Dehumanized Behavior

It is inevitable that conflict within a relationship will happen rather it be a deep personal relationship, or that of two strangers first meeting. The defining moment comes in rather the conflict can be settled in a constructive manner or rather it degrades and spirals into a destructive catastrophe. If the relationship does not meet the needs of each person involved then this is simply bound to take place, but we also understand that no relationship is perfect, thus our inevitable occurrence of interpersonal conflict.

The reasoning of such a relationship within a film is draw in the audience in, once there the viewing party can empathize with the characters portrayed by the actors. For this reason I choose the movie Spanglish, every character has some form of conflict with another of the family. The very dynamics of the house hold would lead one to see it as completely dysfunctional, and on the verge of collapse. Spanglish is the story of Flor Moreno, a Mexican single mother who attempts to prosper in a new culture, while still trying desperately to hold onto her own ethnic background.

The scene I found most interesting involved a complete lack of human respect. The opening scenes in which Flor and her cousin Monica come approach the house that the interview for a housekeeping position is to take place. The interview is being conducted by the home owner Deborah. Their initial communication is through a speaker at the gate and they are asked to join the family at the garden. One the way to the garden Monica smashes her nose on a glass door. Deborah then rushes off in a panic returning with a frozen bag for her nose and an offer of money as a form of compensation. Rather than any true fashion of an apology Deborah shows that she has a complete lack of respect for anyone and believes that money is what constitutes the situation. Deborah should have offered an apology rather than a wad of cash, as this would have resolved any further complications of the scenario.

Deborah's lack of hospitable behavior combined with her belief that money solves everything only served to escalate the underlying conflict of ethnical background diversity. Had she done any research or background on the type of people that she expected to answer to the job opening she could have avoided tensions being created right off the bat. If the homeowner had taken into account basic manners, and immediately began giving apologies for the injury that took place, she would have shown herself to be more deserving of respect.

Conflict is part of human nature, and no such animal exists that one would be able to perfectly coexist with everyone around them, but if we take into consideration that all people should be treated with dignity of some fashion or another, we can avoid or mitigate some of the damage caused by the fallout of disregardful behavior. Something as simple as an "excuse me" can same hours of frustration or pain.