StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Movie Analysis: I Am Sam - Assignment Example

Cite this document
Summary
This essay discusses a drama "I am Sam " written by Jessie Nelson. The movie depicts the importance of communication in daily life for which the three communication elements; relational dialectics, eye contact and compromising have taken center stage…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER91.6% of users find it useful
Movie Analysis: I Am Sam
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Movie Analysis: I Am Sam"

Movie Analysis: I Am Sam I am Sam I am Sam is a drama directed and written by Jessie Nelson. The movie depicts the importance of communication in daily life for which the three communication elements; relational dialectics, eye contact and compromising have taken center stage. This paper is going to analyse the 3 communication elements relational dialectics, eye contact and compromising throughout the movie, I am Sam. It is from here that we can comment about the various lessons, the movie teaches us about communication in our daily lives. I really did enjoy watching the movie as well as the various ways people use to communicate with one another. There are various forms of communication through which people can communicate with each other by use of nonverbal communication as well as verbal communication. Apart from that I also learnt how somebody’s feelings can be wounded by other people’s actions. For example, I watched as Sam together with his daughter makes use of nonverbal communication all through the film to communicate with one another. In addition to that I watched how Sam’s lawyer learnt communicating with her son; of course after Sam taught her. Thus Sam’s lawyer realized she just had to take her time and hear what her son had to say. A specific scene in the movie, I am Sam, portrays how characters make use of relationship and nonverbal elements of communication. The 3 main elements of communication in I am Sam;relation dialectics ,compromising as well as eye contact .These 3 elements are exhibited throughout the movie. In the movie, I was able to observe scenes in which there are openness and closeness, connection and autonomy as well as predictability and novelty (West & Turner, 2010). The first scene that exhibits predictability and novelty is the one where Sam together with his daughter, Lucy, are both communicating at the IHOP restaurant. Thus, this scene portrays predictability and novelty. Sam’s behaviour is predictable since he is always ordering just the same thing all throughout. Lucy on the other hand exhibits novelty since she has this urge to try out a new restaurant; one where she has never been before. Interpersonal communication usually entails every individual in a given relationship experiencing somewhat specific set of wants (West & Turner, 2010).Lucy, for instance, is aware that Sam’s behavior is predictable and wants to stick to the same habit; however, Lucy on the other hand craves novelty. Thus, Lucy has this urge to try something different and new; she feels she is growing older and her friends are trying new and different things Connection and autonomy is the second feature that occurs while Lucy is celebrating her birthday party. In this scene, we clearly see that Lucy craves independence; she wants to run away from her father since he embarrassed her. On the other hand, Lucy wants to be close to her father. She is therefore in dilemma and torn in between her thoughts on what to do. I learnt a lot from these 2 scenes that; some individuals need to be predictable so as to sustain their lifestyle, whereas others want to keep their autonomy. Another thing that I learnt is that even though an individual loves another one very much, still one needs to portray their independence. Apparently, as Lucy grew older, she needed novelty and wants to try out new stuff .Sam, on the other hand, wishes to maintain predictability. Lucy also exhibited connection and autonomy and wishes to be autonomous as well as remain connected to Sam, her father (West & Turner, 2010). The other element that is portrayed in this movie is that of eye contact. Generally, eye contact has got several crucial functions such as monitoring feedback, securing attention, regulating conversation as well as signaling the approach of a particular relationship (West & Turner, 2010).I watched numerous scenes depicting eye contact but 2 in particular caught my attention; first and foremost is the scene where Lucy and her father Sam, are a restaurant that is new and he attempts to be predictable as always, by ordering the same thing he had ordered at IHOP. In this episode, Sam begins to create a scene since the waitress informs him he cannot get French pancakes. Sam’s daughter, Lucy, looks at her father in bewilderment and her eyes really gets wide and big. She cannot believe what her father is doing and she gets into a frantic effort of trying to stop him from making a scene. In this scenario therefore, Lucy is making lots of eye contact with her dad so as to prevent him from making a scene. The other scene is where Sam together with his lawyer are busy perusing over the facts of a case. The lawyer in this case keeps communicating with Sam via eye contact since she understands that this the best way one communicate well with Sam. However, Sam is not able to comprehend what his lawyer is telling him. These 2 scenes helped me understand that you can effectively communicate using non verbal communication such as eye contact. The drama of the movie hinges on relational conflict where personal relationships are contradictory or opposed in nature. This was evident as previously discussed with the unlikely partnering of a high power smart attorney in the person of Rita with a mentally degraded character of Sam who is inconstant struggle to keep his daughter. This relational conflict however is also evident with Sam’s relationship with his daughter Lucy. In the normal relationship between a father and a child, the father would be wiser than the child with him guiding her and dispensing advises with the ways of the world as she grows up. In the case of Sam, however, his mental retardation was aggravated by the fact that his daughter Lucy is intellectually gifted who outsmarted him even as a child. This wrought an uncomfortable relationship with them that social services had to take her away because of his mental incapacity to look after his own child (Solomon & Nelson, 2010). The element of compromise facilitated the reconciliation of these seemingly conflicting characters. This was presented in the film as Sam tried to argue that love is really all we need. The hardnosed character of Rita would not have entertained the idea of love without this element of compromise in the film. The final compromise came when Sam asked Lucy’s foster parents to help him raise Lucy. This is a compromise because the custody of Lucy was awarded to foster parents whom she ran away from to see Sam, her father. Sam for his part did not keep Lucy for himself. Instead of taking advantage of the opportunity to keep Lucy away from her foster parents who agreed to have Sam’s custody, he instead asked them to become a mother to Lucy. The movie presents several unusual complicated and sometimes uncomfortable relationships that is difficult to resolve. However, as what Sam has just demonstrated, sometimes the most complex of problems can be solved with the simplest of solutions. That is really just love that we all require that was heeded by hardnosed lawyer, Rita (West & Turner, 2010). Finally, I think, I am Sam demonstrated how communication can operate in various ways and forms. This movie made me learn that communication can effectively be done by use of various methods and the message passed efficiently as well. I saw in relational dialectics how Sam communicated with Lucy, his daughter, in various scenes. Secondly I also saw how Lucy and her dad effectively communicated by making use of eye contact. Sam’s lawyer, Rita also utilized eye contact in her communication with him. I am Sam basically taught me a lot concerning various elements of communication as well as how an individual can communicate with another one that is not in a position to understand what s/he is saying (Solomon & Nelson, 2010). References Solomon, R., & Nelson, J. (2001).I am Sam. United States: New Line Cinema. Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Movie Analysis: I Am Sam Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words”, n.d.)
Movie Analysis: I Am Sam Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/visual-arts-film-studies/1657350-final-project-movie-analysis-i-am-sam
(Movie Analysis: I Am Sam Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words)
Movie Analysis: I Am Sam Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words. https://studentshare.org/visual-arts-film-studies/1657350-final-project-movie-analysis-i-am-sam.
“Movie Analysis: I Am Sam Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/visual-arts-film-studies/1657350-final-project-movie-analysis-i-am-sam.
  • Cited: 1 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Movie Analysis: I Am Sam

Electronic Voice Phenomenon

After sam (Swayze) is murdered, he finds himself trapped as a ghost, and in order to warn his wife Molly about the dangers that face her, he communicates through Oda Mae Brown (Whoopi Goldberg), using Mediumistic Communication.... Oda Mae is the only one who can hear sam, and in knowledge of this she helps him by using herself as a means of communication between sam and Molly.... hellip; Similar to a dog whistle, EVP has a frequency that is too high for a human to hear, but for such things that are designed specifically for hearing higher frequencies - such as the audio recorder which uses magnets to record onto tape - it works. In the 1990 movie Ghost, another form of communication is used to contact the spirit world, this time the form being Mediumistic Communication....
2 Pages (500 words) Movie Review

As Time Goes By

In a scene at Rick's Café Américain, Ilsa asks sam to play the song ‘As Time Goes By' on the piano and sam replies that he is a little rusty on the air but when Ilsa insists, and she hums the song for him, sam plays the song.... Ilsa then further insists that sam sing the song, and he does.... As sam plays the tune, Ilsa is in a moony state as if the song brings up some memories (Langkjær).... Shortly Rick walks into the Café and scolds sam for playing the song, but when he sees Ilsa the two look at each other for a while as the song continues to play in the background....
1 Pages (250 words) Movie Review

If Only Film Analysis

sam and Ian are in a conflict when Ian blows away a student of Samantha and their relationship almost boils over.... Upon realizing his mistake, Ian follows sam (who runs away crying) begging for forgiveness.... The method is very effective as sam sees clearly that Ian's apology is from the heart.... When having drinks, Ian reveals a secret that sam was never going to know from anyone but Ian.... sam replies by telling him that he was too young to save his father and wherever his father was, he was proud of him....
2 Pages (500 words) Movie Review

I Am Sam by Jessie Nelson

This paper "i am sam by Jessie Nelson" presents an American drama film featuring Sean Penn (Sam) as the star with his daughter Dakota Fanning (Lucy) and lawyer Michelle Pfeiffer (Rita Harrison).... sam has a developmental disability (mental capacity of a 7-year-old), and he is the father of Lucy.... In spite of the single parent and disability problem, sam has friends with developmental disabilities who are very supportive.... At the last trial, the opposing counsel convinces sam that he is not a capable father....
5 Pages (1250 words) Movie Review

I Am Legend and Fear

The movie i am Legend is one of those movies that keep its viewers in constant fear and tension because of multiple factors and plot twists that don't let viewers to stay calm.... Even though the movie is not a horror one, it makes its viewers feel fear not only because of some… The paper “i am Legend and Fear” looks at one of those movies that keep its viewers in constant fear and tension because of multiple factors and plot twists that don't let viewers stay calm....
2 Pages (500 words) Movie Review

The Help Movie: The Racial Issues

i am in the firm belief that the racial issues demonstrated in the movie will not be witnessed twenty-five years from now.... The movie “Help' mainly talks about a young white lady who took the initiative of telling the world, the kind of suffering the black women undergo in their quest for better lives.... Skeeter who is a white Southern girl who has just returned from college is determined to write a book which focus The paper "The Help movie: The Racial Issues" is an exceptional example of a movie review on social science....
2 Pages (500 words) Movie Review

Concept of Self-Disclosure in Stuck in Love

The review "Concept of Self-Disclosure in “Stuck in Love” portrays the movie built on the concept of self-disclose.... As characters reveal information about themselves gradually their relationships progress.... Those who have a block with self-disclosure realize it is an important stage to be passed....
7 Pages (1750 words) Movie Review

Analysis of the Movie I Am Sam

… The paper "i am sam" is a worthy example of a movie review on visual arts and film studies.... i am sam (2001) is a movie that presents a social discourse and cultural disability disclosure.... The paper "i am sam" is a worthy example of a movie review on visual arts and film studies.... i am sam presents concrete ideologies about disability.... In terms of social perspectives, i am sam does not present a solid impression of how people with disabilities should be treated in society....
3 Pages (750 words) Movie Review
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us