television and interpersonal conflict

In today’s rapidly developing society

There is a greater need for good communicators, and the book Making Interpersonal Relationships by Bevan and Sole (2014) provides realistic skills to that end. As culture has become more technologically sophisticated, people’s ability to connect to one another and communicate efficiently has degraded and continues to deteriorate. The failure to form intimate relationships can also be due to people preferring to connect by computers rather than relating on a more personal basis. To illustrate the scenario described an episode from the television show Blackish on the ABC network will be discussed. Interpersonal relationships are guided by the management of the conversations, empathy and social support.

Blackish

Blackish is a comedy hit series that airs weekly on the ABC network. The television show is about a family and the issues affecting the family in their new neighborhood. Episodes tackle various issues faced by millions of families in the United States and how these challenges shape the way the family in the show perceives life and newly acquired knowledge. Episode twenty-two of the first season deal with sexuality and the perceptions build around it. However, as opposed to discussing the views as portrayed in this particular episode, the focus will be drawn to the interpersonal relationships between the characters. The plot follows Dre, played by Anthony Anderson and his sister Rhonda played by Raven Symone avoid communication on the subject of sexuality (Anderson et al., 2016).

The challenges of interpersonal relationships

The two prefer to ignore the issue bothering them as well as their other family members because Rhonda has never come out. Unlike with her brother Dre who knows that she is lesbian and accepts her but never talks about it, Rhonda’s mother is in denial over her sexuality. This scene illustrates one of the common challenges in making interpersonal relationships as described by Bevan and Sole (2014). Both mother and daughter exhibit poor interpersonal relationships which are further developed by assumption. The assumption by Rhonda is that the mother knows she is a lesbian and thus sees no need in officially coming out which drives her to continually refer to her partner as the roommate.

The importance of communication

On the other hand, Rhonda’s mother takes the first impression as the complete truth and assumes that Rhonda’s partner is her roommate and not the girlfriend who is inaccurate. For both to come to a common ground where the issue is clearly laid out and discussed they have into make interpersonal relationship which is shown to be a journey. Other family members egg both of them to talk about it which shows that some of the challenges presented in making interpersonal relationships can be solved by combined effort (Anderson et al., 2016). In the end, the conflict is fixed, and we see harmony in the home as Rhonda comes out to her family, and her mother accepts her for who she is and admits to her denial.

The elements of making interpersonal relationships

In conclusion, the episode covers three main parts of making interpersonal relationships which include conversational management and in particular listening, maintaining of interpersonal relationships and dealing with challenges while making interpersonal relationships. The episode illustrates how all these elements overlap making it possible for people to communicate effectively and making strong interpersonal relationships.

References

Anderson, A., Barris, K., Fishburne, L., Griffiths, J., Dobbins, B., Principato, P., Young, P. (Executive Producers), & Barris, K. (Creator). (2016). “Please Don’t Ask, Please Don’t Tell.” Black-ish [Television series]. Retrieved from http://abc.go.com/shows/blackish

Bevan, J. L., & Sole, K. (2014). Making Connections: Understanding interpersonal communication (2nd Ed.) [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu