Communication and Relationships in Film: Me Before You

Human beings are relational with a deep need to connect and belong. Personal associations between lovers and friend adopt and evolve rapidly in the course of time. The process of developing relationships has stages explainable through communicative processes. The formation, development, and termination of relationship in the film "Me before You" can be analyzed through relationship development theories and models.

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The attraction theory of relationship development is based on the idea that romantic relationships occur when one notices another person and intimate desires emerge. Clarke meets Will during her work assignment. She is hired to take care of Will who is physically challenged. Will first resists her charm, and then the two begin to converse and discover they share interests. Three forces operate within the attraction theory, namely proximity, attractiveness, and similarity (Roberts-Griffin4). Their influences cement the romantic bond between the lovers. Proximity refers to how close people are to each other (Roberts-Griffin 5). Clarke role as a caregiver brings her closer to Will as she offers personalized care that includes feeding. Their contact develops into conversations on shared interests. Clarke invites Will to attend her birthday party, and Will reciprocates with a wedding invitation. This shifts proximity from casual contact to personal space and their romance blossoms. The closeness develops into an attraction for each other ignited by similar interests. They share personality traits such as sarcasm and humor and similar taste for movies, and games. For example, William was a professional skier, and Clarke enjoys horseracing. Eventually, they get attracted to each other physical looks on a date night to a musical concert. This similarity affords them opportunities to converse. William uses the time to challenge each other and to express their affection leading intimacy.

The uncertainty reduction theory of relationship development explains the film relations. This theory argues that during the first contact between people, efforts are put towards reducing uncertainty. When Clarke is presented to William, she is anxious, and he is dismissive. During the first ten days, Clarke tries to reduce the uncertainty by prodding Clarke to talk. Eventually, the two get along when Clarke shares her job insecurities and more of her personal life. The openness wins William trust, and they began to explore mutual desire.

The turning point model captures the dynamic nature of relationships. The model shows that relationships are not static, they progress, and retrogressive based on internal and external influences (Solomon, Kirsten, and Keli 116). Clarke and William's relationship grows from indifference to commitment then a break-up only to end with reconciliation. William expresses his surprise that Clarke has never watched a subtitled movie. They watch one together initiating a bond. Their relationship is integrated when William admits, "he would love" to attend Clarke's birthday. Bonding occurs during their public dance at a wedding. When the two share their first kiss during the holiday, they become intimate. However, intimacy it is short-lived as William refuses to change his mind on having euthanasia. Clarke avoids him by refusing to accompany him to terminate his life. The relationship ends in a peaceful tragedy. They two reconcile in a romantic conversation before William opts a peaceful Euthanasia death. The turning points help to analyze the life cycle of a relationship process.

Conclusion

Conclusively, it is possible to explain the formation, development, and termination of the human relations using relationship development theories and models. In the film Me Before You, attraction theory describes how the closeness and similarities between the main characters develop attractiveness that grows into intimacy. The uncertainty reduction model shows that an objective in relationships is to overcome uncertainties encountered during acquaintance. Relationships emerge as dynamic processes with stages that act as the turning points to initiate, nurture, or close a connection. Communication theory presents relationships development as an art experienced through practice and a science that can be learned for an application.

Works Cited

Roberts-Griffin, Christopher P. "What Is a Good Friend: A Qualitative Analysis of Desired Friendship Qualities." Penn McNair Research Journal, vol. 3, no.1, 2011, pp.4.

Solomon, Denise Haunani, Kirsten M. Weber, and Keli Ryan Steuber. "Turbulence in Relational Transitions." New Directions in Interpersonal Communication Research, 2010, pp. 115-134.