Nonverbal Communication In The Movie : Inside Out

The Breakfast Club is such an interesting movie to use with this topic. The wide range of characters allows for a variety of different interactions. The way we are going to approach this, is to look at each character and examine the different interactions between.

There are few fields of study that are as pervasive in everyday life as the science of communication. Every interpersonal interaction, anything that can be read or listened to, even self-talk is a method of communication that can be studied, analyzed, and utilized. Books, commercials, music, and movies are more sources of communication that most never consider as a legitimate form of communication that can be learned from. Legally Blonde, a award-winning comedy starring Reese Witherspoon, is a perfect example of the importance and influence of interpersonal communication. This analysis of Legally Blonde and its character interactions explores the various components of nonverbal language, how characters utilize them to convey their thoughts, emotions, and individual personality, and how other characters interpret that nonverbal behavior. The components in the movie to be expanded on include kinesics, haptics, physical appearance, artifacts, proxemics, and paralanguage. Ultimately, this paper explores how these facets of nonverbal language can effectively communicate their own message as well as how they complement verbal language.

I decided to go to Panda Express at 5:30 pm for my observations, while there I was able to observe just how much people rely on nonverbal communications to get their point across. Although I witnessed several encounters of unique body language, there were also a few actions that reoccurred several times in several different people. For example, when a customer would approach the counter where employee served the food, the employee would raise her eyebrows and smile at the customer. The employee’s smile, however, did not reach her eyes suggesting that while it is her job to smile and be welcoming to the customer, she most likely did not want to be at work. Additionally, I noticed that when customers approached the counter about 90 percent of them had their arms crossed. The act of crossing ones arms usually means that a person is trying to put a barrier between them and a situation that they either don’t like, or are uncomfortable with. This may mean that the customers were displeased with having to wait in line to get their food, on the other hand it may be that they were simply comfortable folding their arms. Once they reached the front of the line, every customer pointed to the food they wanted along with verbally telling the employee. This made their communication more effective as it helped to overcome the barrier of sound because the restaurant was noisy.

Non-verbal communication consists mainly of the things people do with their body language. There are times where words are expressed and non-verbal communication could help emphasize the message. A few examples of nonverbal communication are hand gestures eye contact, facial expressions as well as tone and volume. I was given this assignment to observe a situation and take note of the nonverbal communication that occurred. I also had to observe whether the non-verbals were able to execute the message and if the behavior was acceptable.

Our society also relies on language as its major bases for communication. Our ability to communicate apart from our words plays an important part in our daily lives. We often disregard the power of body language and our facial gestures. We are expected to portray our body language and facial gestures

Body language (the process of communicating nonverbally through conscious or unconscious gestures and movements). People all of the world use body language or gestures to communicate nonverbally. I personally think that nonverbal communication and body language are one of the biggest barriers in communication especially between one culture to other. Body gestures can be misinterpreted as rude or disrespectful depending on the country, region, or even the city you’re from.

Nonverbal communication covers all aspects of communication beyond words. It is anything from body gestures to the way words are spoken. The tone, demeanor, hidden meaning behind words, mix that with body language and what is creates in nonverbal communication elements. Even clothes and personal appearance can send a nonverbal message. Nonverbal communication accounts for nearly 65-93% communication means (Wood, 2014). One area where nonverbal communication sent a negative, incorrect message is the movie Erin Brockovich. The clothing of the main character sent the message that she was uneducated, white trash. This could not be further from the truth. She was an intelligent, single mother who saw a problem where nobody else did.

Chapter eight in the textbook discusses the aspects of nonverbal communication. This can be described as body motion, facial expressions, and anything that expresses emotion without using words. With the impact of technology on society, this form of communication is getting substantial to our daily lives. After doing some research, I discovered a video that I believe best exemplifies the topic nonverbal communication. This short comedy skit by comedians Key and Peele is titled “Text Message Confusion.” In summary, the skit is exactly how the title states; misinterpreting text messages. Not only is texting a form of nonverbal communication, but both actors express body language that also describes their emotion throughout the skit. For instance,

Thesis Statement: Body language expresses emotions and actions unconsciously and differs between men and women depending on their brain type, emotional experience and culture.

Any communication interaction involves two major components in terms of how people are perceived: verbal, or what words are spoken and nonverbal, the cues such as facial expressions, posture, verbal intonations, and other body gestures. Many people believe it is their words that convey the primary messages but it is really their nonverbal cues. The hypothesis for this research paper was: facial expressions directly impact how a person is perceived. A brief literature search confirmed this hypothesis.

While it is truth is that we cannot read mind of other people, neither we cannot see what is in their heads, but if we master art of non-verbal communication, we could read their emotions through the position and movement of body parts, changes of voice intonation, manner of breathing, and quality of touch. By my sort of introvert nature, I have always preferred to observe and analyze people’s behavior before I would speak or act, so I was looking forward to this field essay who asked to venture outside and observe people around you. Ultimately, I decided to drive to Miami Beach area, walk around, and witness non-verbal behavior of thousands of tourists in melting pot resort city.

In every society nonverbal communication is one of the most powerful tools that a person can use to interpret the message that is being delivered. Even though verbal communication is fairly straightforward, nonverbal communication allows others to sense the true emotions of the person that is expressing them. For example even though a person may say that they are not irritated, their usage of voice may display otherwise. Nonverbal communication not only reveals hidden messages, but it also complements, substitutes, and exaggerates verbal communication.

To me interpersonal communication describes the exchange of verbal and nonverbal messages between two different people. Joseph DeVito states that “interpersonal communication is inevitable, irreversible, and unrepeatable” due to these things effective communication is a necessary skill for us to function in our day to day lives (p. 20). Therefore, I have created a theory for interpersonal communication that goes as follows; To experience effective communication you must understand: your culture, the other person’s culture, and how to listen effectively. By knowing these three things you can consistently avoid misunderstandings and promote understanding in your interpersonal and intercultural relationships.

“Systematic research on the role of nonverbal behavior in social interaction has been common only in the past 20 to 25 years.”(Edinger and Patterson, 1983, p. 30).because that statement was published in 1983, it is apparent that the study of nonverbal behavior has been around for roughly 50 to 55 years. However, that is still a relatively recent amount of time compared to research in other science fields such as chemistry or biology. Despite the fact that this field is relatively recent there are many theories about our interaction with others. This paper will discuss the nonverbal expectancy theory along with two other theories, and describe how these theories can work together.

Prior to the interview, keep your hands open in order to prevent them becoming overly sweaty. Keep a tissue in your pocket to discreetly dry your hands if necessary. Sweaty hands could indicate to the interviewer that you are nervous.