Group Project

Group Dynamics Blog Post

Bridesmaids

Bridesmaids is the story of two best friends, Annie and Lillian, one of whom is finally getting married. As Lillian’s life goes in the direction she always wanted, Annie is left behind, single and working at a less than desirable job. As Lillian’s maid of honor, it’s Annie’s job to be in charge of the bridal party and make sure that everything goes according to plan. The group of bridesmaids are a wacky crew of women with odd senses of humor and overall good intentions.

           First, we’re going to apply Tuckman’s Model to the movie Bridesmaids. In the forming stage, Lillian brings all of the women together as bridesmaids with the same purpose: to ensure that the bachelorette party, the bridal shower, and the wedding run smoothly. Next, in the storming stage, the girls struggle with finding a balance as a group. They don’t deal with conflict directly and everything gets done in a roundabout fashion. Annie and Helen compete head to head with one another to become the maid of honor. Helen has trouble accepting the fact that Annie is the maid of honor and frequently undermines her plans and opinions. While Annie and Helen are left behind in the storming stage, Megan flourishes in the norming stage. She tries to make everyone happy and pumped up. When Annie feels left out, Megan reaches out to her and knocks some sense into her with positivity and kind words. Also in the norming stage, Lillian tells Annie not to bother coming to the wedding anymore due to her outlandish behavior. Lillian is being fair and asks Annie not to participate since she’s acting crazy.

Megan carries the norming stage over to the performing stage by cheering Annie up and by bringing her back into the bridesmaids group. She really reestablishes the purpose and the norms. Also, Annie and Helen learn to work together to find Lillian (who becomes a runaway bride). Then Annie convinces Lillian to go through with the wedding, renewing their relationship and rebuilding her commitment as her best friend and maid of honor. The adjourning stage is the final one and that occurs after the wedding is over. It’s established the Lillian will stay connected to everyone, but the resolution occurs when Annie and Helen agree to hang out.

           As for the various roles held by each of the women, we’ll start with Lillian. Lillian is the bride, but in this case, she’s the Mediator. She selected all of the women to be her bridesmaids, so she’s constantly trying to ensure that the group is cohesive. She’s the reason that they’re all together. Annie is the Summarizer. As the maid of honor, her duties are to lead the group and make sure the plan is set. She organizes the plans; for example, she decides on a bridal shower theme and a location for the bachelorette party. Annie makes sure that everyone is on the same page and makes sure everyone’s voice is heard. Helen is the Clarifier. As Annie’s foil, she builds on everyone else’s ideas and creates her own plan to make it better. In one scene, she convinces everyone to go to Vegas instead of an old lake house. She’s able to switch the entire plan convincingly. Megan is the Encourager. She always brings people together and pumps them up for whatever the plan is. She positively empowers the other women. Rita and Becca are both Followers in the group. They literally agree with all of the other plans made by Annie and Helen. Also, Becca is an Opinion Seeker. She naively asks Rita for advice on life and relationships. Coinciding with Becca’s role, Rita is the Opinion Giver, helping Becca with her misguided advice.