For this week's assignment on communication, my instructions were to watch a show that I don't usually watch without the sound and try to determine what the relationships were between characters just by watching the body language. I chose to watch Mike and Molly. While watching the show there were a few relationships that were obvious by the body language but at times the body language did not indicate the real relationships of the characters.
Some of the relationships that were obvious were the relationships between Mike and Molly. The first scene showed them sitting in bed together, hugging and kissing so it was obvious that they were in an intimate relationship. However it wasn't obvious whether they were married or not. The second relationship was the relationship between Mike and his police partner. There was one scene with both of them dressed in their uniforms eating a meal together. It was pretty obvious that they were partners for work. Later scenes showed them in "street" clothes hanging out together so they obviously had a friendship beyond work.
Some relationships were more difficult to discern merely through body language. In particular in the scene with the police officers, a lady enters the restaurant to talk to Mike's partner. She hands him a box, they both get up and walk toward the door. He attempts to hug her when she holds her hand out to shake his. It wasn't until I watched the show with sound that I realized that this relationship was an affair that ended after the women went back to her husband. However it was obvious through his body language that he was sad throughout the rest of the show.
Other relationships that were not obvious were the relationships between Molly and her mother and sister. I guessed that she was friends with these characters only to find out they were related. Another relationship that was not obvious was the relationship between Molly and her mother-in-law. I guessed that this women was a nosey neighbor who came to Molly's yard sale. Actually, it was her mother in law. The final relationship that was not obvious was the relationship between two of Mike's friends. When I watched the show without sound I really didn't think these two characters were friends. The one friend rolled his eyes, and at times looked very annoyed at the other. When I watched the show with sound, this particular exchange was full of sarcasm but the two characters were friends.
Through this experience, I learned that powerful messages are communicated through body language. Without sound, I was able to focus on body language only. I noticed that closer relationships were characterized by physical closeness between people and physical contact. I also learned that sometimes body language could be deceiving as was the case during the exchange that had sarcasm involved. In fact body language in this case was completely misleading and did not match the relationship. I believe this can happen when underlying feelings are being covered up or differ from the words that are used. In fact, body language can indicate underlying feelings that may differ from the words being said.
Terri,
ReplyDeleteYou made some great observations about what you learned by some if the challenges of communication. As you pointed out, there are some emotions are difficult to determine such as sarcasm, while other such as sadness are easy to read. I found that when doing this assignment, it was easier to determine emotions than to accurately determine the nature of some relationships. As a result of this assignment, you also noticed a link between relationships and physical proximity. This observation is supported by O’Hair & Wiemann (2012), who stated “In addition to the messages your body, its movements, and its adornments convey, you also send nonverbal messages by the spaces that surround you and your communication partners” (p. 140). Interesting post! Thanks for sharing.
Geralyn
Reference
O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s
Terri,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog about Mike and Molly. Although I never watched that show, I feel like I have some understanding of the characters and their relation/friendships. From reading your blog about this show, it is proven that more personal relationships are usually displayed through body language; although at times it can be misinterpreted by an outsider looking in. From not fully understanding without sound as you did with sound, it seems as if we need to implement both verbal and nonverbal skills in order to communicate effectively.
Sherrell