Observing Communication

          For this week's assignment, I watched an episode of the Bernie Mac Show.  While watching it the first time without sound, I saw that the show was about a family.  The relationships that I observed was a Father-Son, Father-Daughter, Husband-Wife, Mother-Son, Mother-Daughter, then Sibling-Sibling relationships.  I was able to understand that the father cared for his son because of his gestures and his expressions.  He would hug him, and pat him on the back, and simply show interest in him.  This particular episode was about the father and the son.  The son was having trouble with kids around him, they would pick on him and beat him up, because he is small.  The father tries to teach him how to stand up for himself.  Some of the nonverbal communication that I was able to observe was frightened, disappointment, anger, proudness. I was able to see these kinds of nonverbal communication because of their facial expressions, their body language, and the interaction between the people in the show.
          When I watched the show with sound, I found out that the husband and wife was not the parents to the three children in the show.  They were their uncle and aunt.  The children were the husband's sister's kids.  However, the relationships that was between the adults and the children resembled a parent/child relationship.  A situation in the show that I misinterpreted when I watched the show without sound was when the husband and wife were talking and the oldest girl was in the room setting the table and was listening to them talk.  The first time I watched it, I thought they were having an argument, and all the while trying to not let them the girl hear it.  However, when I watched it the second time, I realized that they were not argueing they were discussing what to do about the boy, and they were trying to not let the girl hear them.  Through this assignment, I learned so much about communication, nonverbal communication especially.  A person displays so much about what they are trying to convey to someone else.  Nonverbal communication is just as vital as verbal communication. 

References

 

Wilmore, L. (Creator). (2001). The Bernie Mac show [Television series]. Los Angeles, CA: Fox Broadcasting Company.