1. APPENDIX B
Feature Films That Illustrate
Communication Theories
(With a strong assist from my cinematic colleagues Russ Proctor, Ron Adler, and Darin Garard)
Interpersonal Messages Relationship Maintenance
The Miracle Worker (general) Breaking Away (general)
Pygmalion / My Fair Lady (symbolic interactionism) Children of a Lesser God* (relational dialectics)
Nell (symbolic interactionism) Knocked Up* (relational dialectics)
American Teen (symbolic interactionism) Beaches (relational dialectics)
Ghost World* (symbolic interactionism) Bend It Like Beckham (relational dialectics)
Black Like Me (symbolic interactionism) The Story of Us* (relational dialectics)
The Color Purple (symbolic interactionism) Mr. Holland’s Opus (relational dialectics)
Mask (symbolic interactionism) Whale Rider (relational dialectics)
Stand and Deliver (symbolic interactionism) I’ve Loved You So Long (CPM)
She’s All That (symbolic interactionism) The Darjeeling Limited* (CPM)
Lars and the Real Girl (CMM) Rachel Getting Married* (interactional view)
Chocolat (CMM) Little Miss Sunshine* (interactional view)
Don Juan DeMarco (CMM) Soul Food* (interactional view)
Life Is Beautiful (CMM) Ordinary People* (interactional view)
Anger Management (CMM) Pieces of April (interactional view)
Atonement* (expectancy violations) Parenthood* (interactional view)
The African Queen (expectancy violations) What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (interactional view)
Almost Famous* (expectancy violations) When a Man Loves a Woman* (interactional view)
How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (expectancy violations) One True Thing* (interactional view)
Crash* [2004] (expectancy violations)
The Sting (expectancy violations) Influence
Hotel Rwanda (constructivism) Norma Rae (general)
Dead Man Walking* (constructivism) Dead Man Walking* (social judgment)
To Kill a Mockingbird (constructivism) A Civil Action (social judgment)
Anne of Green Gables (constructivism) Schindler’s List* (social judgment)
An Inconvenient Truth (ELM)
Relationship Development 12 Angry Men (ELM)
Four Weddings and a Funeral* (general) My Cousin Vinny* (ELM)
Good Will Hunting* (general) Up in the Air* (cognitive dissonance)
Annie Hall (general) Swing Kids (cognitive dissonance)
Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (general) Thank You for Smoking* (cognitive dissonance)
Brothers McMullen* (general) 10 Things I Hate About You (cognitive dissonance)
Bridget Jones’s Diary* (general) Casablanca (cognitive dissonance)
Before Sunrise* / Before Sunset* (social penetration) Group Communication
Shrek (social penetration) O Brother, Where Art Thou? (general)
Coming Home* (social penetration) Fantastic Mr. Fox (general)
The Breakfast Club* (social penetration) Stagecoach [1939] (general)
Driving Miss Daisy (uncertainty reduction) Apollo 13 (functional perspective)
My Big Fat Greek Wedding (uncertainty reduction) Flight of the Phoenix (functional perspective)
Witness* (uncertainty reduction) Poseidon [2006] (functional perspective)
Down in the Delta (uncertainty reduction) Alien* (functional perspective)
Sideways* (uncertainty reduction) The 40-Year-Old Virgin* (symbolic convergence)
The Chosen [1982] (uncertainty reduction) Dead Poets Society (symbolic convergence)
The Social Network (SIP) Paper Clips (symbolic convergence)
Catfish (SIP)
You’ve Got Mail (SIP) Organizational Communication
Sleepless in Seattle (SIP) Office Space* (general)
Gung Ho (cultural approach)
*Asterisk indicates movie is rated R. Outsourced (cultural approach)
A-6

2. APPENDIX B: FEATURE FILMS THAT ILLUSTRATE COMMUNICATION THEORIES A-7
Friday Night Lights (cultural approach) Media Effects
For Love or Money (cultural approach) Network* (general)
Good Morning, Vietnam* (cultural approach) Bob Roberts* (general)
Up the Down Staircase (cultural approach) The Candidate (general)
The Firm* (cultural approach) Nurse Betty* (uses & grats)
A Few Good Men* (cultural approach) Avalon (cultivation)
Erin Brockovich* (critical theory) Being There (cultivation)
The Devil Wears Prada (critical theory) All the President’s Men (agenda-setting)
The Corporation (critical theory) Wag the Dog* (agenda-setting)
North Country* (critical theory) Absence of Malice (agenda-setting)
Roger & Me* (critical theory) Quiz Show (agenda-setting)
The Insider* (critical theory)
Silkwood* (critical theory) Intercultural Communication
A Passage to India (general)
Public Rhetoric Do the Right Thing* (general)
The King’s Speech* (general) Tsotsi* (general)
Clarence Darrow (general) Lone Star (general)
Inherit the Wind (general) Crash* (CAT)
Judgment at Nuremberg (general) The Right Stuff (CAT)
The Great Debaters (rhetoric) Zelig (CAT)
Julius Caesar (rhetoric) Whale Rider (face-negotiation)
The Apostle (rhetoric) The Joy Luck Club* (face-negotiation)
My Cousin Vinny* (rhetoric) Iron and Silk (face-negotiation)
The Verdict* (rhetoric) Antz (face-negotiation)
Amistad* (rhetoric) Gung Ho (face-negotiation)
Nixon* (dramatism) Shall We Dance? [1997] (face-negotiation)
Malcolm X (dramatism) Gran Torino* (speech codes)
Julius Caesar (dramatism) Dances with Wolves (speech codes)
Hurricane* (dramatism) Kramer vs. Kramer (speech codes)
Snow Falling on Cedars (dramatism) Hoop Dreams (speech codes)
The Widow of St. Pierre* (dramatism) Billy Elliot (speech codes)
Lars and the Real Girl (narrative paradigm) Mean Girls (speech codes)
Smoke* (narrative paradigm) Clueless (speech codes)
Big Fish (narrative paradigm)
Forrest Gump (narrative paradigm) Gender and Communication
When Harry Met Sally* (genderlect styles)
Media and Culture
The Break-Up (genderlect styles)
Blade Runner* (media ecology)
Sleepless in Seattle (genderlect styles)
Network* (media ecology)
Diner* (genderlect styles)
Broadcast News* (media ecology)
Steel Magnolias (genderlect styles)
Medium Cool* (media ecology)
Slumdog Millionaire* (standpoint)
Being There (media ecology)
The Cider House Rules (standpoint)
Donnie Darko* (semiotics)
Beloved* (standpoint)
Amarcord* (semiotics)
Waiting to Exhale* (standpoint)
The Manchurian Candidate [1962] (semiotics)
White Man’s Burden* (standpoint)
Stardust Memories (semiotics)
North Country* (muted group)
The Seventh Seal* (semiotics)
The Little Mermaid (muted group)
The Year of Living Dangerously (cultural studies)
Fried Green Tomatoes (muted group)
Bamboozled* (cultural studies)
Maria Full of Grace* (muted group)
Good Night and Good Luck (cultural studies)
Tootsie (muted group)
Blood Diamond* (cultural studies)
Legally Blonde (muted group)
Fahrenheit 9/11* (cultural studies)