Movies have all time been and continue to be cherished for their unique way of passing a message to the viewers. Literary works reflect the daily happenings by use of aesthetics. The characters are representative of the real world, and it is for this reason that many people find movies both entertaining and educative. Some movies have common features, and this makes them be classified as the same category. For example, horror movies, cartoons, comedies, and science fiction movies are classified according to their content and way of presentation. “Breakfast Club,” “Dead Poets Club,” “Grown-Ups,” and “Goonies” share a common feature. They all have a small group that has a goal to achieve. The goal's achievement is shaped by the life experiences they undergo, with the type of leadership employed having a great impact. This paper analyses “Grown Ups” by paying close attention to the plot, the type of leadership employed by the small group, how the group’s identity is maintained, and methods of solving conflicts in the group.
“Grown Ups” is a comedy whose director is Dennis Dugan and was released in 2010. The movie follows five friends; Marcus Higgins, Rob Hilliard, Erick Lamonsoff, Kurt McKenzie, and Lenny Feder, friends who played basketball thirty years ago, and they meet when their coach passes away. The five friends are all grown, and they have families, each friend battling a unique problem. Marcus is masked by excessive alcohol intake, Rob is blessed with three daughters, but he seldom sees them, his ex-wife being a turn off to him. Eric is battling body fitness as he is overweight, Kurt has no job and is despised by his own wife and the mother in law while Lenny has problems with his three sons as they take their privilege for granted. The five friends rent the same lakeside house they stayed in years before. This way, they will be able to remember all the experiences and tell their children how they lived when they were young. The message here is that there lies a lot of wealth in the past, and legends never forget their roots.
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Any team requires a good leader. In the movie, Lenny is the leader of the five friends. He does not appoint himself to be a leader, but his behavior and lifestyle make him fall into the seat. He is entrusted with the responsibility to rent a house for the other friends’ families, and sure he does not fail them. One of the qualities of a good team leader is responsibility (Olanrewaju & Okorie, 2019). Lenny possesses this quality and makes him outstanding and reliable.
Lenny employs different leadership styles in the “Grown Ups.” Coaching is one of the styles he uses. Coaching is a leadership style characterized by giving guidance and doing it together with other than giving commands. This style is illustrated when Lenny wants to let his children off the phones and listen to him. He teaches them the importance of playing outdoors, showing them how a rope is skipped, and making a corner of the blackboard bank shots. Coaching leadership style is useful in making people have permanent personal attributes and strengths (Berg & Karlsen, 2016). Lenny wanted the sons to hold this for future use; thus, he took a good time to teach them.
An affiliative leadership style is also evident. This is a style characterized by making the team members happy and considering their emotions when making decisions (Abubakari, 2017). All he wants is friends to enjoy, and he takes his time to look book the house. During the interaction with friends, he does not impose rules that may limit their enjoyment. He is part of them and does not consider himself superior.
The five friends in the “Grown Ups” have used verbal and non-verbal communication to create a bond and understand each other. Verbal communication involves using spoken words to share or interact with others, while non-verbal communication is communication without producing words orally; gestures, facial expressions, and signs are used in non-verbal communication (Lee, 2020). These have been employed to strengthen the group’s unity and identity. Communication ensures unity in the group and good interpersonal relationships (Radovic & Salamzadeh, 2019). An example in the movie is the exchange between Lenny and the restaurant attendant who tells them embarrassing childhood stories and says they did not win the basketball tournament. Lenny is bold enough and tells him that their lives are not stuck at things that happened forty years ago. This is for the defense of the team. During the rematch game, when the five friends meet, Lenny realized that they were behind time and gave his friends a look to signal it. Friends that have stayed together easily understand each other’s’ gestures, and this small group made good use of this.
Conflicts are bound to occur as people interact. How the conflicts are resolved determines whether the group is strengthened or broken. In “Grown Ups,” Marcus Higgins and Rob Hilliard are in a conflict. Rob believes that Marcus has had a thing with Jasmine and attacks him. Lenny is also in a conflict with his wife. The causes of the conflicts in the movie are misunderstandings as a result of poor communication. Individuals solve the conflicts within themselves. One good leader's good qualities are that one should not take sides when the team members have interpersonal conflicts, and sure enough, Lenny being a good leader, did not take any sides. If the members took sides, it would have led to team division. Remaining neutral in times of conflict is a way that the five friends ensured that the conflicts do not tear them apart. Lenny is in conflict with Tommy Cavanaugh due to Tommy’s disrespect at the Feder’s party. Lenny wants to fight with Tommy, but Tommy decides to let go because he wants Lenny to look tough in his children’s presence. Tommy’s reaction cools everything, and in the end, they take pancakes together. Accepting a defeat is a way that the friends used to solve their conflicts. The conflict between Lenny and his wife concerning getting another baby is resolved through advice from Lamonsoff, and they agree to get another baby. Thus, friends advise each other, and the conflicts are solved amicably.
Sidebar conversations occur when someone is addressing a group, but some people in a group decide to have their own conversation as the speaker is still talking. Sidebar conversations are deemed bad and ignorance of the message being passed by the speaker. Lenny and Roxanne engage in a sidebar conversation. The conversation is about Lenny’s family going to Mulan, Italy, where they had initially planned to go immediately after the Coaches’ burial. Although the whole group consists of friends, people who are open to each other, some information has to be told to one character and not another. Although the conversation is not helpful to the whole team, I find it helpful in that not everyone is appropriate to discuss the family issue, given that the team members will not want Lenny’s family to leave. Sidebar conversations also help the characters handle the issues related to them and not the whole group. People are in different types of relationships. Familial issues are bound to be discussed and solved within the family while the group issues are handled within a group.
The true definition of happiness is given at the end of the movie. During the champions’ rematch, the five friends stood a chance to win the match, and they could have won. Lenny had it in mind that they did not need to win, that the other team needed to win more than his team did. All he wanted was the opponents to feel better, and so he intentionally misses a shot. This was to show the team members that happiness is not tied to winnings and losings. Winning is not to define their happiness that weekend; all they needed was a good time together with their families. It is the same way the friends have had different problems, but that should not affect their good time during their time together. That family and time spent with friends should be enough to make their day bright without having to worry about what they have lost in their lives.
Lenny being a coach leader, understood that playing is not all about winning or losing. It cultivates a sense of belonging, unity, and creativity. Olanrewaju & Okorie (2019) noted that a coach leader does not concentrate only on winning but is concerned with inspiring the team to perform above its average. Cultivating values in the team are all Lenny was concerned with; thus, winning or losing was not of great importance to the team. All matters are happiness and the memories they make together, and their bond in the process.
Conclusively, “Grown Ups” is a comedy that follows five childhood friends' lives and the lives they lead. They reunite after 30 years to find that each one of them has challenges in life as grownups. They meet with their families and create memories together, putting their problems aside. They tell their children how their childhood experiences are and organize a match they lose due to Lenny’s doing. The friends face conflicts throughout their interaction, and they are solved amicably without destroying the group’s unity. The group is made strong by their good leader who wants nothing but to see the team happy. Verbal and non-verbal communication is used to keep the group united and maintain its identity. Poor communication and m misunderstanding cause conflicts in the group; thus, it is important to communicate to maintain good interpersonal relationships.
References
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Lee, I. (2020, March 12). Social Sciences Questions and Answers . Retrieved June 06, 2020, from https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/difference-between-verbal-non-verbal-communication-237441
Olanrewaju, O., & Okorie, V. (2019). Exploring the qualities of a good leader using principal component analysis. Journal of Engineering Project and Production Management, 9 (2): 142-150. Doi: 10.2478/jeppm-2019-0016.
Radovic, M., Salamzadeh, A. (2018). The importance of Communication in business management. The 7 th International Scientific Conference on Employment, Education and Entrepreneurship At: Belgrade, Serbia.
