Pi: A Case Study in Communication
Jess and I rent from Netflix. We try to alternate back and forth so that we each get something we’re interested in watching in each shipment. I had heard out in the ether that the movie Pi was a really cool, interesting movie. It was on a subject that interested me. (Number Theory has always interested me, don’t ask me why.) I had convinced Jess that it sounded like a good movie, that was kinda like The DaVinci Code, and that we ought to take a look. The premise of the movie was cool; trying to find patterns in nature and, particularly in the stock market and this mathematician’s personal journey with schizophrenia, and the various conspiracy theories that emerge as a result of his work.
The movie sucked.
The movie sucked big time.
So at the end, Jess and I were sitting there and I asked her what she thought. She said “It was…ok…I can see why people have liked it so much.” I said something along the same lines and we headed to the kitchen to make a snack. There was…something…in the air. Not tension, but just something unresolved. I broke the ice a little and said that the movie wasn’t quite what I thought it was going to be and Jess kinda agreed. The next step was some additional critique of the movie that Jess sort of followed along and agreed with and then at one point (I don’t remember who.) one of us just point blank said “I hated that movie!” and the other person said almost relieved “So did I!!!”
Why is this “A Case Study in Communication”? Because it was a microcosm of communication in relationships. It’s whether or not you liked a movie…straightforward, isn’t it? The more we talked after we both came to the realization that we both hated the movie, we found out I was worried that she thought I was someone with really bad judgment and taste in movies and she was worried I thought she wasn’t educated or cultured enough to appreciate the movie. That “something” in the air? Imagine something far worse lasting for a lot longer than 10 minutes. Wouldn’t it be easier to just dispel it right from the start?
Keep those lines of communication open just like you’re doing!!! Jess tends to temper her comments to people if she thinks she might hurt someone’s feelings. It makes me proud to read about the effort you both put into your partnership.