One of the most natural characteristics of life is the fact that every individual will be in and experience a relationship during their lifetime. Whether it be a good friend, someone you love, a family member or a co-worker, we are involved in relationships everyday. Each one of these relationships goes through different stages as they grow. They start with initial contact and move forward through involvement with each other. They sometimes develop intimacy and at times go through deterioration. Then, when the relationship has begun deteriorating, the individuals in the relationship can either decide to repair the relationship, or it will go through a stage called dissolution and eventually end. Let’s look at the movie “Hitch” as an example and follow the relationship of the characters “Hitch” (Will Smith) and “Sara” (Eva Mendes).
Contact
In the scene where Hitch and Sara meet, we first find Hitch sitting at a bar and talking to the bartender. Hitch notices Sara across the room sitting in a chair and drinking a grey-goose martini. It’s at this point that he makes a perceptual contact. Hitch sees her and immediately makes an evaluation of her age, gender, personality, etc. After this perception he makes the decision to make an interactional contact. It is strictly superficial. At this point Hitch and Sara will make a “first-impression” on each other and ultimately decide whether or not they would like to pursue a relationship with each other. Hitch finds out what she’s drinking and takes one over to her. They immediately begin talking. However, they skip past any invitational communication and begin with a regular conversation. They still trade basic information though masked in conversation instead of just asking the questions right out. Plenty of verbal and non-verbal flirting is done during conversation. For instance Hitch calls Sara beautiful simply by describing her as a beautiful woman but not directly telling her she’s beautiful (verbal). Sara tilts her...