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INTRODUCTION
Cinderella Story is a romantic teen comedy starring heart throbs Hilary Duff and Chad Michael Murray
The plot follows two internet pen pals who met at a school dance and fall in love despite their separate worlds
Throughout the movie, the use of interpersonal communication comes into play in the relationships among the
main characters
Characters: Sam (diner girl) lives with her evil stepmother and stepsisters after her Dad passes away in an
accident. She is forced to work at the diner to save up money for college. She has an internet pen pal Austin who
she is in love with. Austin (football quarterback) your typical jock who is the star football player and heart throb.
His Dad wants him to attend USC on a football scholarship, however he is passionate for writing and wants to
attend Princeton. He is Sams secret pen pal. Shelby (popular girl) Austins former girlfriend and cheerleader. She
is the queen bee of the school and will do anything in her power to ruin the Cinderella relationship between her
Ex and Sam. Fiona (evil stepmother) lives off of her widowed husbands money and is the evil stepmother to
Sam. She makes Sam do chores and work around the clock in order to get college money for Princeton. Brianna
and Gabriella (evil stepsisters) they follow in their mothers footsteps to make Sams life a living hell. They will
do anything to be popular and go out of their way to ruin and embarrass Sams social life at school. Carter
(Sams best friend) is the typical good friend who is always by Sams side. He has a passion for acting which causes
his character to change throughout the movie.
When Austin and Sam begin their pen pal relationship, they continue to ask questions about each other to look for more information and better
understand who they are
Austin and Sam do not meet each other until the masquerade ball, and even then he is unaware of who she is
During one scene at the masquerade ball, Austin asks Sam 20 questions to try and figure out who Cinderella is
We use uncertainty reduction theory because if we are uncertain about what others are like, we will have a difficult time predicting their
behaviors and the outcomes of our interactions with them, and this leads to discomfort
STEREOTYPING
Sam and Carter
Sam is a tom boy working at her familys diner
labeled as the diner girl
body President
jocks
MASCULINE CULTURE
Austins Dad is the typical masculine driven parent who wants Austin to receive a full football scholarship to USC
He wants Austin to adhere to traditional sex roles even though he is secretly passionate for writing; guys play
PRAGMATICS
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yHlEFd2G4w
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
Sams relationship with her evil stepmother Fiona is
PARALANGUAGE
Sams relationship with her stepmother and step
JOHARI WINDOW
Next, they start to talk as pen pals and the open window begins
to grow more as they talk about their college plans and their
secret love for poetry and writing
At the end of the movie both characters live happily ever after,
going to Princeton together and their Johari window has shifted
so that the open window is the largest of all four panels, and
the secret window is the smallest.
The movie follows the pen pal relationship between Sam and
Austin, however one of the rising conflicts in the story was due
to the disruption in digital communication skills
COMFORTING MESSAGES
Sams friendship with Carter is one that shows support
When Sam find out that her Dads hidden will stated
Sam tows Fionas car, takes all of her money, and forces
Fiona and her evil step sisters to pay back their debt to
society working at the diner under her ownership
EVALUATION
There are many aspects of the communication styles that relate to my communication style, one of them being that the
pragmatics Sam uses in the movie are similar to mine. When I am confronting someone about a problem, I look for
evidence to support the my true feelings about them however I tend to tell the partial truth without thinking about my
mistakes. Similarly, I tend to violate providing too much information to people which in the end effect my relationships
In relation to the relationship between Sam and Austin, I dont think I would fit well in this type of relationship (even
though I am in love with Chad Michael Murray). Most of the communication between the two was through texting and
emailing which do not appeal to me because there is nothing better than a face to face conversation. I believe that you
get to know someone better through talking to them in person; there is no confusion and you cant carefully craft what
youre going to say to one another. The conflict in the movie was how their secret relationship was blown up by people,
and this would bother me if I had to keep my relationship a secret for a long period of time.
The movie is not supposed to portray a realistic view of life as it is an imitation of the original Cinderella. For instance,
the tom boy who doesnt have many friends usually doesnt win over the jock football captain through her sophisticated
ways. Similarly, the relationship between Sam and her evil step family was a little over the top and not very realistic.
Fiona constantly nags on Sam to clean her car and make her food which would not usually happen in real life. Finally, the
happily ever after ending was not a realistic portrayal of interpersonal communication. Austin leaves during the middle of
the football game to kiss Sam as it starts raining, even though they were in the middle of a drought. Although there are
many examples of interpersonal communication in the movie, very few are actually realistic.
THE END!!!