Nonverbal Communication (On T.V.)

The show I chose to watch to complete this blog assignment was Victorious on Nickelodeon. The episode I viewed had two plots involving different sets of characters.

Assumptions Based on Nonverbal Communication:

The first plot seemed to revolve around three females in a car driving a long distance. Based on physical appearance, I assume the girls are teenagers. I assume that they are all friends because they have moments when they point, frown, smile, and comfort (pat on the back) each other. One friend seems frustrated throughout the episode because she frowns, throws food out the window, and folds her arms while rolling her eyes. Another friend seems clueless as she twirls her hair and hunches her shoulders constantly. She is also sad throughout the show which can be seen by her crying. The third friend seems to be optimistic and empathetic because she continues to smile at her frowning friend and pats her other friend on the back who begins to cry. I believe the girls were on their way to a famous person’s house as they encountered rain while on the road.

The second plot seemed to involve a girl being asked out by a boy she admires. She seemed nervous when the boy approached her because she would not make eye contact and she continued to back away from him. I assume he asked her out on a date because the next scene shows her frantically trying to prepare dinner. She looks bewildered as she stuffs an uncooked turkey in the microwave. As she waits for the boy’s arrival another boy shows up and it seems that he heard about her date. He takes her in his arms and begins to dance with her. The girl’s date arrives and the two guys begin to fight over her. They push each other and put their hands in each other’s faces. Then a third boy arrives with flowers in his hands. All three boys begin to literally fight over her by throwing punches and pushing each other. The girl becomes so overwhelmed that she jumps up from the couch and rushes downstairs to get a man that I am assuming is her father. But, as she is going downstairs the boys stop fighting and hide behind a couch. I think that all the boys are playing a trick on the girl and none of them really wanted to date her.

Analysis of Assumptions after listening to Verbal Communication:

Most of my assumptions about the girls in the first plot were confirmed when I watched the show with sound. However, I was able to understand why the girls went on the trip. One of the girls was sad because her favorite actress died. She wanted to visit her house to pay tribute to her. The other two girls agreed to go on the trip, but they had no idea that it was two hours away. It turns out that the girl who seemed frustrated was not the other two girls’ friend. She just wanted to go to the house of a dead person so she agreed to drive.

The assumptions I had about the second plot were not confirmed once I watched the show with sound. The girl had been spreading rumors about the boy that they were dating so that other boys would fight over her. The boy she made the rumors about is actually her friend. The boy then decided to make her words come to life by pretending that he liked her and getting the other two boys to fight over her. As I suspected the boys were playing a trick on her to teach her a lesson.

Insights Gained:

From this exercise, I learned that nonverbal communication can give you some indication of the message others are trying to convey. I could see when people were happy, sad, confused, and angry. However, verbal communication allowed me to understand why people were feeling these emotions. Paying attention to verbal and nonverbal communication is what makes a person a competent communicator because both forms of communication complement each other.