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Film Analysis, the Last Castle Essay

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In the film, The Last Castle, I found many aspects and theories that involve organizational communication throughout the movie. The film is about a US prison where the prisoners have formally served in the military and have committed crimes while serving their time. The movie shows how the prisoners come together when a former well-respected general is sent there to overpower the man that runs the facility. The first theory and probably the most noted theory is the Adaptive Structuration Theory of Marshall Scott Poole. Poole's theory states, "Members in groups are creating the group as they act within it… A lot of times people in groups build up structures or arrangements that are very uncomfortable for them, but they don't realize that …show more content…

The next step of the model is conflict, in which factions disagree on how to approach the problem and argue against other viewpoints, and members justify their own position. An example of this is when Aguilar, the stuttering marine, wants to help build the wall the inmates were building. One other inmate ridicules him and tells him he is doing it all wrong, but Aguilar's father is a mason and has taught him the correct way to brick a wall. He stands strong and when the group begins to form he is made the head mason when they rebuild the wall under Irwin's orders. Another example would be when Aguilar gets in trouble in the beginning of the movie for saluting the General and is punished by standing out in the rain. When General Irwin tells him he doesn't have to continue out his punishment he is then punished by Col. Winters for trying to go over what he said even though it was pointed out that the punishment was illegal.
The third step of the phase model is coalescence, where tensions are reduced through peaceful negotiation, and members allow others to "save face" by adopting solutions acceptable to all. An example is when Thumper and the other guy are fighting in the yards and the sirens start to go off. Thumper refuses to drop down and the consequence was him getting shot with the rubber bullet gun. When the group starts to form they all want to be a part of it and when the final solution was adopted the enemies became friends like Thumper and the

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