Degenerative Communication In The Film Fireproof

The movie Fireproof was an awesome way to show and share God’s love toward us. When the movie show Catherine at the beginning as a little girl, it set the stage of what Catherine’s expectations are when she grow up and get marriage. Catherine stated to her mother that she wanted to marry her daddy. Her expectation was high, who could possibly good enough to fill her dad’s shoes. Catherine values her family life with her parents and she wants this life for her with Caleb. Caleb’s life was different than Catherine’s, even though both grew up in a two parent household. Caleb had issues with his mother all his life and he doesn’t know to communicate with her or his wife. It seem that there is a pattern of degenerative spirals, self-disclosure, and the identity revealing process. Caleb and Catherine’s marriage portrays the degenerative communication spiral because they have not instituted anything functional to constituent their communication process. John Stewart (2012) states that “degenerative spirals are mirror images of generative spirals; the process is identical, but the results are opposite. In a degenerative spiral misunderstanding and discord create more and more relationship damage (403). Both Caleb and Catherine are experiencing communication that is degenerating caused by a lack of focus and guidance. Catherine considers

Both have lost their identity because their conversations to each other are threating and disturbing. In chapter 3 of Stewart’s book he shares the three core identities issues that both Caleb and Catherine experienced: am I competent, am I a good person, and am I worthy of love. Every conversation they had before the Love Dare questioned who they thought they were as a couple. Caleb resolved his identity issues by recognizing his mistakes and coping with his porn addiction (Stewart, 2012,