200 pounds of beauty

 

SYNOPSIS:

Hanna is the ghost singer for famous Korean pop idol Ammy. But in real life, she is made fun of because of her weight and appearance. When Ammy’s malicious jokes leaves Hanna humiliated and heartbroken, she makes a drastic decision to undergo full-body plastic surgery, thereby changing her life forever…   Culture is an invisible control mechanism operating in our thoughts which kicks in only when we are severely challenged. It dictates where to draw the line separating one thing from another; the line is arbitrary until it is learnt and internalized and becomes reality.  This movie “200 pounds of beauty” reflects culture in the contemporary world – culture of judging people based on looks, culture of need to be slim to live a normal life, culture of the need to look good, thereby resulting in the culture of plastic surgeries, Botox, and other artificial means to lead a normal life.

  This culture is learned. Like in the movie, people like Ammy are “worshipped” and adored because she can be “untalented but gorgeous and sexy”, whereas Hanna who is “talented but fat and ugly” could only sing in a place where her audience cannot see her, and the society discriminates against her. People like Ammy could out rightly despise her or even decide for her what is inappropriate or wrong, for instance not to wear such clothes, not to dance when she sings.

  Culture is shared. When Hanna went to audition to be a backup singer again and the company decides whether she should try for star singer, they proposed she goes for plastic surgery, “to make her eyes bigger, her nose sharper”. This shows how widely spread the need for plastic surgery. If you want to pursue your dreams as a star, you have to follow the culture. Also, after Hanna’s surgery, there was an incident where her car crashed into another car in front of hers; we see a totally different reaction from the driver as well as police and the public. When the man whose car was badly crashed first noticed it was just a female driver he was very upset. He cursed and swore. Yet when he saw that the female driver was ravishing, it didn’t matter any longer even though he was bleeding profusely. Incredibly, he even felt embarrassed about his injury instead of becoming outraged. The police also leaned to support her even though she was in the wrong. This is one example how the culture of judging people based on their physical appearance is propagated amongst the population.

  Culture is dynamic. Gone are the days when people thought lowly of plastic surgeries. Although the lead male character, Sang-jun, talked about how he regarded people who had plastic surgeries were as good as monsters, in the end he fell for Jenny, who underwent the surgery, instead of Hanna. As societies become increasingly open to ideas previously might have been rejected, people have become more accepting. Plastic surgeries and Botox have become a trend in people’s quest for ‘perfection’ in their bodies.

  Culture is multifaceted. There are many aspects to culture. In this instance, the culture of judging people based on good looks is shaped by the mindset of having to be slim to look good, and it encompasses the use of artificial means to correct our physical imperfections. Also, there are healthy alternatives to keep up with looking good such as exercising, dietary restrictions, or going natural – letting your true self shine through. As we can see it is not solely restricted to just one aspect but it is multifaceted.

  Korea, Singapore and other Asian societies who are affected by this culture actually fall under collectivist culture. A collectivist society is one in which social behavior is determined by the views, needs and goals of the ingroup rather than of self. Social norms and duty are defined by the group, rather than for self-pressure, and members have a great readiness to cooperate with in-group members.

  When Jenny, who is actually Hanna, tries to conceal her real identity and refuses to acknowledge her father in front of others, her best friend was appalled, and gave the cold treatment. This is because filial piety is amongst one of the most important values in Asian societies and people who fail to abide by these values or norms actually face a certain degree of hostility or disregard by others in the society. Towards the end, Hanna could not bear the guilt anymore, and returns to her father. This demonstrates the collectivist impact on members within the group. Deviation would lead to discomfort or even guilt.

  However, we see the increasing openness of Asian societies towards plastic surgeries, something that was previously highly objected. The reason for this would be interactions and influence from America and the West, who are accustomed to individualist cultures.

  Individualist cultures occur when social behavior is largely determined by personal goals, attitudes and values of collectivities. People create their own in-groups rather than tradition. The individualist culture coupled with influence from the media, especially imported films, have brought about the accepting or even popularizing of perfection of bodies, and looking good, to the extent of dressing skimpily to show off their proud assets in our once staunchly conservative Asian society.

  For better or for worse, it is no longer for us to comment, but for our culture to judge. What we can do is to maintain a discerning mind, and not just following blindly to whatever these pop cultures adhere to. I guess that’s the best thing the individualist culture offers – the right to say ‘no’ when there is a need.

Credits to:

http://www.moviexclusive.com/cd/200poundsbeauty%20dvd.htm

Media versus its receivers

   Does the media affects us, or do we have power over the media? Isn’t scary to think about how the media legitimizes our thoughts, tells us what we think about? 

Media’s Effects     

  100% Powerful Effects Theory: They brainwash the public. They create desires, instill values. Receivers are relatively passive, accepting media messages at face value and unconsciously allow media sources to tell them what they think.     

  Like in this documentary, “Bowling for Columbine”, Michael Moore demonstrates how the media exerts its sovereignty over its receivers. Reporters decide what is going to make the news, “Shooter first, followed by drowning girl, followed by pollution” And guess what would never make the news, the pollution of course, in spite of how bad it could have become, ” totally covering the Hollywood sign that is just down the hill”. News broadcasters/channels, to outdo rival broadcasters, rival channels, and give greater coverage on things that are attention-grabbing or even make this news worth the attention. As shared in the documentary, news coverage includes the terms “Stairway to danger”, “What you don’t know may KILL you”, “You might want to take some EXTRA precaution, or keep a LOW profile, don’t draw a lot of attention to yourself, or the fact that YOU are an American,” “One in five Americans suffer from psychotic disorders, seek help NOW!” Is the news today focusing a tad too much on violence? What results from this? We see the imprints of the Powerful Effects Theory on the American population – fear, and more fear.  

  50% Moderate Effects Theory: Media selectivity does not equate no effects. There is the Agenda Setting. It includes media’s ability through repeated coverage is able to increase the importance of an issue over others. Priming is the process by which media attends to some issues over others, thereby altering the standards by which people evaluate the issue. There’s also the gatekeepers, people who select issues they feel are most worthy of coverage and give those issues wide attention. An example of gatekeepers is the editors for our newspapers and magazines. 

  Like shown in the film, these producers choose to feature shooting shows, and focus on the blacks as dangerous people. In a way, it deviates people’s attention away from the weakened American dollar. On the other hand, it is scary to note how media has the ability to control people. Viewers do not have much of choice as to what to think about if the media network only allows full flush of violent and discriminating shows as such, although we know Moore’s documentary might seem a little exaggerated.

  50% Cultivation Theory: Media can affect the extent to which we feel comfortable in our social worlds. Heavy viewers are more likely to experience cultivation and light viewers are less affected.     

  Heavy exposure to television violence cultivates insecurity, mistrust, alienation, and a willingness to accept potentially repressive measures in the name of security. As also shown in this documentary, Americans, especially the whites, keep guns in their houses, in their pockets, everywhere they go, they would make sure there are guns with them. In a random check, one guy was even noted to have 22 guns on him. While it is amazing how he could store that many guns on him even though he wasn’t carrying a bag, and we’re talking about rifles here, we pause to ponder whether it was really necessary, or was it just another perverted influence of the media we embrace?       

  50% Media Hegemony: The media represents views of the powerful elite; it is influenced by those who hold economic and political power. When we say elite, we mean the predominant group, or social class of the society.     

  However, I disagree with this theory to a large extent. I would say it differs from country to country. One good example that proves my point would be Indonesia. We know that the Indonesian Chinese contributes to the largest ratio of the country’s economy, yet it is the minority group, the media would focus more on views of the majority group rather than the minorities’, hence while this theory holds for countries where majority groups are the main driving force of the economy, it would not be applicable in others.     

  50% Media Determinism: The medium is the message, and they have contributed to the emergence of an “imperial presidency”.     

  Patriotic Americans love Bush, and his talks. They trust their leaders, even their pop icons do. With exception to the unwise few who have everything against the PAP, majority of us are still pretty consistent in going with the flow. And what do these political leaders have in common in getting us on their side? Well, the use of media. Franklin D. Roosevelt had adopted “fireside chats”, communicating to the public, while bypassing the congress. Television zooms in on his personality, and he somewhat has come to be treated like a media star. Subsequent political figure heads have adopted his strategy; henceforth, we pay more attention to politics and political leaders.     

  50% Spiral of silence: People have the tendency to refrain from expressing unpopular ideas or views. Groups outside the mainstream have almost no chance of making themselves heard, because the media refuse to legitimize their ideas.     

  In this documentary, Moore has brought that point up – what can the ‘blacks’ comment on? The whites discuss about them, talk about how they might or should be feeling, even in this documentary. My point is, if the whites really considered them as part of the society, they should not even comment or bring this issue up for discussion because lest the comments be horrible or kind and empathetic, the fact that they are discussed kind of sets them apart from the rest of the society. Would a normal white cat with two eyes one nose one mouth just along the corridor make news or a cat with three eyes make news? Of course, the one with three eyes would make news because they are deviant from the mainstream. Likewise, if we considered them a part of us, we shouldn’t be talking about them like it was a big issue.

Receiver’s effects     

  100% Uses & Gratification Theory: Receivers are active and they use media to fulfill preexisting needs, to provide diversion and emotional release, substitute companionship and a shared social experience, identity and value reinforcement, and finally, surveillance.  For instance, the widely discriminated group, the African-Americans would be able to identify with the undertone prejudice and discrimination they face, and this documentary justifies how news can distort reality, and how few black shooters actually bring on mass fear of ‘blacks’.     

  To sum, media can control its receivers by selecting what kind of information they disseminate, yet receivers can influence the media and are able to choose whether they want to be swayed by the information, but it would require the receivers to be discerning. In another words, the wiser of the two controls, the lesser-informed would then have to face the fate of becoming the controlled…  

Hanazakari no Kimitachi

  This Japanese manga became so popular it has been later made into animes and drama serials. Volume 1 talks about Japanese-American track-and-field star Mizuki transferred to an all guys’ high school in Japan to be close to her idol, high jumper Izumi Sano, disguising herself as a boy! But as fate would have it, they’re more than classmates…they’re roommates too! One day during a friendly soccer match with Natsumi, a classmate and good friend in her new school, Mizuki was hit by the ball and loses consciousness. Izumi Sano, who happens to be walking by, carries her to the infirmary. While carrying her, he realizes Mizuki is actually a girl! However, Sano keeps her identity a secret, for he has slowly fallen in love with her.

Knapp’s Model of Relational Formation (Coming together) – Mizuki and Sano

  Initiating takes place as Sano screens this newcomer, Mizuki. He mistakes Mizuki to be a homosexual when Mazuki openly declared she likes him, forgetting that she is now in disguise. He presents himself to dislike Mizuki for invading his privacy when she became his roommate. Mizuki on the other hand tries to present herself as a typical avid fan of this high-jump star. There is an exchange of safe topics like ccas et cetera.

  They proceed to the experimenting stage where they try to feel each other out. Mizuki was ill in one incident and she asks if Sano was willing to stay with her until she fell asleep. Then there is an exchange of three kinds of information: cultural, social, and psychological. Sano discovers Mizuki’s background, transfer student from America, and she has an elder brother, and a good friend Julia from America, as well as her coming over to Japan is because his perseverance and achievements in high-jump has changed her life and she adores him. Mizuki learns about Sano having lost his mother, is estranged from his brother, and hates his father because of how his father having met an accident drove him beyond his limits practicing high-jump, and that he fears to take up high jump again because he cannot face the stress. Also, there is Phatic communication where they understand similarities and differences. Mizuki and Sano are similar in wanting Sano to regain his confidence in the high-jump field, and they are connected to Youjiro, Sano’s golden retriever. Yet both have distinctly different personalities. While Mizuki is warm and sociable, Sano is cold and reduces contact with others as much as he can help it. When they have conflicts, Sano chooses to avoid Mizuki altogether, and Mizuki breaks down in tears.   

  After understanding each other deeper, their relationship went on to the intensifying stage. There is increased commitment, awareness and participation. Mizuki left a towel for Sano when he went for practice, and Sano reciprocated by getting her her favorite peach drink. Mizuki stood by Sano as he got back to his feet in the field of high-jump while Sano returns his gratitude in the form of a hug after he successfully jumps over the height. Also, there is physical contact. Discounting that time Sano accidentally kissed Mizuki after he was drunk since he was not in clear state of mind at that time, Mizuki had slept beside Sano when she came out of the toilet half-asleep in the middle of the night. They had become emotionally committed. Mizuki expressed her desire and determination to stay with Sano no matter what and Sano wanted to be near Mizuki wherever she went. However, there is no disclosure of feelings openly to each other as commonly would have been in other relationships because they wanted to prolong Mizuki’s stay in Osaka High.  

  Before they know it, they have reached the integrating stage. The sense of obligation towards the other increased and there is increased expectation of each other as well. Sano tries hard to protect Mizuki’s identity from being blown; he challenged the photographer to get at him instead of Mizuki. Because of the ambiguous relationship between them, Mizuki being the blur one naturally does not think Sano reciprocates her feelings; hence Sano’s increased expectation is one-sided this time. He expects Mizuki to take greater care not to let her gender be revealed or they would then be separated. Also the joined social entity in social network usually found in normal relationships does not exist as they would then have to be classified as gays, if not Mizuki’s identity would be exposed. 

  By the end of Volume 1, they have not reached the bonding stage whereby couples would formalize their obligation and commitment and there is a significant public ritual like an engagement or a marriage. Well, I am expecting this at the very end of the story though.  

  The manga in Volume 1 has to a large extent followed the Knapp’s Model of relational formation except in the bonding stage that cease to exist between the main characters. I guess only in movies and dramas do relationships abide to the stages in the Knapp’s Model in sequence. Try finding it in real life, if they exist, they probably would not be called reality; they would be called dreams, or fairy tales. Definitely, that would be mixing of the coming apart stages as well, and in some cases couples come together again after coming apart. 

  What I am particularly impressed with is how the Knapp’s Model can also apply to multiple relationships occurring at the same time. While two parties might be in the coming apart stages, one of them might actually be engaging in the coming together stages with a third party. It is of course possible for one party to be in the coming together stages with multiple parties, be it as friends, or more than that.  

  However Knapp’s model of relational formation has its restrictions, correct me if I’m wrong – the stages can barely apply to development of friendships, and it lacks the coverage on people who do not see eye to eye with one another since day one. What about stages like contempt rather than just losing of interest, or even estrangement instead of just avoiding? Well just a thought…

I actually found the manga translated into english… Have fun reading! ;)

http://www.crunchyroll.com/showmanga?cid=9862

The engagement

  This article from Newsweek is on the engagement of the royals – Charles and Camilla. If you ask me, I have everything against extramarital affairs, so I might be a little biased against Camilla. Even though it proves the power of first love, Charles should not have married Diana if he liked Camilla better in the first place. From the day he is married to Diana, he should have stayed faithful to the very end. Camilla was married too, and had children of her own. She should have cut all contacts with Charles, if she knew that she still had feelings for him. Anyway, it was a really horrible example Charles was setting for the thousands of population who were looking up to the royals. Such infidelity should not be pardoned… Back to communications, this week we are covering interpersonal communication. 

Possible reasons why Charles fell for Diana:       

J   Physical Appearance

Diana is definitely the pick over Camilla. She has got the really kind person look; Camilla doesn’t have as much appeal as Diana.         

J   Dissimilarities/Complementarities

Diana was a civilian, and her character would more or less be shaped according to the environment she was brought up in. Charles was a royal from young, he might not comprehend poverty amongst commoners; hence, their strengths might actually match the other’s weaknesses.         

J   Exchange

There are expected rewards for both sides, including social status for Diana, and increased popularity among the masses because of the union.    

J   Reciprocity & liking

There has got to be chemistry between them to get married? After all, Diana’s freedom would be forever lost from the minute she got married to Charles, and Charles would have to be with this woman for a lifetime, as expected of him. 

Possible reasons why Charles liked Camilla:        

J   Similarity                  

They both loved gardening, horses, and fox-hunting.       

J   Proximity

They were talking on the phone so often and there’s the messaging technology……        

J  Reciprocity and liking

After 35-year affair, two divorces, wrenching scandal, parental scorn, and a reported pelting of rolls at Camilla, they still chose to be with each other, obviously there is something between them, if not, I think they are out of their minds.

  These are processes people actually go through when they consider another as a potential partner. While some people take a liking to another entirely on chemistry and mutual interactions, more people look for traits in others that fufill their criterias. However in this case, we see that factors such as similarity, proximity, and reciprocity leads to a more lasting relationship. As mentioned in the equity theory, when costs and rewards are relatively equal to that of their partner’s, the balance maintains long term viability of the relationship, which I agree to a large extent. Having similar interests, goals, and expectations for example fidelity, actually ensures more pleasure in the relationship and reduce the amount of conflicts resulting from sorting out differences.

  While this is true for many couples who are happily married, we take a look at why others might have failed.

  Why did Charles and Diana break up? I think some relational challenges they could have faced include poor communication skills, we read in the news how one avoids and the other retains a sarcastic tone, actions that undermine trust, Charles had an extramarital affair with Camilla soon after their marriage, differences, Diana hated gardening, horses, and fox-hunting which were actually past-times of Charles’, and maybe unrealistic expectation, because we see Diana going to third world countries caring for the less fortunate people and she might have expected Charles’ commitment or accompanyment as well…

  Whatever the real factors that resulted in their parting of ways could be, a relationship that lasts is built on love and trust. And while the three words have become so commonly said, how many actually do it? After all, love is first an action, then a feeling. The feeling only comes because the individuals have sacrificed effort, time, energy etc hence they feel the so called love. To end off, I’ll leave a quote for us to ponder.

  “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.   Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when perfection comes, the imperfect disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.  And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”1st Corinthians 13:4-13 

the 5 people you meet in heaven

  My beloved brother got me this book as a Christmas gift just two years back, and I have always treasured it because it was an extravagant gift, considering he was only fifteen and it was in December (my savings would have long been used up over the holidays), and it is a touching and meaningful story that sets me thinking about the way we make sense of the world around us.    

  PERCEPTION is the process of selecting, organizing, and interpreting information.    

  Selection refers to how we attend to or select information in our environment for processing. In this story, the main character, Eddie, is just another ordinary person leading an extraordinary life. There are things he attends to, but also things he left out. The second person he met in heaven was the Captain of his troop when he was serving the army in wartimes. His troop respected and held this Captain in high esteem. One last incident that the troop faced together was the attempt to destroy the enemy’s bomb shaft in which they were once held as captive in, with firearms. In that incident, all that Eddie saw or attended to was noticing a little girl in the bomb shaft, trying with all his might to get into the burning shaft to save the girl, and someone shot him in the leg and left him limping and cursing for the rest of his life. However, we get the Captain’s perspective of the exact same incident. He shot Eddie.     They had a shared vision, “No one gets left behind.” His troop had managed to escape from his captors alive, and on their way back, they found the enemy’s bomb shaft, no one was there. To get back at the enemies for those hated dreadful days of captivity, his troop decided to burn it down. As soon as they got the flamethrowers into the bomb shaft, they started to run from the site as fast as they could. It was then Eddie turned back and started running towards the burning shaft that was about to explode. The Captain ran back to get Eddie.     “No one gets left behind, remember?” the Captain said. “What happened to you – I’ve seen it before. A soldier reaches a certain point and he can’t go anymore…Your case, it just so happened, you snapped in front of a fire a minute before we were done with this place. I couldn’t let you burn alive. I figured a leg wound would heal. We pulled you out there, and others got you into a medical unit.” 

  The reason why Eddie was so determined to get back into the shaft, to the extent of his missing out another important fact that was happening at the same time, the shaft was about to explode within seconds, was his focus on saving that girl. One quality of selection – intensity, draws our attention to one important part of the message; however, as demonstrated in this case, it might not be the only important stimuli. Hence, we might commit distortion, the failure to prioritize essential information. 

  Organization refers to the way information is ordered, arranged and differentiated. The way we organize information is influenced by cognitive schemata, the mental framework that we have developed over time.  When Eddie first saw the Captain in heaven, ‘The captain held up his cigarette, he smiled as if to say, “Can you believe you get to smoke here?” Then he took a long drag and blew out the small white cloud,” However, towards the end of his meeting with the Captain, the Captain chuckled, “Why would I smoke in heaven?” We know that the Captain was not smoking anymore; rather, it was Eddie whose mindset was fixated at associating the Captain with a cigarette.  

  Interpretation refers to how we attach meaning to what we select and organize. Subjectivity of interpretation is inescapable despite the commonalities due to cultural differences, nonverbal cues, individual characteristics, and perceptual sets. 

  That night after leaving from the bomb shaft, they got away in a transport, with Eddie in the backseat wounded and unconscious. Their transport reached the top of a hill, and then stopped in front of a gate. The Captain grabbed a rifle and jumped out. He shot the lock and pushed the gate open. He motioned for another to take the wheel then signaled he would check he path ahead. He ran ahead, and when he thought the path was clear, he waved to his men. While he was looking up to check an overhead plane, a small click sounded beneath his right foot. The land mine exploded instantly, and blew him into bits. 

  From Eddie’s point of view, he was angry about the sacrifice during wartimes. But to the Captain, sacrifice is part of life. It is just like a mother who works so her son can go to school. It’s not something to regret.  

  Perception gives meaning to our communication. It can be used to bless the people around us, or to break them. The choice is hence ours to discerningly trust in the good nature of men, or to grip onto the “survival of the fittest” mindset and live a lifetime of manipulations and suspicions.

Language – power to the people!

  The use of language is so evident in our daily lives that I think we actually overlook its importance. It is nothing new, but its impacts are penetrating, and loss of it would certainly make a difference in the lives of unappreciative individuals who had been so reliant on it, as well as all others who had been blessed with this priceless treasure and are making full use of it. 

  The five main uses of language are: Naming and identity, organization and classification, relationships and liking, affiliation and last but not least, power. Yes, and it can be depicted in two of the comic strips from my priced collection.

  I enjoy the use of language and play of words in comic strips, particularly Bizarro, Foxtrot, and Non- Sequitur, and the reason why they stand out amongst the seas of comics we find in libraries, bookshops, newspapers et cetera, besides an inborn funny rib, could be largely due to the artists’ grasp of vocabulary, again the power of language.

 

  The first comic strip from Bizarro shows the impact of language: how we could identify with ease, the creatures depicted are namely, ant and snail. This also demonstrates language being a symbolic system. Words and human language is arbitrary, they exist because we have agreed in some fashion to identify a slightly fat creature with shell that leaves a trace of slime as it moves as snail and a small creature that can exist in black, red, or white, with 2 feelers, 6 legs, no wings, and body is divided into 3 segments, as ant.  

  It influences our perception on how to take the message behind the comic strip, because of the second impact of language to organize and classify. We associate the ant to be one fast worker, and the snail to be the exact opposite – slow. The stark contrast here, thereby prepares us a clash in their characters, which is the key to humor in this strip.    

  The third use of language is in relationships, the initiation and development of relationship as well as the maintenance and termination of it. Language plays a role in being responsive and sensitive, and in disconfirmation, ignoring another’s communication and presence. In this case, the ant didn’t break up with the snail upfront; she was tactful in putting the words together, by saying how good he is, how sweet, followed by explaining why this relationship had to end. Disconfirmation soon sets in when she said, “Goodbye, Bob”, turns and walks away, marking they were finished. Short and sweet, I should say. After all, good news is worth anticipating and should be said over a prolonged period of time to extend the pleasantness of it. As for bad news, we should just get it done and over with to reduce the damage to the minimal. (But as I’ve always said, rejection, in whatever form it takes, is still hurting): 

  I like the second comic strip as well, but strictly do not endorse degrading of the value of another living being, although it seems in the contemporary world, fellow human beings love leveling themselves a notch above the rest, and discriminating against people of different cultures, whom they consider as inferior, because there can only be one best, and if they are the best, the rest just fall at their knees and do their bidding. Oops, I must have stepped on a million toes. Ha-ha! Anyway, back to my second comic strip… 

  In the second strip, it shows language’s function of affiliation. It can be used in a group, through the sharing of speech, or individual, vocabulary that is meaningful to one or two, hence to promote bonding within the group, as well as exclusionary effects on outsiders. In this case, Bucky has overtly expressed things about Satchel to Rob that Satchel does not comprehend. Bucky sees Rob and he as a group, the more intellectual ones, and Satchel doesn’t belong in it – he belongs to the Kingdom of Moronia. 

  Finally, we see language as an expression of power. Bucky establishes dominance over Satchel. He is confident, and makes forceful declaration. On the other hand, we see Satchel’s powerless speech mannerisms -the hesitations, and questions instead of rebuttal. Also, language is an indicator of power in the flow of speech. We see those with real authority getting the say first, and it moves down to those without power, first Rob, then Bucky, and finally Satchel. Satchel was making sounds but they were muffled. I would say it is a good reflection of what is happening in the real world. The powerless remains…voiceless.  

 

 

Seen in all the wrong places

  This is one advertisement that is not only highly entertaining, but it is also one advertisement that proves non-verbal code is just as good, if not better than the spoken word.  

  At the start of the advertisement, we see the woman in her disguise – the wig, the coat, and the shades. In spite of this cool composure when she just stepped out of the car, we already have a rough idea of her secret agent identity when she broke into a run, the nervous fidgeting with the knob of the door, and the little pause she took in front of the toilets before deciding to enter the males’. Once inside the males’ toilet, she showed an affect display that conveyed her anxiety – clutching the bag tightly to herself with both arms when she saw there was someone in the washroom, and breathing deeply. When she saw the man in shades and picking up a walking stick while looking away, she assumed he was blind. Her initially uptight, frozen expression when she first saw the man then relaxed as she turned to change out hastily. From her point of view, she was never discovered.    

  There were some non-verbal cues that if she picked up, she would have known that the man was not blind like she thought he was. When she went into the males’ toilet, the man dropped the walking stick. She suspected too but rejected that possibility once she saw the shades, objectics, and the man looking away when picking up the walking stick, emblem perhaps to represent inability of sight. What she could have noticed was the man did not grope around for the walking stick; instead he picked it up readily on first attempt. He was perhaps equally nervous to see the woman, so he dropped the stick. He was afraid to be discovered, in case she was armed, maybe because he saw the big, black bag she had with her, and disguising himself with whatever he had with him ensured higher chances of survival. While the woman changed out, he stared straight so it might have confirmed her assumptions. However, she failed to notice that the man was twirling the walking stick while staring ahead. It could have been uncomfortable having to look at the woman change out before him, yet he had to pretend he was blind, hence to adapt to stress at that point of time, he resorted to using an object adaptator, which of the twirling of the walking stick.  

  But then again, she would have been too nervous to observe those cues, and if she was overly cautious, she might not have found the right place to get out of the disguise, and that might have been more life-endangering. After all, the man did not seem at all interested to spill the beans on her. 

  All in all, I love the continuous flow and natural intersection of non-verbal cues on both sides, and the injection of satire humor into the advertisement, “The original buttons fly. Seen in all the wrong places.”  

  Non-verbal cues are actually used so often, and unconsciously it has become a form of communication that has become overlooked because of its lack of emphasis in our education system as compared to verbal communication. Actually these are the cues we ought to pay attention to as they can be very telling and all our emotions are actually given away when we fidget, when we sigh, when we clasp our hands, or even simply nod.

  I’ve actually tried applying what I’ve learnt on non-verbal cues to a friend’s gestures and signals but the experiment kind of failed tremendously. I guess there is always the chance of senders not attaching any meaning to these cues, or that I might have misinterpreted the meaning of theses cues, or a better reason would be there are so many channels of non-verbal cues, while I try to attend to certain cues, I might have left out the more significant ones like the girl in the video. Hence, while these cues can be helpful at times, I conclude that we should not rely too heavily on them in our judgments, and decision making. After all, we do not have languages and words for nothing. Ha-ha! But maybe during those days when language was not present, their ability to read non-verbal cues might have been much better, and this might-have-been inborn ability gradually diminished over time due to lack of practice. Quite a loss…

A Lovers’ Concerto

  These clips hold the same song; share several common traits, yet our experience with the different kinds of presentation methods changes as they stand apart from one another in their transmission of message to the receivers. Why can we have such a different experience? What explains for it? 

  The similarities of the two clips lie in both are sources of communications. The communication process is made up of sender–, messageY, channelÿ and receiverO. 

  There are three kinds of communication models. The first of which is the Linear Model. We can see a good representation of the linear model in the audio clip.

 http://www.ijigg.com/songs/V2CCG4BP0

  A linear model occurs when the receivers are passive targets of the message. Communication in a linear model is a source-centered process of message transmission. Message sent = Message received. Just as we listen, enjoy and that’s it. The source would not receive any feedback. Communication in this case is hence, one-way.  

  The second model is the Interactive Model. A good example would be the video clip below.  

  The interactive model consists of both message and feedback; it therefore becomes a two-way communication. There is encoding and decoding taking place when people who have watched the clip leave their comments. However, there is time lapse, and communication is broken down into a series of distinct acts. There is also the presence of noise in the interactive model. Noise can come in two forms, namely the physical noise as well as psychological noise. To elaborate on physical noise it is what interrupts us when we are watching the clip, for instance, my mother is cooking right now as I am doing this entry so physical noises include the noise produced when her spoon hits the wok and the delicious aroma. Psychological noise includes stress and thoughts.   

  The last model is the transactional model. This occurs in face-to-face interactions. There is mutual influence between the sender and the receiver, and all parties are actively participating. Both sender and receiver are encoders and decoders hence they are known as communicators. Since message and feedback are occurring at the same time, this process becomes known as communication. Noise has broadened to become environment as it is a face to face communication. Mutual influence + Simultaneous exchange results in the transactional model. A good representation would then be a video conference where the singer Kelly Chen would be singing directly and I respond to her as she sings or me being in her concert screaming “I love Kelly!” and listening to her singing at the same time or something like that, although I don’t think I would attempt anything as such… 

  Personally, I feel that if these models could be applied in the modern world. The linear model could be seen when there is communication between two parties, yet one party can be hearing, but not listening. THIS is actually so common these days! With time, we seemed to have mastered the art of shutting people out. Like in lectures, there would be some students who can look like they are listening, but their focus is not on what is covered in the lecture. Rebellious teenagers, who cannot see eye to eye with their parents, can shut their mothers’ nagging out completely. Interactive model, think about two people who can be so close to each other, yet are so far in thoughts. We term this as ‘different frequencies’, what happens? They talk, but they cannot understand the other, and pause to decode again and again, until it seems somewhat consistent with what the other party is trying to communicate, then they form their message and the cycle repeats. This could be attributed to people coming from different cultures, or social status, or up-bringing. Transactional model, we are constantly encode and decode verbal and non-verbal cues of the other party, yet so often, having different pre-existing information and perception of the other might lead to misinterpretations of messages. 

  Actually, I think that whatever forms communication can take, it takes a conscious effort of the receivers to listen and understand to make the communication most fruitful.   

  That’s all for the three communications models, and below is long-awaited Kelly Chen’s MV for “A Lovers’ Concerto”, an example of the Interactive Model. Enjoy!