This paper examines the process through which a typical
friendship is
developed and maintained, looking particularly at the
ways in which interactions with other people help to mold our sense of self and how interpersonal communication is the bedrock of
friendship using examples from the movies "Steel Magnolias" and "City Slickers". This paper incorporates a theoretical model
developed by Long and Wood as well as drawing upon the writer's personal experience and popular notions of friendship.