Catch A Falling Star

Synopsis

            Two very different families converge on Martha’s Vineyard one weekend for a wedding. (IMDb)

Communication Theory

            In this movie, a communication theory that I think is evident in the movie is the standpoint theory.  Em Griffin, in his book A First Look at Communication Theory, discusses Sandra Harding and Julia T. Wood’s standpoint theory. Harding and Wood based this theory around the relationship between knowledge and power. By looking at different places on the hierarchical scale, there will be different viewpoints. They state that by starting with minorities, people who are on the fringes of society, (women, racial minorities, and the poor) an observer will see a less false view of the world. The people at the higher end of the hierarchy make the rules so that they fit them perfectly and teach others to perpetuate this mindset. To get a less biased and cookie cutter ideology you must look to the people the rules were not made by.  (Griffin 447-458)

            In this movie Sabrina Watson and Jason Taylor come from two almost opposite worlds. They love each other and are excited to get married before Sabrina moves to China for a job opportunity, but when their families come together for their wedding and meet for the first time, everything that could go wrong does. Hostility arises and secrets are revealed, making Jason and Sabrina question the marriage.

            Once the Taylors arrive at the Watson’s luxurious house they are immediately judged by their appearance and actions. Their downtown city feel is a stark contrast with that of the Watson’s uptown lifestyle. The Watson’s judge them based on the small pieces of information they know about them, which are: they have less money and they are different than the families they are associated with. This in itself automatically made me think of a what Harding and Wood stated, “The social groups within which we are located powerfully shape what we experience as well as how we understand and communicate with ourselves, other, and the world.” (447)

            Another example of social groups shaping perceptions is when Ms. Taylor expresses that she has brought the broom she and her husband jumped and her parents jumped for Jason and Sabrina to jump. Instead of Sabrina seeing this as a kind gesture offered as an olive branch of kindness she immediately refuses and states they will do no such thing. Sabrina has been so influenced by her friends and their ritzy preferences to even think about what kind of sentimental value it would have to her future mother-in-law.

            There is a part in Griffin’s book where he talks about definitions belonging to the definers and not the defined. This is perfectly demonstrated in the movie with Sabrina’s aunt, Geneva. She is made out to be the crazy one, who likes to cause trouble and does not care what anyone else thinks. Toward the end of the movie the truth comes out though. Geneva is Sabrina’s real mother. Throughout the majority of Sabrina’s adult life and at the wedding Geneva has been forced to not say a word about it because Sabrina’s parents would not allow it.

            As I watched this movie, I identified with the Watsons more at first because of their financial situation and place in life. This made it hard for me to identify with this theory and find an application until it finally hit me that I was experiencing the heart of the theory. I come from upper-middle-class white family, while I can relate to this theory by being a women, that is about it. The truth is though, that just like the Watsons I have been raised to uphold the status quo. My opinion to some extent is what it is because I know it is supposed to be that way. That’s what I ended up liking the most about this movie. Both sides were able to look outside of themselves and see the other people’s perspectives and grow from that insight.

            Jason and Sabrina jump the broom and with that they and their families overcome their stereotypes and preconceived misconceptions. They learn to look past what they are told to look at and experience the truth of the situation by seeing the other person’s perspective as well as their own.

Sources

Akil, S. (Director). (2011). Jumping the phybroom [Film]. Culver City, CA: TriStar Pictures.

Griffin, E. (2011). A first look at communication theory. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.

Jumping the Broom.  [date unknown].  The Internet Movie Database.  Retrieved November 28, 2011, from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1640484/