TV Show Communication

This week I watched an episode of the classic TV hit, FRIENDS.  I never did watch that show when it was on television so I watched it online.  First, I watched it with the sound turned off.  From watching the nonverbal communication, I would think that the group of people are friends.  They seem to be celebrating a baby.  Banners are being hung up by the group and they are smiling and speaking with each other.  They use direct eye contact and seem to listen when someone else is speaking.  They smile at a lot at each other and even hug each other.  A woman and man come inside the room with an infant.  Everyone hugs them and wants to hold the baby.  It seems like they are close friends, maybe even family.  The men leave the apartment and the girls smile at the baby, asleep.  The baby wakes up and the girls try to rock the baby back to sleep but the baby keeps screaming.  It appears that after awhile, the girls are very frustrated and tired because the infant continues to cry.  Meanwhile, the man goes into a shop to get coffee and runs into another man.  From their expressions, they are not friends.  The father of the baby tries to ignore the other man, but he speaks and they exchange words.  The father tries to hit the other man but he dodges and the man hits a pole.  I do not think they are friends at all.  However, the man takes the injured one to the hospital and fills out his paperwork.

I watched the same FRIENDS episode with the sound turned on.  I learned just how funny this show was and what made it so poplar.  Being able to listen as the characters communicated verbally with each other was wonderful.  Their nonverbal expressions matched their verbal comments.  The plot of this show was that Rachel just had a baby and was trying to get the baby back to sleep.  The baby would not stop crying.  Her friends, Monica and Phoebe, try to help her but the baby girl keeps crying.  Finally, Monica is the only one that is able to get baby Emma to sleep.  Ross and Joey are friends, but they are mad at each other because Joey has a crush on Rachel.  Joey tells Ross to hit him because it will make him feel better.  When Ross goes to hit him, Joey ducks and Ross his the pole instead.  Joey takes him to the hospital. 

I felt that watching the show without the sound left me at a disadvantage.  I did not know the characters and I did not understand the plot at all.  I could tell that the girls were having a hard time getting the baby to sleep and they looked frustrated and wore out.  This mirrored the actual plot of their storyline.  When it came to the guys, I had the wrong assumption about them.  Their nonverbal attitude implied that they were not friends.  They tried to avoid each other, and went as far as hitting each other.  However, watching this with the sound explained what was going on with the two of them.  I was wrong about their relationship with each other.

I think watching a show that I was familiar with would have been a lot easier.  I would know the characters and their personalities so I could tell what their relationship is like and read their nonverbal communication cues a lot easier.  I learned that by observing only the nonverbal communication can be deceiving.  We make assumptions based on what we believe is happening and it may not be the case at all.  We have to take all the communication skills and be active listeners.  This experience was very interesting to do.

References
Crane, D. & Kauffman, M.  (2002).  FRIENDS:  The One Where Emma Cries.  Bright/Kauffman/Crane Productions