Interpersonal Communication in a Television Production

Introduction

Interpersonal Communication can be defined as the communication that takes place between people who are in some way "connected". It is the verbal and nonverbal interaction between two or more interdependent people. (De Vito, 2013).

In this essay will explore 'The Self' in Interpersonal Communication, focussing on Self Awareness and Self Disclosure between the characters: Felicity and

Herman in the soapie 7de Laan.

The Johari window model of the four selves, i.e. (i) the open self - this is information which is known to yourself and others and includes information like your physical appearance, occupation, etc, (ii) the blind self - includes information that others can see in you, but you cannot see in yourself, for example, you would think you are a poor leader, but others might think you exhibit strong leadership skills. (iii) the hidden self -this is information you wish to keep private, information that open to self and hidden from others, such as your hurts, pain, dreams and ambitions, and (iv) the unknown self - information that is unknown to self and others, for example, you may have hidden talents that you have not yet explored. Self-disclosure is the opening and closing of these windows so that we may become more intimate with others. (Luft, 1984)

Self-disclosure means communicating information about yourself that you normally keep hidden to another person. However, this is not simply providing information to another person, but a sharing of information that they would not normally know or discover. When you reveal yourself to others, you increase your open self and you also reveal yourself to yourself. Also, by increasing the open self you increase the likelihood that a meaningful and intimate dialogue will develop, which will enable you to get to know yourself better. This important process is called self-disclosure. (Luft, 1984, DeVito 2012).

Self-awareness represents the extent to which you know yourself. It involves self-knowledge and stems from reflection. The more you understand why you view yourself as you do, the more you will understand who you are. It is being aware of our own emotions and channelling them correctly. (DeVito, Sinclair, 2012)

Scenes 1- 3 referred to in text (7de Laan):

Herman & Felicity a married couple are separated, due to his 'almost' indiscretion. Felicity is angry with him and refuses to listen to his side of the story, as he had previously cheated on her before they were married. The woman this time, tried to set Felicity on fire in her apartment. Although Felicity has all sorts of pent up emotions inside, she pretends to be positive and ready to face the world. Due to all the tension and being emotionally drained, Felicity becomes paralysed once again. Herman feels guilty for all that Felicity has had to endure, but they can't seem to come together or talk. He is served with divorce papers and can't take it anymore. He tries to kill himself with a revolver. Felicity finds him, and persuades him to stop. They eventually speak and make up and Felicity and Herman begin seeing a psychologist. They renew their marriage vows and Felicity is happy again. She starts to feel sensation in her toes and not long is able to walk again. (Odendaal & Milner, 2012)

Both Felicity and Herman were exhibiting at least 2 of the 4 selves from Johari's window. The blind self, in that they thought and pretended to be fine and positive, meanwhile others around them could see that they were in pain and not coping and were in effect creating their own emotional and physical stress, due to their faked emotional expressions. The hidden self, in that they kept all the pain and hurt feelings inside and tried to keep up appearances with others. They both had the self-destructive belief that they had to be strong and that weakness or any vulnerable emotion like sadness is wrong. Even though they're both pretending to be 'strong' and acting as though everything is fine, they keep snapping at those around them. They were not communicating with each other and were afraid to reveal their emotions. Some of the more difficult interpersonal communication situations are those that involve emotions.

In developing self-awareness, you need to recognise what your feelings are, understand why you feel as you do, and understand the potential effects of your feelings (DeVito, 2012). The ineffective Interpersonal Communication demonstrated by both these characters was in keeping their feelings inside and failing to express their negative feelings, particularly Felicity. She internalised all her emotions and pretended to be ok. This affected her so much so that she became paralysed. Her paralyses, caused by the mental and emotional stress is called psychosomatic illness. She was not fully aware of and did not understand what her feelings were and to what extent they were affecting her. The non self-disclosure between these two nearly destroyed