What About Bob? A Comedy of Phobias and Egos - Essay Sample

Introduction

What about Bob? is an American comedy film directed by Frank Oz. The plot centers Bob Wiley, a mentally disturbed person, and Dr. Leo Marvin, a psychiatrist. Wiley suffers from multiple phobias despite seeking help from numerous therapists. His wife divorces him after his conditions persist, and also to her obsession with musician Neil Diamond. His initial therapist gets fed up with his un-improving behavior and decides to send him to Dr. Marvin. However, Dr. Marvin is egocentric and does not care much for his patients; thus, he dismisses Wiley after holding one session to go on a family vacation. Wiley, mesmerized by Marvin’s therapeutic method, decides to follow Marvin to the holiday, hoping that he will get better. However, his stay at the vacation disturbs Dr. Marvin’s peace, for he sees Wiley as a threat that wants to overpower him in his position. The distraught becomes too much in that the movie ends with him suffering mental issues. On the other hand, the vacation seems to work for Wiley because his condition improves, and he settles down with a psychology career and a marriage.

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Preview of the Interpersonal Communication Concepts in the Film

Notably, What about Bob? deeply analyzes the aspects that are entailed in interpersonal skills. Interpersonal communication refers to the exchange of information between two people or groups that are independent. Here, the parties exchanging messages are different, so they usually interpret information differently. This paper evaluates only three interpersonal concepts featured in the film, which include; perception, conflict, and non-verbal messages. Generally, the film explores these aspects through how the characters fail to relate properly with one another. Most of the conversations, particularly between the main protagonists, Willey and Dr. Marvin, end up in fights.

Perception

Perception in interpersonal settings refers to the process through which we make meaning about people and things. The process involves three stages of analyzing experiences, which include selection, organization, and interpretation. Selection entails the particular aspects that notice about the person or situation that we are perceiving. Organization is tasked with helping us to make sense of what we have selected. Finally, interpretation is a rational process, where we match information to what we have seen to form meaning. Now, the concept of perception in What about Bob is depicted in several ways through different characters.

The first type of perception in the movie is the primacy effect, which is portrayed by Dr. Marvin. It is the first impression that people make over things, situations, and people. Here, an individual receives forms judgment based on the little information he gets through the five senses of seeing, hearing, touching, feeling, and smelling. Dr. Marvin makes a first impression of Wiley when Godswell, Wiley’s first doctor, calls him to hand Willey over to him. Godswell convinces Marvin that Willey pays on time and comes to sessions early. As a result, Marvin makes a first impression that Willey will be an effective patient to work with to improve his practice. Also, when he learns that Wiley had called his secretary two times, he says, “that’s persistence,” to mean that he is satisfied with Wiley’s commitment as a patient.

Importantly, the primacy effects go hand in hand with recency effects, which entail the final impressions. Here, the perception is formed after the person has interacted with the person, situation, or event for a quality time. He/she has stayed with the other party for a while and can manage to form a conclusive impression. Dr. Marvin’s initial perception of Wiley changes the more he interacts with him. He starts to find Wiley irritating as he keeps on invading his boundaries while on vacation with his family. He no longer associates Wiley with the positivity that he had before meeting him. The climax of his reaction concerning his final impression is demonstrated when he attacks Wiley after he (Wiley) puts his arms around Lily, his sister.

Another concept of perception in the film is self-serving bias. It is a form of perception attribution, where we attribute our excellences to our internal strengths but blame our failures to the external factors. Dr. Marvin thinks highly of himself as the best psychologist in the world. For instance, when Godswell tells him that he is the only person that could win a Nobel prize, he quickly accepts to treat Wiley. Also, D. Marvin acts proudly when showing Wiley his book, Baby Steps, which he terms as "ground-breaking new book” (Edwards, 2016), to refer to his intelligence. However, when things go sour for him, he attributes his failure to Wiley. For example, when he acts a fool in his interview about his new book, he blames Willey, who had unintentionally stolen the show for his mess.

Conflict

Conflict, as an interpersonal conflict, is the situation in which interactions lack incompatible goals, whether real or ideal. The parties in such a setting usually have opposing views that lead them not to reach a mutual agreement. Notably, What about Bob? explores the causes of conflict.

One of the causes is personality clashes, whereby people portray different personalities that seem not to get along. Wiley’s behavior of invading people’s boundaries causes conflict between him and his doctors. For instance, Godswell gets fed up by him; thus, he resolves to send him Dr. Marvin. However, this character makes it impossible for them to get along. Marvin gets irritated when Wiley follows him on vacation.

Another cause is characters feeling threatened regarding their status. Here, the conflicts happen when one party starts feeling that the other party wants to deprive its state to overpower it in its lane. This concept is portrayed majorly through Willey and Dr. Marvin. Dr. Marvin is uncomfortable with Willey's gate-crash to his family vacation. He feels that it is inappropriate to interact that close with his patient. He feels spending time with Willey will contaminate his high status. He tells Wiley, “The doctor-patient relationship is based on trust….” (Edwards, 2016). Here, he thinks that Wiley is violating his professionalism status.

Similarly, during the TV interview, Dr. Marvin feels like Wiley is overtaking his status of glory for celebrating his professionalism. Willey thoughtfully responds to the question by praising Dr. Marvin's work and his new book, unintentionally stealing the show from Dr. Marvin. The doctor is also threatened by the way Wiley is getting closer to his family. He fills his position is being replaced. For example, as the movie ends, Willey marries Lily, Marvin’s sister. However, this union does not sit well with Marvin, leading him to scream “no,” as Wiley and Lily are pronounced husband and wife.

Moreover, the Guttmans conflict with Dr. Marvin because he purchased the lakeside home, they had been yearning for years to buy. In this case, the Gutman’s feel Dr. Marvin had undermined their status for the lakeside home is a representation of a privileged social class. That’s why they hate Dr. Marvin in that they talk ill of him when they are conversing with Willey. For instance, they call him "son of a bitch" (Edwards, 2016), severally when expressing their anger.

Non-Verbal Messages

Non-verbal cues are a critical accompaniment to verbal communication. They are useful in expounding on the message to ensure that it is delivered as intended. In What about Bob?, each character displays non-verbal cues that communicate what they are trying to say. Facial expression is adequately featured in the movie. Here, messages are created using the looks on the face to express some information that is related to emotions. An excellent is example is the first conversation between Wiley and Dr. Marvin. Wiley is excited that he is finally optimistic that Dr. Marvin will help him with his problems. The excitement is expressed through smiling. However, when the doctor says that he will be going for a vacation for a month, his smiles drops to frowning (Edwards, 2016). The frown signifies that he is sad that the doctor won’t be available for him as he had anticipated.

Another non-verbal message is communicated through the movement of heads. Mostly, these are used in disagreeing or agreeing with something. For instance, a nod for a “yes” and a shake for a “no.” In What about Bob?, Wiley decides to impersonate a detective to retrieve information about Dr. Marvin’s vacation location. He fabricates a story that he had committed suicide. A lady named Betty is shocked, and she shakes her head (Edwards, 2016). Here, she is communicating that she is not happy that Bob Wiley was dead. Wiley continues to ask if she is Betty so that he can retrieve more information about Dr. Marvin. Betty responds by nodding her head, saying, “Yes, I’m Betty” (Edwards, 2016). By nodding, she affirms that she is Betty.

Lastly, to be discussed, here, is the use of paralinguistic, which entails the use of vocal communication to accompany verbal messages to enhance its interpretation and understanding. One of the paralinguistic that is used is the tone of the voice. For instance, in the scene where a car splashes mud on Dr. Marvin, he curses in a high tone to demonstrates that he is pissed. He had driven Wiley far away so that he could leave him there. When he gets home, he finds people holding a party, and Wiley, somehow, found his way back. He goes ballistic when he sees Wiley holding his sister. He says, “do not touch my sister (Edwards, 2016),” in high tone to signify his frustration.

Summary

The movie, What about Bob? explores how interpersonal communication can be active or ruined. While some characters are trying their level best to form formidable interrelations, others, like Dr. Marvin, are blinded by the perceptions they bear concerning others. The attitudes breed to conflict throughout the conflict, where each character feels the need to express their views and emotions regarding the various themes explored in the film.

Reference

Edwards, H. [Harold Edwards]. (2016, Nov 17). Watch What about Bob Watch Movies Online Free. [video]. YouTube. http://shakespeare.mit.edu/hamlet/full.html