Introduction

An Overview of Group Dynamics as Seen in "Calendar Girls"

“//I don’t think there is anything on this planet that more trumpets life than the sunflower. For me that’s because of the reason behind its name. Not because it looks like the sun, but because it follows the sun. During the course of the day, the head tracks the journey of the sun across the sky. A satellite dish for sunshine. Wherever light is, no matter how weak, these flowers will find it. And that's such an admirable thing and such a lesson in life…”// -- from "Calendar Girls"

The calendar girls in the movie may not look like typical “calendar girls,” but, like the sunflower, they follow the same dream. Is it not interesting that sunflowers are always found in groups, never just a single sunflower? As a pasture of sunflowers, they too represent a group with challenges. This paper outlines the characteristics associated with those challenges as reflected through the group dynamics of the calendar girls. We touch on elements such as boundaries and interactions among groups; roles and norms; communication patterns and decision making; power differentials and conflict; content vs. process; and emotionality and trust.

The sunflowers represented in this group paper are called **//DJ JAMMS//** an acronym for:




 * D** - Dieter Lombard


 * J** - Josh Strecker


 * J** - Joy Persall


 * A** - Alyona Kudina


 * M** - Mary Smith


 * M** - Mozella Brown


 * S** - Samantha Cooprider