Interpersonal conflict: causes, dynamics, and resolution strategies

Interpersonal Conflict in Film

American Beauty (Spacey, Bening and Birch) is a 1999 Film with many interpersonal conflicts that are never resolved. Basically a comedy and drama about Lester Burnham's mid-life crisis but also showing the personal crisis of every other major character, the movie shows a father-daughter conflict between Lester and Jane Burnham that could have been resolved. Communication, time and their common characteristics are three factors that could have resolved Lester's and Jane's interpersonal conflict, if Lester had lived longer.

Everybody in Lester Burnham's life, including Lester and his daughter, Jane, think that he is a "loser." The conflict between them is shown early in the movie, at dinner. Lester, Carolyn and Jane Burnham are having their family dinner at home, Lester asks about Jane's school day and she eventually says sarcastically, "It was spectacular." Then, when Lester discusses his job problem and Jane does not seem interested, he asks, "You couldn't possibly care less, could you? Jane says, "Well, what do you expect? You can't all of a sudden be my best friend just because you had a bad day. I mean, hello, you've barely even spoken to me for months." He does not disagree with her. She gets up from the table and walks out of the room. Also, later in the movie, Jane complains about Lester's mid-life crisis crush on her girlfriend and even asks her new boyfriend to kill him and "put him out of his misery." There is no question about a conflict between Lester and Jane, and that conflict is never resolved in the movie.

If Lester had not been murdered by Colonel Frank Fitts, the interpersonal conflict between Lester and Jane could have been resolved. In the first place, they used to communicate, Lester is still trying to communicate with Jane and there is still the possibility of future communication: after Jane walks out on her parents during that first dinner, Lester goes to her privately and says, "Janie, I'm sorry that I haven't been more available…you know you don't always have to wait for me to come to you." Jane says, "Oh, great. So, now it's my fault." Lester says, "I didn't say that. It's nobody's fault….Janie, what happened? We used to be pals." She does not disagree. Also, the characters still interact with each other through the movie, so there is still a possibility of communication. That little exchange of dialogue and the fact that they still interact show that was past communication, Lester is still trying to communicate and there is still a possibility of communication between them, all showing that this interpersonal conflict could eventually be resolved.

A second reason that their interpersonal conflict could be resolved is the fact that Lester finally seems to be getting over the mid-life crisis by the end of the movie. A lot of this conflict seems to come from Lester's mid-life crisis, when he is depressed and numb, then quits his job (in a great scene with Brad, the efficiency expert), starts smoking pot, buys the 1970 Pontiac Firebird he always wanted, starts working out, is obviously attracted to Jane's teenaged girlfriend, masturbates thinking about Jane's girlfriend, then actually approaches this teenager for a relationship. Jane is so disgusted with Lester that she even asks her new boyfriend to kill him and "put him out of his misery," and we do not know until the very end whether that request results in Lester's murder. But Lester eventually seems to be coming through all that: he finally gets the opportunity to have sex with the teenaged girlfriend but stops himself when he realizes how young and innocent she really is; by the end of the movie, Lester seems more relaxed with who he is and not so depressed. In sum, there are signs that Lester is coming through his mid-life crisis and since that crisis seems to be a part of their conflict, the end of the mid-life crisis might mean that their relationship can finally heal.

A third reason that their interpersonal conflict might be resolved is that they actually seem to have a lot in common: they used to be pals; they both hate Carolyn Burnham's "elevator music" that she plays at dinner; they both seem to have untraditional ways of looking at life, at least compared to Carolyn: Jane seems at least semi-Goth and Lester is very untraditional in his approach to losing his job and being unemployed at 40; they both like Ricky Fitts, who is Jane's boyfriend and Lester's "dealer." It seems that if Lester had only lived, Lester and Jane had enough in common that their interpersonal conflict could be resolved.