication as “a language that creates a climate of hostility and mistrust”(p. 76-77) In the scene the father uses crude language and even goes to the extent of saying that “the kid would be better off living in a dumpster than with Sonny” (Adam Sandler). The relationship between the father and Adam Sandler was not on good terms in the first place and by this form of communication the relationship is now beyond repair. The meaning of words used in this scene had a strong influence on both of the actor’s reactions and therefore the conversation grew to a hostile argument. The next topic will be focused on discussing non-verbal

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