John Q movie analysis free essay sample

John Q. Archibald was a factory worker facing financial hardship. When his son, Michael is struck during a baseball game, John and his wife, Denise, discover that their son is in need of a heart transplant. Although they have health insurance, hospital head, Rebecca Payne tells them that their policy doesnt cover such an expensive operation. John convinces the hospitals cardiac surgeon, Dr. Raymond Turner, to overlook his fee, but still has too much of a financial burden to bear. When he is left with no choice but to take his son home to die, John holds the staff and patients of the hospital hostage at gunpoint, demanding that his son be put on the list to be given the first available heart. Hostage negotiator Frank Grimes and chief of police Gus Monroe try to resolve the problem using mainly dialogue. John Q is successful in saving Michael’s life but ends up serving jail time nonetheless. We will write a custom essay sample on John Q movie analysis or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Persuasion is a concept evident in both scenes, and it has to do with one party causing another party to do something that it wants through reasoning or argument. Persuasion can be used to balance power in a negotiation. The hardball tactics of aggression and intimidation are evident in both scenes as well. Aggression is the relentless push for more concessions, while intimidation is the attempt to force the other party to agree by means of emotional play. There is also evidence of power play in the scenes, namely legitimate power and coercive power. Legitimate power is derived from ones position and Coercive power derived from the ability to punish others. (Lewicki, 2004) The first negotiation scene was a telephone conversation between Frank and John. Frank introduced himself and asked john for some time and to let some of the hostages go, because in his own words, â€Å"I do for you, you do for me; show some good faith. † Frank tried to reason with him, but John remarked that he would only let some of the hostages go if his son was put on the heart transplant list. Franks persuasion worked when john agreed to let some of the hostages go on condition that frank had an hour to get Mike on the list before john started killing hostages. John used aggressive behavior and intimidation when he gave frank an ultimatum. He said in a raised voice that if Mike was not on the list in an hour after the first hostages had been released; one of the remaining hostages would die. John Q also exuded power in the negotiation; specifically coercive power because he had the ability to inflict harm on frank’s reputation as a hostage negotiator by harming the hostages. This power contributed to frank’s concessions; his agreement to work faster on putting Mike on the list. This scene qualifies as a negotiation situation because it involves two parties, each with individual goals; Frank wanted to save the hostages while John wanted his son’s name on the heart transplant list. There is a conflict of interest between the parties. There is also the fact that it involves the management of tangibles, in this case the lives of the hostages and the life of Mike, and intangibles, which is the terms of agreement or the deals and promises made between John and frank in the scene. There was also a level of interdependence between John Q and Frank in the sense that Frank could only save the hostages if John let them go and John could save Mike only if Frank was successful in getting Rebecca to put him on the heart transplant list. The second negotiation scene was between Frank and Police chief Gus Monroe. Gus was about to send in a sniper into the building to take down John Q and Frank tried to persuade him to call off the strike; that this was not a good idea because John Q could be reasoned with. Frank tried his best to explain to Gus that Johns wife Denise could talk him down. Gus however was determined to carry out the sniper strike and used aggressive behavior and intimidation to deter frank from interfering with the operation. Gus made reference to his own experience as a cop and used his power as chief of police to relieve Frank of duty. This power was legitimate power because of Gus’ position as head of Chicago police. The scene chosen qualifies as negotiation situation because two parties are involved; Frank and Gus, each with individual goals and there is a conflict of interest between them. There is also the fact that it involves the management of tangibles and intangibles. In this case the tangible aspect was the execution of the sniper strike. Interdependence between Frank and Gus also qualifies the scene as a negotiation situation. Franks job as a police officer was under Gus’ authority but Gus also depended on franks discretion in distracting John Q with a phone call from Denise to successfully carry out the sniper attack. Bibliography