Non-verbal communication

For this week's assignment, I was to watch a television show that I am unfamiliar with--with the volume off--and observe the non-verbal communication.

I chose an episode of The Goldbergs (it was a random on-demand choice, as I rarely watch television). The opening scene featured a teenaged boy and a younger boy--the younger one was getting "beat up" by the older one--body slams, wrestling, etc.--in a living room. I took these actions to mean that they were brothers.

The show continued with the older boy and 3 other boys about the same age--watching TV, hanging out and playing some sort of game in a Wawa parking lot. Judging from the facial expressions, high-5's, etc. I would take them to be a group of friends. A second group of boys join them, and from the facial expressions I assumed that this group was not friendly with the first group (frowning, glaring). The older brother stood face-to-face with one boy from the other group--facial expressions indicating tension between the two groups (intense glaring, words spoken with a look of anger on each face). Then the boy from the other group shoved an ice cream cone in the older brother's face and the brother stalked off.

The older brother is shown next speaking with an older man. Since it is taking place in a home, I assume this is the grandfather.

The show cuts to a young woman sitting on a couch watching TV (Ronald Reagan is on the screen) with a man in his late 30's/early 40's, and they are having a discussion. The woman seems to be more emotionally involved, as she is gesturing with her hands and arms. I was unsure at first if this was the wife of a daughter, but then it showed another woman ironing next to the couch, so I figured it was the daughter on the couch and the mother ironing. The daughter is clearly trying to convince her parents of something that she feels is important.

The show moves on to the two brothers, and it appears that the younger one is helping the older one train physically.

The next scene shows the daughter on a stage (most likely at her high school) about to take part in a debate. Her parents come onto the stage and take over. The daughter is clearly embarrassed (hiding her face, rolling her eyes). The mother is wearing a "Just say NO" t-shirt. The mother's shirt, combined with a Rick Springfield poster on the wall, the younger brother's Knight Rider t-shirt, and the extreme feathering of the mother's hair made me assume this show takes place in the early to mid 80's. The mother and the principal/teacher are next seen searching lockers--I assume for drugs given the mother's shirt.

The show winds up with the family members making peace with each other (smiling, hugging). I decided that the plot of the show followed two storylines: the older brother enlisting the younger brother's help to train to defend himself against a rival group, and the daughter and her parents on opposing sides of a Presidential election. The older brother stood up to the rival group, but scared them off by acting crazy and not by fighting them. And, much to the daughter's disappointment, Reagan won the election (sorry for the spoiler!!!)

I re-watched the show with the volume turned up, and found that, for the most part, I had interpreted the show correctly. I correctly guessed each relationship. The older brother did enlist his younger brother's help, but to train for the television show American Gladiator. They did show the brother watching that, but I didn't recognize it. The daughter was trying to convince her parents to vote for Walter Mondale, but the mother went overboard in supporting Nancy Reagan and the Just say NO! campaign. It turned out that the mother was trying to impress the daughter by becoming politically active.

Overall, the show was a typical sit-com. Conflict, resolution, happy ending all accomplished in under 30 minutes. This "formula" helped to some degree in determining relationships, storyline, etc., but non-verbal communication effectively told much of the story without the dialogue. I don't know if being familiar with the show honestly could have lent any more insight.

The biggest a-ha moment for me was not in the communication between the characters, but instead in how the choice of costumes and props were used to set the show some 30 years ago: feathered hair, huge earrings, Rick Springfield, Knight Rider, VHS tapes, Just say NO, a cheeseburger phone--all relics of my teenage years--all successfully indicating that the show took place decades ago.