Politeness strategies and power relations in fatherhood movie

This study examines the bald on record politeness strategy used by the main character in Fatherhood. This movie tells the story of a single father who takes care of his daughter alone after his wife dies. Then, the researcher formulated two problems: (1) What are the types of bald on record strategies used by the main character in the Fatherhood movie? (2) How do power relations affect the strategy used by the main character in the Fatherhood movie? This research uses a descriptive qualitative approach, and the data used are forms of speech utterance by the main character in the movie. Then, the researcher identifies, classifies, and discusses the data based on the types of bald on-record strategies using Brown & Levinson's (1987) theory. In addition, this study also examines how power relations affect the communication strategies used by the main character using Fairclough's (1989) theory. This study found that the main character, Matt, used politeness strategies 121 times in the interaction. One of them is the maximum efficiency strategy, which is more dominant because Matt often communicates directly and efficiently to get his point across, especially in situations that require quick action or decision-making. This research also analyzes the power relations in the communication of the main character, Matt, in the film Fatherhood, which is divided into three positions: high power, equal power, and low power. In high power positions, such as with his daughter, Matt uses assertive communication to show leadership, which is influenced by his social role as a father. In an equal power position, such as with his friends, Matt uses casual language, reflecting the equality of social roles, such as being equal in age to his friends. Meanwhile, in low power positions, which are influenced by social status factors or authority from other parties, such as with his doctor or mother-in-law, Matt still shows assertiveness despite being in a lower position.