Dont Bother to Knock Essay
The movie “Don’t bother to knock” Directed by Ward Baker is about the story of Essentially three people Nell (Marilyn Monroe), Jed (Richard Widmark) and Lyn (Anne Bancroft) and focuses on two interpersonal relationships Jed and Nell, A woman Jed meets in the hotel after he gets dumped by his current girlfriend Lyn, and the deteriorating relationship between Lyn and Jed. The movie focuses on these two relationships; the one that is just beginning with certain difficulties, Jed and Nell’s, and also the changing deteriorating relationship between Jed and Lyn. In this movie critique we will focus on the growth of Jed and Nell’s relationship.The key concepts of this relationship in the movie are that of self-concept and perception, after seeing Nell across the way Jed calls her on the phone and she invites him up. Jed sees her in Expensive jewelry and clothes (all of which are not her own) and she presents herself as a strong capable woman. As the night progresses and the two parties begin to disclose a little more information about them such as after Nell receives news of Jed having flown a plane in the war she discloses to Jed that her boyfriend Phillip died in a plane accident during the war.Another big moment of Disclosure is when Jed sees the scars on Nell’s wrists as she is trying to prevent him from leaving She confides in him that she “tried to do it with a razor” (don’t bother to knock).
All the fears one usually has about disclosing information to another do come to a head in this movie Another big moment of Disclosure is when Jed sees the scars on Nell’s wrists as she is trying to prevent him from leaving She confides in him that she “tried to do it with a razor”(don’t bother to knock).All the typical guidelines for self-disclosure are disobeyed especially disclosing in the appropriate context guideline , explained in Interpersonal messages in context of the book “Interpersonal Messages: communication and relationship skills” on pg. 192, written by Joseph A. DeVito(1), that explains “Before making any Significant self-disclosure, ask whether this is the right time and place”(1 pg. 192 ). Due to these radical and badly placed moments of disclosure you begin to see Jed’s perception of Nell start to change and so does his own Self-Concept.In the final moments of the film After Jed’s perception of Nell has drastically changed after discovering she has lied about almost everything and assaulted her own uncle Eddie in front of him , He leaves to go speak with Lyn once some suspicious neighbors come up to see what’s going on, When he finally meets up with her in the bar downstairs you can begin to see his self-concept change “yourself concept comes from at least four sources: the images others have of you and reveal to you, the comparisons you make between yourself and others, the teachings of your culture and the way you interpret your own thoughts and behaviors”(1) .
Further into the conversation after Jed begins to tell her all about the horrible night he has just had with this clearly insane but still deeply saddened woman, Lyn begins to realize that the reason she dumped Jed in the first place (an uncaring heart) may not be as accurate as she once thought due to Jed’s intense feelings of empathy towards Nell. The movie does a good job of showing how certain relationships can either be ruined or created by disclosure and how that disclosure and relationship , no matter how brief, can have a profound impact on somebody.
