THE LIMITS OF COMMUNICATION, PART 2
Everywhere, it seems, the myth of communication as savior is championed and celebrated, but nowhere more prominently than in television and film, whose stories often serve as life lessons for their viewers.
In scripted television, conflict develops and plays out between characters, only to be resolved at show’s end by the Great Communication Solution: everyone simply explains where they’re coming from and why, followed by everyone’s happy awakening. The Great Communication Solution provides a quick and convenient solution to any dramatic conflict, especially one facing the time constraints of episodic television.
In popular film, the formula is the same. Only rarely does the cinematic experience question the all-curative power of communication. One of the best exceptions is the classic film Cool Hand Luke, where the prison warden, Captain (played by Strother Martin), explains to the savvy but incorrigible inmate, Luke Jackson (played by Paul Newman), that his rejection of authority is because he obviously misunderstands prison rules. “What we got here,” he say sardonically, “is failure to communicate.”
More typical are the scores of romantic comedies that invariably feature the earnest couple facing some issue, usually involving a misunderstanding, which threatens to end their otherwise perfect relationship. Most of the time, the “crisis” is so simple it could be settled by the family dog. Yet here they are, this adorable couple, still deeply in love, about to call it quits until, at last, one person finds the courage to apply the Great Communication Solution. A brief conversation ensues, everyone is set straight, and the newly enlightened couple live happily ever after.
In the real world, of course, people don’t end marriages simply because someone has misheard or misread the other. And no five-minute dialogue, no matter how poignant, ever permanently stabilized a rocky relationship. True, some relationships end because the couples never learned how to effectively communicate. But many more dissolve or never get started because the participants have communicated all too well and know they want no part of one another.
A version of this post originally appeared in Richard Kallan, Renovating Your Writing: Shaping Ideas and Arguments into Clear, Concise, and Compelling Messages, 2nd ed. (Routledge, 2017).