• Sam Baldwin (played by Tom Hanks) is a recently widowed dad who is trying to get over the loss of his wife and considering dating women again.
• Jonah Baldwin (played by Ross Malinger) is the son of Sam who calls a radio show to talk about his dad and how he needs to marry another woman.
• Annie Reed (played by Meg Ryan) a Baltimore woman that is recently engaged to a man named Walter, who tunes in to the radio show and realizes she is smitten with Sam.
• Walter (played by Bill Pullman) is a quirky man with many allergies who is engaged to Annie.
• Becky (played by Rosie O’Donnell) is Annie’s co-worker and best friend who she confides in about her secret crush on Sam, whom she’s never met. She also sends Annie’s …show more content…
• Greg (played by Victor Garber) is married to Suzy and is also Sam’s close friend who goes to Seattle for a visit.
• Maggie Baldwin (played by Carey Lowell) is the deceased wife and mother of Sam and Jonah.
There are several relevant communication theories that are exhibited throughout the film Sleepless in Seattle, three of which are communication privacy theory, uncertainty reduction theory, and cognitive dissonance theory.
Communication privacy theory is described as a privacy management system. It’s quite opposite of the social penetration theory, which states that self-disclosure is the way to strengthen relationships. The communication privacy theory focuses on privacy boundaries and what information one chooses to withhold from another person. This privacy management system is focused on three parts: privacy ownership, privacy control, and privacy turbulence. Privacy ownership is our private information that only we know and others do not. This also encompasses our personal privacy boundaries. Depending on the person, our privacy boundaries could either be thin and porous, or thick and hard to break through (Griffin p. 151). Privacy control consists of one’s decision to either disclose or not disclose their private information with another. When you decide to share your private information or secret, you are giving up some sort of control. The boundaries have changed and the other person has now become a co-owner in your information. Privacy turbulence is what happens when sharing your information doesn’t go as you planned. You might expect the other person to keep your information between the two of you, but they decide to divulge your information to another person. When our privacy management system is thrown off balance and our privacy rules are broken, it creates