The episode I watched
was the Cosby Show. While watching
the show without sound I had made many assumptions about what was going on with
the characters, especially Clair because this was an episode that revolved around
her. Clair was upset early on in the program and you can tell by her facial
expressions and how she was walking around. Bill was great to watch even
without sound because he always uses his facial features to express himself,
but even with knowing this I was all wrong about what was happening in the show.
You could tell that Bill was trying to get the children to listen to him, but
they kept trying to walk away. At this point I had thought that Clair was tired
of cleaning up after them and dealing with their arguing.
After watching
the show with the sound on I was shocked at how different the show came
together. I found myself at many sections of the program saying, Oh that’s what
they were talking about or wow I got that all wrong. Clair was not angry at the
children like I thought, she was just stressed out about life, tired of doing
and doing between work and home. Bill was trying to give her a little vacation
for the night so she could just focus on her wants and needs.
I don’t if I
would not have had assumptions with a show that I was familiar with, I mean
watching what they are doing and having to rely solely on body language, anyone
could be wrong. With a show that I am more familiar with, I might be able to
tell what kind of mood the characters are in better, but I am not sure if I
would be able to be able to figure out the plot. I did not have much to choose
from when I started this assignment and I chose the Cosby Show because I have
not seen this show since I was a teenager. I am familiar with Bill and I have
seen many of his standup acts. But even with knowing how he is, I was still
wrong about the plot of the show and what was going on.
Hi Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteThe Cosby show is a good show and I agree that Bill, as well as Claire use a lot of facial expressions. I thought this was a very interesting assignment and found that more than observing nonverbal behaviors is necessary to truly understand feelings and relationships. Nonverbal behaviors are definitely helpful, but other forms of effective communication are needed to have full meaning.
I agree i had a very similar experience with the inaccurate assumptions based on nonverbal communication only. It is very hard to understand people based only on one form of communication. The context of the communication is also extremely important and must be taken into account when examining communication.
ReplyDeleteHi Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteThis is a show with a lot of facial and behavioral expressions. I also found it interesting to observes a television episode without sound. My presumptions on the relationship between my two characters on my chosen episode were also incorrect. They appeared to be just co-workers when they were actually a couple expecting a baby. I have realized the importance of using a variety of communication skills appropriately.
Thanks for sharing!
Cindy Rube
LOL...i agree that this week's task was a fun, but challenging one. I find myself often watching the tv on mute (probably b/c I'd recently been on the phone and had turned it down) and I'd always rush to turn it up whenever I saw some "bodily action" that caught my attention (such as yelling, crying, fighting, etc.). I'd be anxious to find out "what's really going on". And surprisingly, sometimes my assumptions would be right. However, there'd be times when they'd be wrong. I think we can all agree when I say sucessful communication requires both VERBAL and NON-VERBAL skills! :)
ReplyDelete