Abstract
It is natural for people that are involved in a relationship to disagree because people have different points of view. Some of the most diverse views exist within families. Interpersonal conflict occurs when these differences cannot be resolved.
Keywords: interpersonal conflict
American Beauty: An Analysis of Denial and Interpersonal Conflict
In all relationships, there are disagreements. Disagreement can cause resentment and discontent, and, if significant, can lead to interpersonal conflict.
Interpersonal conflict within the family is one of the most significant factors linked to psychological damage (D’Angelo, 2003). The raw emotions exchanged between Colonel Frank Fitts and Ricky Fitts in the film American Beauty (Mendes, 1999) underscore the far-reaching effects of unresolved interpersonal conflicts.
Interpersonal Conflict between Colonel Franks Fitts and Ricky Fitts
Colonel Frank Fitts is Ricky’s father. He is stern and overpowering, and uses anger and violence to try to communicate with his son the values he is trying to teach him: respect, structure, rules, and discipline. This externalized method of communication fails with someone like Ricky (Sole, 2011).
Ricky is a sensitive and introspective teenager; who, like his father, is living in affliction. He has been the victim of vicious upbringing and has erected an elaborate system of barriers to protect himself against his father. He wants to avoid being sent back to a mental institution for lack of subordination.
Frank and Ricky’s relationship reaches a climax when Frank misinterprets the relationship between Ricky and their neighbor Lester as homosexual. Frank abhors homosexuality and confronts Ricky with his suspicions. Ricky at first denies it; but knowing that it is useless to argue with his father, or perhaps seeking a way out, admits it. Frank brutally evicts Ricky from their home. Ricky leaves and Frank’s world collapses: Ricky is his life.
Communication Techniques for the Resolution of Interpersonal Conflict
Ricky Fitts
In spite of his violent upbringing, Ricky is in control of his life, and confident of his own personality. He can see people as they truly are and sees beauty in life. In one scene he tells his girlfriend, "Sometimes there’s so much beauty in the world I feel like I can’t take itand my heart is going to cave in." Ricky understands and loves his father and may have been able to save him had he found a way to validate his father’s values.
However, the method Ricky chose to defuse his father’s anger----automatic capitulation to his arguments and demands---- only served to deny his own self and cut himself off from his father. Ricky refused to fight back; except at the end, when he fought to wound his father, not to resolve their conflict. It was heartbreaking; Ricky had empathy for his father, and in wounding his father he wounded himself. Ricky lacked the maturity and communication skills to handle his father’s violence and anger (Sole, 2011).
Colonel Frank Fitts
Frank is a complex character, imprisoned by denial and his inability to communicate. His communication skills are competitive and limited to physical violence and the imposition of his own will. Frank could have tried to develop a more rational approach to resolving his conflicts by trying to understand Ricky’s point of view, instead of externalizing and placing all the blame on his son, or instead of denying his own homosexuality (Hughes, 2008).
It was difficult to see Frank in an introspective role, for the denial of his own feelings blocked his way to reaching his own son. But then, at the end, he came so close----what was he trying to say when he told Lester, “Iam.”?
References
Cohen, B. (Producer), & Mendes, S. (Director). (1999). American beauty [Film]. Los
Angeles: Dreamworks.
D’Angelo, S.L., & Omar, H.A. (2003). Parenting Adolescents. International Journal of
adolescent Mediacal Health 15 (1), 11-19.
Hughes, E.K., & Guillone, E. (2008). Internalizing symptoms and disorders in families of
adolescents: a review of family systems literature. Clinical Psychological Review
28 (1), 92-117.
Sole, K. (2011). Making connections: Understanding interpersonal communication. San
Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
