Communication of Characters

This week I was tasked with the assignment of watching a television show that I do not normally watch to investigate the communication of its characters. First, I was to watch it with the sound off

and then again with the sound on. I chose a show that I had considered watching but had not gotten around to yet, The Good Place with Kristen Bell and Ted Danson. I chose a random episode on Netflix and completed the assigned task.

There was a lot that I could tell by observing without sound. Facial expressions and body language often connected to the feelings and intentions of the characters. I identified annoyance and bewilderment based on facial expressions, excitement by the use of hand gestures while speaking, frustration through hands placed on hips and eye rolling, and confusion through raised eyebrows and widening of the eyes. These impressions tended to be correct when watching the show again with volume.

However, a few of the assumptions I made about the relationships among the characters turned out to be severely flawed. For example, when I saw one female character braiding another's hair it seemed to indicate that they had a level of intimacy in their friendship. However, it turned out that they did not like each other as much as it would have seemed and were trying to force themselves to bond via this exercise. Just prior to this they had both, separately, told a male character that they were in love with him. Due to the show being a comedy, instead of say a drama, this was not at all apparent during their exchanges. He sat with his body drawn closed in on itself and the women both stood and spoke to him animatedly. The non-verbal communication did not match what I would have expected while professing one's love.

I think the biggest lesson I learned is that context and personal communication styles have everything to do with how we perceive communication from others. Context, for example matters when you consider whether the moment is meant to bring laughter or tears; in a television show this will affect every interaction among the characters. I also feel that my own schemas about communication played a large part in how I viewed these characters and their interactions. I made an assumption that the character played by Ted Danson was an authority or boss of some kind because when the show opened he sat at a desk with a small group of other characters on the other side of it. In general, when I have had interactions with someone sitting on the opposite side of a desk from me they have been an authority figure of some kind.

If this had been a show I knew well I might have had a better understanding of some of the contexts that skewed my perceptions. For example, while I do think that Ted Danson's character is some sort of authority he seems to be flailing in this position. If I had known his character better prior to watching the episode without the sound I might have known his nuanced behaviors which indicate his personality and feelings while communicating.

This is also true in real life. Effective communication often takes time to build through relationships. Sure,

we can have brief exchanges with people we do not know but in order to begin to understand underlying meanings it is crucial to know that person well and to listen with both your ears and eyes.