Intercultural Communication - Essay Example

Intercultural communication From a personal experience perspective, an example of a cultural group is that of a youth group made up of young adults who are from different nationalities. The young adult group is made up of two cultures: Asian and American. The American culture is the dominant culture in the group. By sampling one member each from the two cultures, we can discuss their similarities and differences of belonging to the same cultural group. The two members, from the American and Asian cultures, share a number of similarities.

They possess similar interpretation of their environment, creativity, visions, and both enjoy good interpersonal relationships with one another. For instance, the vision and creativity observed in the individual members have led to a synergistic relationship found in the cultural group. On the other hand, a few differences can be found between the two members. These differences include the style of verbal interaction, talkativeness and the ability to freely communicate and articulate ideas within the group.

For example, the member who has an American cultural background is more inclined to individualistic behavior by putting the needs of an individual before those of the group. As such, the member has a direct interactive verbal style that allows them to express their ideas freely. On the other hand, the member from the Asian culture is more inclined to the cohesiveness of the group by putting the group’s needs before those of the individual (Haggis). As such, the member is seen to have an indirect interactive style and is less comfortable in expressing their ideas preferring silence instead.

The three particular stereotypes in the film “Crash” that have been chosen are: all blacks steal (carjacking of Jean’s vehicle), all Muslims are terrorist (comments made by the gun dealer when Farhad went to purchase a gun with his daughter), and the collision of an Asian vehicle with a Hispanic one (The female drivers were involved in a racial confrontation). The impact of stereotyping in the film "Crash" had a significant influence on how the events were portrayed. Characters interacted with one another based on the misconceived creations about the other person.

Stereotyping in the film dictated the relation of characters to one another. The characters in the film used stereotyping to make assumptions. Hence, most events portrayed in the film had misconceptions and misrepresentations purely based on the characters assumptions. No, the same stereotypical might not have influenced me because I am knowledgeable and better informed to know that a single person’s action should not be extrapolated to the whole race (Haggis).Extra Credit. The conversation between Farhad, a Persian, his daughter Dorri and the gun dealer was influenced by differences in cultural styles.

Farhads has a poor command of the spoken English although he is an American citizen. On the other hand, the drug dealer cannot understand Farsi, Farhads native language. As Farhad and Dorri converse in Farsi, the gun dealer is infuriated. He shouts at Farhad to speak English since he believes that the two are planning a terrorist attack although Dorri was explaining to her father why the gun dealer had refused to sell to them a gun. The gun dealer may have misinterpreted the body movements made by Farhad when conversing with Dorri in Farsi.

The gun dealer thought the two were planning an act of terrorism because of the animated hand movements, gestures, and sudden change of language (Haggis). In addition, the gun dealer had a high level of uncertainty avoidance. He could not tolerate the conversation between Farhad and Dorri in a language that he understood. The two parties might have effectively communicated with one another if they both spoke in simple, coherent English and the gun dealer to understand that in Farhad’s culture body movement is part of every conversation.

Extra Credit. The interaction between the gun dealer and Farhad was full of perceptions of superiority. The gun dealer perceived himself to be superior to Farhad. From the conversation, it is evident that the gun dealer thought his culture to that of Farhad’s was superior. The gun dealer taunted Farhad on his poor command of English. The second part was the gun dealer’s cynic remarks about Farhad’s liberating America. On the other hand, Farhad felt that he was equal to the gun dealer. His comments suggest that although he comes from a different culture, he is still an American citizen who is entitled to all the rights the gun dealer has.

This interaction between the two affected the communication between them. In addition, it fuelled the gun dealer outbursts (Haggis).Works CitedCrash. Dir. Paul Haggis. Perf. Bullock Sandra, Don Cheadle and Terrence Howard. 2005. CD..