Table of Contents
Assessment cover sheet………………………………………………………………………1
Plagiarism Declaration…………………………………………………………………….....2
Cover Sheet…………………………………………………………………………………..3
Brief Introduction……………………………………………………………………………4
Dialogue……………………………………………………………………………………...6
Analysis
Effective skills………………………………………………………………………..10
Ineffective skills……………………………………………………………………...12
Improvement on Ineffective skills……………………………………………………13
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………14
Reference list…………………………………………………………………………………15

Brief Introduction
Gia is a biographical film about the life of Gia Ccarangi. Gia is from Philadelphia, and moves to New York to become a fashion model. She quickly moves to the forefront of the modelling industry. Her persistent loneliness after the death of Wilhelmina, her mentor, drives Gia to experiment with drugs. She becomes romantically involved with Linda, a make-up artist. After a while Linda begins to worry about Gia, and the extent of her drug use, and gives Gia an ultimatum – “Me or the Drugs”
After numerous failed attempts at reconciliation with Linda and her Mother Gia begins to abuse heroin.
Eventually, and with great effort, Gia is finally able to stop using drugs. She has by this time however contracted HIV from an infected needle and dies from AIDS related complications in 1986, aged 26.

The scene selected is set in Linda’s apartment, where Linda, holding up Gia’s drugs, gives Gia the ultimatum “This or Me”
In an earlier scene Linda caught Gia using drugs after she had claimed to be clean.
Gia is knocking on Linda’s apartment window. Linda is sitting in bed watching her; she won’t open the window for Gia. Gia kicks the window, broken glass shattering everywhere. Gia climbs through the window and walks over to the bed. Linda, obviously shocked, angry and scared holds up her hands in protest to keep Gia from coming closer to her.

Dialogue
GIA: I’m sorry I just wanted to make you smile
(Gia leans over to kiss Linda, who pulls away, not wanting Gia to come near her. Gia throws her hands up exasperated)
GIA: Okay I’m going Last chance
(Gia starts walking towards the bedroom door)
GIA: I’m leaving Through the front door (said with sarcasm)
(Linda who is still sitting in the bed, arms folded across her chest, visibly upset and distraught, her back towards Gia, who is standing at the bedroom door)
LINDA: I can’t do this
(Gia opening the bedroom door)
GIA: Don’t say that. Just say you’ll see me tomorrow
(Linda shaking her head in disagreement)
LINDA: No you won’t see me tomorrow
(Gia slams the bedroom door closed and comes across the room to sit beside Linda on the bed)
GIA: No! Don’t say that (shouting)
GIA: don’t say that (quietly, pleadingly)
(Linda looks at Gia, trying to get through to her mentally)
LINDA: We had a deal
LINDA: We had a bargain
(Gia is trying to placate Linda)
GIA: I love you
LINDA: No you don’t (resigned and hurt)
(Gia starts to get agitated and upset, she is looking at Linda)
GIA: Alright I don’t I don’t
(Linda is looking straight ahead, arms crossed in front of her, trying to keep her emotions bottled up, not wanting to look at Gia. Gia, not getting the response she wants from Linda, gets angry and starts shouting at Linda)
GIA: What are you, huh? Some kind of policeman? You going to judge me? I did one line What is the big deal?
(Linda looks over at Gia and responds quietly)
LINDA: What about yesterday? What about the day before?
(Gia leans across the bed, looking of Linda’s shoulder at her, touching her hair. Gia is now trying to convince Linda)
GIA: I did nothing. I promise Please don’t leave me
(Linda is shaking her head, not believing what Gia is trying to convince her of)
LINDA: I don’t believe you
(This angers Gia and her mood changes from trying to convince Linda of her love to anger and she lashes out, she pushes herself up on the bed to a kneeling position. Linda too raises herself to this position, facing Gia. Gia starts pushing Linda, who in return pushes Gia)
GIA: You don’t believe me because you don’t want to be with me, do you? Because you don’t care! (Shouting) Because you just wanted to say: “I’m with a model” You don’t care about me at all, do you?
(Raising her voice) Do you? Tell me you don’t care! Say “I don’t care”
(Linda jumps up, and gets off the bed, moving across the room and sliding down the wall until she is sitting on the floor, arms crossed in front of her. Linda is crying. Gia, who is still seated on the bed, is also crying. Gia moves from the bed to the floor and starts moving across the room on her knees. Pleading now with Linda)
GIA: Please. I’m sorry I need you so much Don’t make me do this
(Linda, shaking her head, is upset and trying to convince Gia)
LINDA: I don’t make you do anything I wish I could
(Gia comes closer to Linda and lays her head in Linda’s lap)
GIA: You could You could take care of me
(Gia looks up at Linda with a serious expression on her face)
GIA: Do you have $30
(They both laugh at the question, and the tension is lightened somewhat Gia is now laying on the floor going through her pockets, searching for money)
GIA: I don’t have any money I don’t know why I never have it I never have any money
(Linda picks up Gia’s drugs, which Gia has taken from her jeans pocket and holds it up. Gia, now sitting on the floor, pulls Linda towards her. Linda looks directly into Gia’s eyes with a serious expression on her face and holding up the drugs for Gia to look at)
LINDA: This is what makes you do everything
GIA: No it doesn’t
LINDA: It’s not me, It’s not you It’s this This stuff holds you
(Linda holds the drugs closer to Gia’s face and Gia smells the drugs, Linda talks in a soft voice)
LINDA: You choose Come on This or me This or me
(Gia looks down thoughtfully and then kisses Linda, she talks quietly, softly, almost like she has made the choice, to choose Linda)
GIA: Your finger Your knees Your skin Your toes
(Linda laughs, with relief and they hug)
LINDA: I love you
(Gia reaches behind her back to where Linda’s hand is resting and takes the drugs from her hand. Linda tries desperately to hold on to Gia and stop her from taking the drugs. Linda starts sobbing and covers her face, not wanting to look at Gia. Gia slowly moves backwards, stands up and slowly walks away.

Analysis
Effective Skills
Non-verbal Communication
Non-verbal communication is communication without words. You communicate nonverbally when you gesture, smile or frown, widen your eyes, move your chair closer to someone, wear jewellery, touch someone, or raise your vocal volume, or even when you say nothing (Devito, 2007 p163)
Non-verbal communication is effectively used throughout this scene.
Non-verbal body communication is used when Linda uses an alter-adaptor by crossing her arms over her chest when she does not want Gia to come closer to her and to show that she is upset and angry. In the scene this is shown when Gia tries to kiss Linda, and she crossed her arms over her chest to keep Gia from coming into close physical contact with her.
Facial communication is used in this scene to convey the emotions that are being felt. At times in the scene, Linda sits completely still but her facial expressions convey the deep emotions of hurt, sadness and anger that she is feeling. An example of this from the scene is where Linda is sitting on the floor by the wall and Gia is moving towards her across the room, the emotions of love, hurt, and anger can all be read in her facial expression.
Non-verbal communication through touch can be described as the most primitive form of communication (DeVito, 2007 p171) There are numerous examples in this scene where touch is used to communicate. Gia, when sitting on the bed leans over Linda and lightly brushes Linda’s hair from her shoulder, showing the level of intimacy in their relationship. When Linda is sitting on the floor and Gia comes over to her and lays her head in her lap, Linda holds Gia’s face, this shows that they are extremely close and have an intimate relationship and this is communicated to the viewer. There are feeling of love and closeness communicated in this part of the scene. Linda grabs Gia’s hand when she makes her choice and takes the drugs, she clings to her and we see here how she is physically as well as emotionally trying desperately to hold on to Gia.
Paralanguage refers to the vocal quality we use in speech. It refers to how we say something rather than what we say (Student Learning Guide, 2011, p54)
Gia raises her voice to emphasise her anger to Linda’s response when she tells Linda that she loves her.
In the scene Linda holds up Gia’s drugs to her and says in a soft tone “This or me” The tone of her voice emphasises the severity of the choice that Gia has to make and the consequences her choice will carry. The future of their relationship depends on the choice that Gia must make.

Communicating Feelings
DeVito says expressing feelings are potentially highly constructive since it is through experiencing and expressing feelings that close relationships are built and maintained.
Linda effectively communicates her feelings about the drugs Gia is using by telling her to choose. She tells her: “You choose. Come on. This or me?” Linda tells Gia that she loves her, showing the deep emotion she has for Gia. Gia too tells Linda that she loves her. Ultimately she chooses the drugs which show what a hold they have on her.

Ineffective skills
Empathy
To empathize with others is to feel with them, to see the world as they see it, to feel what they feel. Only when you achieve this can you fully understand another person’s meaning (DeVito, 2007, p110) We do not have to agree with another person’s actions or messages to empathise with them. We use empathy to feel what another person is feeling and to communicate our understanding back to that person. Linda shows a lack of empathy towards Gia in this scene by not understanding the difficult situation that Gia is being placed in by having to choose between her love for Linda and the need for her drugs. Linda feels that is should be a straightforward choice and there is not a straightforward choice for Gia to make. By giving Gia an ultimatum she is essentially pushing Gia further away from herself. Gia too shows a lack of empathy for the feelings that Linda has for not wanting her to use drugs and for the lies she has told Linda. Linda and Gia cannot see the situation for the other person’s perspective and therefore cannot form an understanding and empathise with each other’s feelings on the matter.
Active Listening
Active listening is described as “a response skill for managing relationships productively” (SACAP IPC study guide, 2009 p32) By possessing an attitude of respect and acceptance, sending good voice and body messages and showing an understanding of the context of the conversation we can become good active listeners. Active listening is a process of sending back to the speaker what you as a listener think the speaker meant – both in content and in feeling (DeVito 2007, p113)
There is inadequate active listening with regards to the selected scene. Gia and Linda do not acknowledge acceptance of one another’s feelings. In this scene Gia and Linda are both expressing their individual feelings and emotions but neither tells the other person that they understand the other person’s viewpoint or feelings on the matter. Gia expresses her anger about not being trusted and Linda not wanting to be with her while she is using drugs. Linda also does not actively listen to the feelings Gia is projecting. They are both talking but not listening to the each other and what is being said.

Improvement to ineffective skills
To improve this scene and the dyadic conversation that took place between Gia and Linda empathy would have to be shown by both Linda and Gia.
Linda could empathise and try to understand more about Gia’s drug addiction and see the ultimatum given to Gia is not as straight forward as she would want it to be. Gia does love her but cannot give up her addiction to drugs easily. Linda does not have to agree with the choices Gia has made but a more empathetic approach to them would probably do more good with regards to their relationship and ultimately the choices that Gia makes.
Gia too could have a more empathetic attitude with regards to Linda and her viewpoint on the situation that they are in. She does not place herself in Linda’s position at all and cannot see why Linda is so distraught and angry at the situation. She expects Linda to accept her as she is.
Following in a more empathetic approach the active listening in this scene would improve greatly as well. If Linda and Gia listened to what the other was saying and gave positive feedback and showed understanding the scene, which ultimately shows the breakdown of their relationship could have gone in a completely different direction. By evaluating the situation in which they found themselves and constructively making a decision, eg: Gia getting treatment, they could have saved their relationship.

Conclusion
In conclusion, the interpersonal communication skills that were used effectively in this scene included, Non-verbal communication, communicating of feelings. The barriers include lack of empathy and active listening. Ultimately the barriers of communication did have an adverse effect on the relationship between Gia and Linda, their relationship did not survive.

References
DeVito, J.A. (2007). The Interpersonal Communications Book (11th ed.). Pearson.

Marcow, L. (2013). Lecture 3: Rapport, Empathy and Active Listening [Word Document]. Cape Town: South African College of Applied Psychology.

Marcow, L. (2013). Lecture 6: Non-Verbal Messages [Word Document]. Cape Town: South African College of Applied Psychology.