Interpersonal conflict resolution in selected films

Hitch and Interpersonal Conflict

Hitch is a 1995 film by Andy Tennant in which the development of interpersonal communication is developed and utilized to establish and cultivate romantic relationships between people that would otherwise not interact. In the film, Alex "Hitch" Hitchens, portrayed by Will Smith, helps men to overcome interpersonal communication barriers. While Hitch is successful in helping others, he finds that a lack of communication, and the obfuscation of his profession, cause interpersonal conflicts to arise between himself and Sara Melas, played by Eva Mendes, a gossip columnist with whom Hitch begins to have a relationship with.

In the film, Hitch makes a living helping men like Albert Brennaman, a mild-mannered accountant, establish communication channels with women like Allegra Cole, a celebrity and client of the accounting firm Brennaman works for. Hitch contends that 60% of communication is body language, 30% is tone, and 10% is what one says. Based upon principle, it can be argued that Hitch sets up men to avoid being communicative because he places emphasis on how things are said rather than the things that are communicated between people. Through simple instructions that let men highlight their strengths without completely communicating who they are, Hitch helps countless men date women that could be considered to be "out of their league."

Although Hitch is able to help other men establish lasting relationships, Hitch encounters problems when he pursues a romantic relationship of his own. In the film, conflict between Hitch and Sara arises due to their profession and personal background. For instance, Hitch keeps what he does secret from Sara; in fact, the only way that he advises other men is through recommendations and word-of-mouth advertising. Hitch does not advertise what he does and his Dr. Date persona is initially considered to be an urban myth. On the other hand, Sara works as a gossip columnist who is obsessed with exposing the truth about other people, especially celebrities.

While Hitch tries to establish a relationship with Sara based on who he is and not what he does, Sara cannot differentiate between the two and in fact does everything to expose his secret identity. The exposure of his secret identity not only causes conflict between Hitch and Sara, but also creates conflict between Brennaman and Allegra, whose relationship becomes a casualty of Sara's war against Hitch.

It can be argued that the problems between Hitch and Sara arose due to a failure to communicate. While Sara is open about who she is and what she does, Hitch refuses to tell Sara exactly what he does, which is exposed when Sara runs an article on Hitch and his dating service after she believes that one of his clients took advantage of her friend. Because she did not do her research and instead based her "truth" on gossip, which is what she does for a living, Hitch was not able to defend who he was, nor was he allowed to explain exactly what he does for a living. It is only after Sara prints what she believes to be true that Hitch confronts her and opens a line of communication that allows Sara to see that she is mistaken and that her approach to printing the truth, especially that based on gossip and hearsay, creates more problems and can be detrimental to the reputation of herself and of others. The conflict that arises between Hitch and Sara could have been avoided if Hitch was upfront about what he did and if Sara trusted him enough to know that he would never intentionally be as cruel as to set someone up for heartbreak.