Movie reviews: Airplane! – by Anthony Frohlich – Helium
The 1980 comedy Airplane! is a great example of effective teamwork during a crisis situation. Although the film lampoons the Airport disaster pics…, Anthony Frohlich
Excerpt found on www.helium.com
The 1980 comedy Airplane! is a great example of effective teamwork during a crisis situation. Although the film lampoons the Airport disaster pics of the 1970s, Airplane! is nonetheless effective in showing the advantage of working together in a group. When someone is placed in a life-or-death situation, it is vital that everyone involved works together in order to preserve life. This article will show how Airplane! uses teamwork strategies that are essential for a safe outcome in a tragic situation.
In Airplane!, a Chicago-bound flight takes off unbeknown that their food is off. Once airborne, the navigator, pilot, copilot, and several passengers contract the food borne illness. This forces the head stewardess, Elaine (Julie Hagerty) to engage the automatic pilot and search for a likely candidate to safely land the airplane. Her search ends with her lovesick ex-boyfriend, Ted Striker (Robert Hays), who had experience flying single-engine planes during the war. He contends that his unstable state of mind may be a hindrance rather than a help. After some persuasion, Ted agrees to do his best to safely land the troubled flight.
When the severity of the situation is understood, a doctor passenger (Leslie Nielsen) offers his services to the ill passengers. Not only does he administer medical attention to the suffering, but at the same time, offers peace-of-mind to distraught and confused passengers. This is necessary to avoid a severe panic. The truth would have ultimately hurt the chances of effective teamwork to occur, so in this case, ignorance is bliss.
Although, many of the passengers witnessed the catastrophe around them, some decided to offer their service to the sick. For example, there is a scene in which two men, who speak Jive as a language, had trouble conversing with the stewardess. A concerned bystander (who happened to speak jive fluently) interpreted the stewardess’ message. Although the situation was completely absurd, the point was poignant: effective communication is paramount.
For any teamwork to be effective, a state of interdependence must occur. There are specific roles, and these roles must be recognized and executed by the appropriate parties. For instance, if there were a band, the bass player should not take on the role of the vocalist—unless, of course, it is for the greater good. Once at the plane’s controls, Ted has to take orders from his former wartime commander, Rex Kramer (Robert Stack). Ted compromises with Kramer by casting aside harbored umbrage in order to safely land the plane.
As passengers become increasingly aware that moral is down, the only nun on board sings Aretha Franklin’s Respect to ill passengers, while several others queue up to soothe a passenger that suffers a panic attack. These two examples, as well as the previously mentioned situations are instances of self-directed teamwork. In short, the passengers took the initiative and possessed the gumption to attain their goal.
