And have also tried to repair that broken relationship, but it was to no prevail. Though it is not considered ideal, an intimate relationship can be achieved between an estranged father and child, but beginning that relationship on a poor foundation, while also being paired with incompetent communication can lead to both relational partners being left in awkward positions. Today, I would like to present how these two people try to form and move through the stages of an interpersonal father/son relationship, while struggling through language barriers, conflict and distorted perceptions.
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After the tragic loss of a beloved friend and a disastrous film opening, Zissou meets his supposed son, Ned Plimpton, where their short relationship begins. Still grieving the loss of his mother, Ned goes to meet his father whom he has only heard about from the media. Both are longing for companionship; a real motivation, as in O’Hair, behind people’s desire to form a relationship. And after only a few days of superficial communication, Zissou and Ned become more intimate disclosing themselves further informally to one another.
Starting at initiation Zissou and Ned move through the stages of interpersonal relationships fairly accurately, though they do move into the intensification stage rather quickly. The night of meeting, Zissou invites Ned to join him and his team to find, and seek revenge on, the notorious “jaguar shark”, that took the life of Zissous’ dearest friend (Anderson). Ned accepts the opportunity for inclusion and after only a couple of days of casual communication Zissou turns the informal relationship in a different direction by asking Ned intimate questions, and then boldly suggesting that he completely change his name to Kingsley Zissou.
Always testing the waters with where he can take the relationship, Zissou probes and continues to ask Ned loaded questions throughout their time getting to know each other. The relationship develops and seems to move into a stable stage, though conflicts lead to the decline and eventual termination of their relationship just after reconciliation takes place. It is important to note the use of language between the characters as it sets the tone and context during as relationship development takes place and conflict arises.
The use of formal language throughout the film is very infrequent, almost alarmingly so because Zissou is supposed to be filming a movie of the teams adventure as the actual film progresses. Both Zissou and Ned fail to meet some language competencies, while completely ignoring others. Both parties inform each other, though Zissou withholds information from Ned when situations arise that cause him to feel pressured or anxious. Feeling is a difficult competency for Zissou to achieve, since he does not like to feel as though he is less than what he thinks he should be.
Ned is almost completely opposite of Zissou always expressing himself freely, which makes it difficult to imagine that he could be related to Zissou. Imagining also comes easily to Ned as he is a free spirit of sorts, and is always able to see things as what they could potentially be. All of the characters ritualize the use of informal language, creating an air of relief to the tensions that arise. Zissous continual use of informal language throughout the film however, makes it hard to deduct whether he actually takes things as seriously as he should.
Zissou and Neds’ use of language not only shape their perceptions about each other, but also about themselves. Zissou has distorted perceptions about himself and how the world does, but also should, view him. At one time, Zissou was admired for his work filming his adventures at sea, but has in since lost his credibility leading to a decline in his self-esteem. This internal conflict has caused Zissou to develop a self-serving bias, which impacts himself and all those around him.
As stated in Irrationality the use of the self-serving bias, or SSB, is a common human tendency to attribute ones successes and failures “to situational factors beyond their control”. By doing this, one uses the casual interference with others to decide whether their actions can be deemed as failures or accomplishments. The associated better-than-average effect, “in which individuals are bias to believe they typically perform better than the average person in areas important to their self-esteem” greatly affects Zissou and how he interacts with others (Irrationality 73).
Zissou constantly negates the strengths and ideas of others as trivial, while his actions, even when unsuccessful, are never seen as such. Ned has a fresh air of innocence about him, which makes it seem as though he would go along with just about anything. It is this innocence that allows Ned to be taken advantage of by Zissou monetarily as well as emotionally. It is the ineffective use of communication and the skewed perceptions shared by both Zissou and Ned that lead to inevitable conflict.
There is only so much that a person can take before poor communication causes a complete break. Zissous constant use of escape strategies, preventing or avoiding real conflict, as a means to try and resolve conflicts leaves issues unresolved, which continue to persist (Real 236). Perception issues that Zissou struggles with wreak havoc on the relationship he is trying to form with his “supposed” son, although the way that he treats Ned is more of that of an adoring fan whom he has taken under his wing (Anderson).
By the end of the film Zissou and Ned are able to communicate their feelings for each other in a meaningful way solidifying their relationship, despite the troubles they have faced. Conflicts are settled using a range of resolutions. Both relational partners are able to compromise as to what Ned should call Zissou, as Zissou won’t allow Ned to call him “Dad”, rather settling on “Papa Zissou” (Anderson). By agreeing that their relationship status is not normal and less than adequate both are able to reach an understanding that they can potentially grow closer to form the father/son relationship that each desires.
The tragic death of Ned shortly after their resolution creates the final separation that neither, Zissou nor Ned, was prepared for finally ending their short relationship. As you can see a poor foundation for building a relationship, paired with poor communication can create precarious situations for both relational partners. Language affects your and others perceptions, which can cause you to over/under react to a situation. Distorted perception combined with constant informal language propagates conflict which in turn breaks down the relationship.
The interpersonal relationship between Steve Zissou and Ned Plimpton is eventually achieved, though not in the form that they once believed it could be. It is inevitably ended with the death of Ned. They had come into each other’s lives at the exact moment when they needed each other and were able to help each other achieve personal internal issues plaguing both. Works Cited Anderson, Wes, dir. The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou. Touchstone Pictures, 2004. Film. Knapp, M. L.
