Communication
skills and styles vary depending on culture, gender, and context. This
week I watched a television show that I do not normally watch with the sound
off first and then with the sound on. Between the two observations of the same
show, I was granted different ideals about characters’ relationships, feelings,
and expression.
The TV show: Gypsy Sister’s
Episode: When Mellie Gets Married
Episode: When Mellie Gets Married
Sounds off:
With just relying on mostly nonverbal cues I feel that each character has aggression within them. There is fighting, yelling, and people storming off. Nettie and Mellie are sisters but do not have a “typical” relationship between sisters. They yell at each other during the dress making process and are shown arguing throughout the show multiple times. Nettie and her children seem to have a close bond because they are always together. It seems that she is very open with her children because they are shown in scenes when there is fighting and during scenes that might be called “inappropriate” by popular standards. Mellie’s relationship with her husband does not seem so secure. They also fight a lot and are not shown together and being “loving”. Physical contact is not made between them much and neither is eye contact. During the wedding when Mellie is crying down the aisle and getting upset I sense that she does not want to marry her husband but goes through with it for what I believe is family pressure.
With just relying on mostly nonverbal cues I feel that each character has aggression within them. There is fighting, yelling, and people storming off. Nettie and Mellie are sisters but do not have a “typical” relationship between sisters. They yell at each other during the dress making process and are shown arguing throughout the show multiple times. Nettie and her children seem to have a close bond because they are always together. It seems that she is very open with her children because they are shown in scenes when there is fighting and during scenes that might be called “inappropriate” by popular standards. Mellie’s relationship with her husband does not seem so secure. They also fight a lot and are not shown together and being “loving”. Physical contact is not made between them much and neither is eye contact. During the wedding when Mellie is crying down the aisle and getting upset I sense that she does not want to marry her husband but goes through with it for what I believe is family pressure.
Sound on:
Mellie and Nettie’s relationship is not a “typical” sister relationship because of their age difference. Their mother was in prison when Mellie was a young adult which cause Nettie to become more of a mother figure. Nettie is upset with Mellie for her behavior that is not part of their culture and family traditions. Mellie and Nettie are close and do love each other which is stated throughout the show. Nettie’s children are always with her because she is the primary caregiver and some of the children are also her grandchildren. It is typical for gypsy women to marry young and have children at young ages as well making it more acceptable in their family culture to interact differently to such a span of ages. Mellie is ready to marry her husband, but did have hesitations before the wedding. During the wedding she was not having mixed feelings for the groom but was aggravated from her dress, bridal party, and other various factors.
Mellie and Nettie’s relationship is not a “typical” sister relationship because of their age difference. Their mother was in prison when Mellie was a young adult which cause Nettie to become more of a mother figure. Nettie is upset with Mellie for her behavior that is not part of their culture and family traditions. Mellie and Nettie are close and do love each other which is stated throughout the show. Nettie’s children are always with her because she is the primary caregiver and some of the children are also her grandchildren. It is typical for gypsy women to marry young and have children at young ages as well making it more acceptable in their family culture to interact differently to such a span of ages. Mellie is ready to marry her husband, but did have hesitations before the wedding. During the wedding she was not having mixed feelings for the groom but was aggravated from her dress, bridal party, and other various factors.
I feel that my assumptions would have been more correct if
it was a TV show that I knew well because I would have a background of previous
relationships and typical behaviors from individuals. I have learned that
communication needs to be both verbal and nonverbal to receive an accurate
understanding of every situation.
Abigail,
ReplyDeleteI guess you are correct to assume that husband and wife need to have physical contact and eye contact during speaking. Millie crying sure is a non-verbal communicator that something is not right with her. If I would have just read your synopsis while the sound was off, I would have had preconceived notions that she didn’t want to get married. I think if we were able to analyze a show that we were familiar with, we would not have paid so much attention to the non-verbal communicators.
Reading through your assumptions without sound;one can see how important all communication skills are.They all work together to give meaning to the messages we send across during a communication process.It is because we have pre-existing knowledge about interpretations to these non-verbal cues that we are able to interpret and give assumptions to some scene which may or not be accurate.It is therefore important that we consider all elements involved in a communication process
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job on explaining the communication issues in this show. It was hard to watch something and try to decide relationships and feelings. Some of the non-verbal’s were easy to understand, but it was a challenging assignment. I feel we have all come to the same conclusion-it would be easier using a show we know. Great job!
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