2. Introduc;on
• The
film
“Stuck
In
Love”
is
a
story
of
the
complicated
rela;onships
that
members
of
the
Borgen
Family
weave
in
and
out
of.
• Bill
and
Erica
are
the
parents,
who
are
divorced.
Bill
is
s;ll
in
love
with
Erica
and
prays
that
she’ll
come
back.
• Samantha
and
Rusty
are
their
kids.
• Samantha
starts
an
in;mate
rela;onship
with
Lou,
and
begins
to
disclose
personal
informa;on
that
she
never
has
before.
• Rusty
starts
an
in;mate
rela;onship
with
a
girl
in
his
class
named
Kate.
• Throughout
the
story,
nonverbal
cues,
turning
points,
support,
advice,
conflict,
and
various
communica;on
strategies
play
out.
3. From
Chapter
5:
Nonverbal
Messages
• A
number
of
nonverbal
messages
take
place
in
a
scene
where
Samantha
is
at
a
bar.
• First,
she
makes
eye
contact
with
a
man
across
the
room
and
he
smiles,
invi;ng
her
to
come
talk
to
him.
• On
her
way
over,
Lou
reaches
out
his
arm
to
stop
her.
He
then
warns
her
about
the
guy
she’s
about
to
go
talk
to.
• Samantha
rolls
her
eyes
while
saying
“Thanks
for
the
;p,”
sugges;ng
that
she
doesn’t
really
care
what
his
opinion
is.
• Lou
then
introduces
himself
anyway,
making
the
gesture
of
holding
out
his
hand.
• Samantha
doesn’t
take
it,
and
remains
standing
with
her
arms
crossed,
signaling
that
she’s
not
at
all
interested
in
opening
up
and
star;ng
any
kind
of
rela;onship
with
Lou.
4. From
Chapter
5:
Nonverbal
Messages
• Bill’s
friend
Tricia
understands
the
importance
of
physical
appearance
in
giving
off
a
good
first
impression.
• She
advises
Bill
to
change
his
profile
picture
on
a
da;ng
website
because
he
“looks
like
a
serial
killer”
and
women
will
pass
up
the
opportunity
to
get
to
know
him
just
aSer
a
quick
glance
at
the
picture.
• Bill
then
tries
on
ouUits
for
his
first
date.
• He
puts
on
a
suit,
and
Tricia
tells
him
it’s
too
professional
for
a
night
out.
People
modify
their
dress
according
to
different
situa;ons
to
give
off
different
messages.
Wearing
a
suit
at
a
party
or
bar
could
hurt
Bill’s
first
impression,
because
it
gives
off
the
message
“I’m
very
serious
and
don’t
know
how
to
let
loose
and
have
fun.”
5. From
Chapter
6:
Communica;on
in
the
Life
Cycle
of
Rela;onships
• Turning
point-‐
An
event
or
occurrence
that
marks
a
rela;onship’s
transi;on
from
one
stage
to
another.
• The
turning
point
in
Lou
and
Samantha’s
rela;onship
occurs
in
the
car
when
he
plays
her
his
favorite
song
and
she
starts
to
cry,
admiZng
she
has
feelings
for
him
but
is
scared
of
being
hurt.
• He
tells
her
not
to
worry,
and
from
that
point
on
the
two
are
a
couple
rather
than
just
friends.
6. From
Chapter
8:
Star;ng
a
Conversa;on
• At
the
beginning
of
the
film,
Kate
starts
her
first
conversa;on
with
Rusty
by
saying
hi
in
the
hallway.
• Kate
then
makes
the
comment
that
she
really
liked
his
poem
he
read
in
class,
a
simple
approach
that
invites
the
other
person
to
respond.
• In
order
to
keep
the
conversa;on
going,
she
then
asks
the
open-‐
ended
ques;on
of
how
his
thanksgiving
was.
• The
conversa;on
comes
to
an
end
when
Kate’s
boyfriend
calls
her
over.
• She
makes
leave-‐taking
cues
of
turning
around
and
looking
down
before
verbally
telling
Rusty
she
has
to
go.
7. From
Chapter
9:
Suppor;ng
Others
• Tricia
uses
some
of
the
recommenda;ons
for
giving
advice
in
Chapter
9.
• She
first
asks
Bill,
“Can
I
give
you
a
li]le
bit
of
advice?”
to
see
if
he
even
wants
any.
• She
tells
him
he
should
get
on
da;ng
sites
so
he
can
re-‐
marry
before
its
too
late.
• She
tells
him
he’s
a
great,
successful,
and
handsome
guy
in
order
to
persuade
him
and
not
come
off
as
mean
or
bossy.
• Finally,
she
tells
him
“just
to
think
about
it”
to
let
him
know
she
won’t
be
offended
if
he
doesn’t
take
her
advice.
8. From
Chapter
10:
Communica;ng
Personal
Informa;on
• Samantha
and
Lou‘s
rela;onship
becomes
much
more
in;mate
aSer
he
discloses
the
informa;on
about
his
mom
having
a
brain
tumor.
• She
is
much
kinder
to
him
and
agrees
to
go
on
a
date
with
him.
• Samantha
reciprocates
by
telling
Lou
about
her
parents
divorce
and
why
she
has
a
poor
rela;onship
with
her
mother.
• Sharing
their
personal
problems
with
each
other
makes
them
feel
be]er,
increasing
in;macy
as
they
con;nue
to
hang
out.
9. From
Chapter
10:
Communica;ng
Personal
Informa;on
• Samantha
does
not
disclose
personal
informa;on
to
many
people
in
the
beginning
of
the
movie
out
of
fear
of
geZng
hurt
and
her
distrust
of
most
people.
• She
believes
that
the
costs
of
sharing
such
informa;on
in
in;mate
rela;onships
outweigh
the
benefits
in
her
risk-‐benefit
analysis.
• She
finally
discloses
informa;on
about
her
mom
with
Lou,
because
she
trusts
him
and
can
see
the
benefits
of
emo;onal
relief,
coping
with
stress,
and
making
the
rela;onship
stronger.
10. From
Chapter
12:
Managing
Conflict
• Forgiveness-‐
a
communica;on
process
that
allows
partners
to
overcome
the
damage
done
to
the
rela;onship
because
of
a
transgression.
• It
takes
Samantha
three
years
to
finally
forgive
her
mother
for
chea;ng
on
her
father,
aSer
her
father
confesses
that
he
actually
cheated
on
her
mother
first.
She
accepts
the
apology
her
mother
has
been
saying
for
years
by
showing
up
at
her
house
one
day.
• Bill
forgives
his
ex-‐wife
for
chea;ng
on
him
much
faster
than
Samantha,
wishing
she’d
come
back
the
moment
she
leS.
She
finally
does
come
back
and
verbally
apologizes.
Bill
easily
accepts
the
apology
and
welcomes
her
into
the
home
for
a
Thanksgiving
meal.
11. From
Chapter
13:
Communica;ng
in
In;mate
Rela;onships
• Kate
is
in
an
abusive
rela;onship
with
her
boyfriend.
• Kate’s
boyfriend
displays
a
high
level
of
possessiveness.
• He
grabs
her
when
she
tries
to
leave
the
party,
calls
her
names,
and
threatens
her
if
she
leaves.
• He
finally
pushes
her
to
the
ground
when
she’s
reached
the
door
and
is
about
to
leave.
12. From
Chapter
13:
Communica;on
in
In;mate
Rela;onships
• The
Borgen
Family
is
a
Single-‐parent
family,
with
son
Rusty
living
with
his
father
Bill
while
his
sister
Samantha
is
at
college.
• The
mother,
Erica,
lives
with
another
man
and
only
communicates
with
son
Rusty
for
the
most
part.
• One
guideline
for
improving
family
communica;on
is
to
respect
individual
interests
and
accomplishments.
Bill
is
very
suppor;ve
of
his
children,
encouraging
them
to
write
and
praising
their
stories.
However,
Rusty
shows
li]le
support
for
his
sister
when
she
announces
she
got
her
book
published,
weakening
the
overall
family
communica;on.
• Another
guideline
is
to
respect
and
adapt
to
change.
Bill
does
not
do
this
very
well,
as
he
is
s;ll
in
love
with
his
wife
who’s
leS
him
three
years
ago.
He
even
claims
that
she’ll
come
back.
This
creates
tension
in
the
family,
with
his
kids
desperately
trying
to
convince
him
to
move
on.
13. Evalua;on
• In
Samantha
and
Lou’s
rela;onship
at
the
beginning
of
the
film,
I
found
that
my
communica;on
style
is
more
similar
to
Lou’s
than
Samantha’s.
• Lou
seeks
support
when
he’s
in
a
tough
situa;on,
while
Samantha
bo]les
up
her
emo;ons
and
doesn’t
trust
anyone
to
talk
about
them
with.
Lou
is
also
much
more
open
to
developing
new
rela;onships
than
Samantha
is.
• If
I
was
in
Samantha’s
posi;on
of
having
divorced
parents
at
such
a
young
age
perhaps
I
would
be
more
cynical
about
love.
• However,
I
think
I
would
s;ll
be
open
to
star;ng
new
rela;onships
and
have
a
li]le
more
trust
for
others
than
Samantha
does.
• I
really
enjoyed
this
film
and
thought
it
was
a
realis;c
portrayal
of
the
messy,
complicated
rela;onships
that
people
have.
