Verbal/Nonverbal Communication

I watched a show for the first time called "State of Georgia". Raven Symone is the star! Let me first say that this show is hilarious and it is available on Netflix. :-)

But as I watched the show with the sound turned off, I thought that the relationship between her and a Venezuelan girl (Majandra Delfino) was just a business/co-worker relationship. They worked in a perfume store together. But as the show went on, I saw that they were more than just co-workers. They were like "partners in crime". Then there were scenes with Raven Symone, her friend and an older lady, Loretta Divine. I assumed that Loretta Divine played Raven Symone's mother. But I later found out that she was actually her aunt who was "very popular" among the "male celebrities" lol.

At times, I would see Raven Symone and Majandra Delfino make certain faces, as if they were not happy about something or thought trouble was on the way. However, Loretta Divine smiled a lot and had her share of cocktails lol. So she seemed happy most of the time. Raven and Majandra did a lot of fast moving together, as if they were always on a mission. In different scenarios, Raven smiled a lot and used her arms in some way to emphasize excitement: whether it would be lifting them up, and/or wave them around rapidly

After watching the show with the sound on, my assumptions were pretty close but not exact. The friendship between Raven and Majandra was deeper than I thought it was. Yeah, they are "partners in crime" but come to find out, they moved to New York together from Georgia in order to pursue their dreams. So that displayed a strong bond to me. It was one particular scene where Raven auditioned for an acting role and the guy who was doing the auditions rejected her. But later in the show, she goes back and entices him with her "curves" and fatty food. At first when I watched it in silence, I do not know what was going on. I thought they were having a dinner date and he did something that she did not like at that time. But come to find out, he rejected her previously because he felt she was "too big" to play the role she tried out for; not to mention, he used to be "big" himself. But he lost a lot of weight over time and it went to his head. So when she went back to his place, she was on a mission to show him that "thick girls" can play sexy roles too, and that he still had an undercover love for fatty food. :-)

I believe my assumptions would have probably been more correct if I had been watching a show that I knew well. Just for the simple facts that I would have already known who each character was and what they are capable of doing; versus with this show, I had to put everything together while watching for the first time. However, you can never be too sure what is going on when you watch something in silence. We still need sound and words (language) to tell us what is going on for real. That's why I wish (sometimes) that children came out of the womb talking because it would make it easier to find out if something is wrong with them or if something happened to them. Babies are coming out of the womb advance these days so for all we know, that just may happen lol. But I must admit, it was fun analyzing this show without the sound. It was funny to me then. But watching it with the sound really brought it home. This proves once again that language and nonverbal cues should always work together in order for effective communication to take place (O'Hair & Wiemann, 2012, p. 98). 

O'Hair, D., & Wiemann, M. (2012). Real communication: An introduction. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's.