Interpersonal as Therapeutic

“Due to the fact that the normal, day-to-day cultural environment fails to provide ways to cope with the anxiety, there is a widespread need for therapy”(Illardo, 1972,p.4)

In the movie Stranger than Fiction, Harold and Ana, after a bumpy start to their friendship finally fall in love with each other. After falling in love with each other, Harold became aware that he is a character in a novel in which he is a tragic hero and has to die. Harold decided to share most of his intimate times with his newfound love, Ana till he death came for him.

I picked this quotation from Illardo because as I learned more about interpersonal communication it helped reduce my anxiety as I struggled to make new friends and maintain relationships in a new country.

The characters, Harold and Ana, in the movie Stranger than Fiction represented a moment when interpersonal communication was used as a therapy to ease the pain of incoming death. This movie perpetuated the evolution of dire hate for another to extreme affection between Harold and Ana. The development of a meaningful relationship connects to the quote above that interpersonal relationship can be therapeutic as Harold used his relationship with Ana to escape his dislike for his job and to cope with the distress of incoming death.

I think that interpersonal communication can be used a therapy to reduce the amount of stress and anxiety in an uncertain world as depicted by Harold and Ana. According to Berger and Calabrese (1975), Uncertainty reduction theory refers to what strangers go through upon meeting each other and form an idea about what one likes or dislikes. Overtime, the strangers are able to self disclose to reduce the amount of uncertainty around them and get comfortable among themselves. I believe that due to the uncertainty in meeting new people in a diverse world, anxiety has also increased hence people might interpret interpersonal communication as therapeutic to manage anxiety. In the case of Harold and Ana, as their relationship spiked, Harold found out that, he was a character in a novel and had to die. After knowing this, Harold became less aware of his own life and focused on having an interpersonal relationship with Ana. I argue that, his intimate relationship with Ana helped him to cope with the stress of incoming death. Just as families go through therapy sessions when they are about to or loose a family member, I believe Harold used his relationship with Ana as a therapy to cope with his unprecedented death.

Reference

Berger, C. R., Calabrese, R. J. (1975). Some Exploration in Initial Interaction and Beyond: Toward a Developmental Theory of Communication. Human Communication Research, 1, 99–112.

Illardo, J. A. (1972). Why Interpersonal Communication? The Speech Teacher, 66,373-382. #2

Stranger Than Fiction