Mr Bean at the Swimming Pool

Nonverbal communication, the process of communication through sending and receiving wordless messages, is all around us. Such messages can be conveyed through the use of eye contact (oculesics), facial expression, gesture, body language (kinesics), clothing, and paralanguage. We may not be aware of it, but we use these every single day, from the way we look at someone (an admiring gaze) to how loudly we speak (a loud volume could indicate irritation or anger). So in order to communicate effectively, we should be watchful of both our verbal and nonverbal communication methods. We could say one thing, but be betrayed by our actions (nonverbal communication).

Thus when I think of effective nonverbal communication, I am reminded of “the man with the rubber face.” Who is he, you may ask? Well, he is none other than Rowan Atkinson, the actor who portrays Mr. Bean! Ask anyone anywhere in the world, and they’ll definitely know who Mr. Bean is. This eccentric character, who is likened to “a child in a grown man’s body,” rarely speaks, and when he does, he usually uses monosyllables. While humour is easier to achieve with witty dialogue, physical humour is a lot tougher. Despite that, he has gained worldwide success, all thanks to Rowan Atkinson’s knack for visual comedy.

In this video clip I have provided, we see Mr. Bean on another of his adventures at an indoor swimming pool. Being the eccentric man he is, he does things us “ordinary folks” wouldn’t do, and it is these misadventures of his that make him so likeable and hilarious.

At the beginning of this episode, as Mr. Bean looks around the swimming complex, we see that his attention is captured by children playing on slides. As his eyes light up and his lips spread into a small smile, we can tell that he is lured by it. This is a combination of oculesics and kinesics (facial expression). Then he excitedly scurries over to the slides and gingerly climbs up onto one, taking time to pat the “elephant” on both sides of its head. This portrays his excitement, eagerness and happiness at the chance to have a go on the slides. As Mr. Bean sits upright on the slide and admires the view from “up there”, his posture and facial expression tells us that he is clearly happy to be there, and is enjoying the experience as much as he can. After he is caught by the lifeguard, he hurriedly scuttles away from the slides, past the lifeguard, and other section of the complex. This scene is extremely funny because of the tentative movements Mr. Bean makes, and the posture he assumes, because we see that he is clearly embarrassed and disappointed at being caught and reprimanded.

Then at the other section of the swimming complex, the same thing happens; Mr. Bean is once again lured, but this time it is the diving board he is lured to. His eyes widen and light up even more, his eyebrows go upwards, and he gives another amused smile. This time, he is even more joyous; instead of taking small steps like he did earlier on, he now prances and skips his way to the diving board! As he eagerly climbs up the ladder, we can see that he can barely contain his excitement and can’t wait to get to the top.

However, upon reaching the top, he is horrified to learn that he is so high up in the air. The comedic effect here is highlighted upon the shock on his face and retreating movements he makes. Throughout the rest of the clip, Mr. Bean tries ways and means to jump off (or fall off) the diving board, his erratic body movements and animated facial expressions convey his fear and trepidation.

In the end, Mr. Bean doesn’t even fall off the diving board on his own accord; he falls off only when a mischievous boy steps on his hand, making him scream and lose his grip. Throughout this whole clip, practically not a word is uttered (the only one who speaks is the lifeguard, and all he said was, “Hey!”), but it is still a very comedic and hilarious clip, simply using the nonverbal aspects of communication. I personally find Mr. Bean very amusing, and his antics and visual gags never grow stale, despite them being more than ten years old. Such is the beauty of nonverbal communication – while verbal jokes can grow stale as time passes, nonverbal humour does not. It is timeless and ageless, just like Mr. Bean.

Here’s more to enjoy (:

WIth Friends Like These

Fatal Beatings

Short clips from the series Blackadder (a must-watch!)

Sorry I put up so many, but I can’t help it Just take a look at Rowan Atkinson’s comedic genius and you’ll understand.

Dove Onslaught

Dove: Campaign for Real Beauty

Beauty has long been of importance to mankind. Even as far back as the ancient times of Queen Cleopatra, who was renowned for her beauty, man has gone to great lengths in order to achieve beauty, and that hasn’t changed in our time. People still go to great lengths to achieve their ideal figure and looks. For the former, many resort to exercising and dieting, but there are several others who starve themselves to stay slim. With the development of science and technology, many are going under the knife to get nose jobs, face lifts, and many other plastic surgeries. The things people do to achieve beauty are more extreme nowadays, but with the mass media constantly influencing our perceptions, what we believe in slowly conforms to that of the society’s.

Every day, the mass media never fails to inject their daily dose of “Beauty is not merely skin-deep” beliefs into us. From the television, to the internet, to the public transport we take, we see advertisements proclaiming the effectiveness of this slimming pill, that dieting programme, and the images of svelte models with perfect skin slowly become our role models. Truth being told, many of them look so gorgeous simply because of make-up and photograph editors. No one can possibly look that good all the time! But by portraying these air-brushed models as the ideal women or men, the media convinces us that only by buying more facial products and slimming pills will we really achieve beauty.

An interesting thing to note about these advertisements is that the advertisers are aware that viewers are prone to selective attention. That is, we may only listen to parts of the message. In order to prevent our attention from wandering, advertisers use music, colour, sound effects, and many other things to keep our attention focused. In the case of the beauty industry’s advertising, many advertisements feature gorgeous, lithe models, and that method works because we are all attracted to beautiful people, regardless of gender. We are more inclined to look beautiful people, instead of “ordinary beings”, and because of that, the media is able to use it to their advantage in advertising. However, this has led to a stereotypical view of beauty, and lately, people have noticed the negative effects such advertising has on the masses. So now, people don’t just look out for “beautiful people”, they want to see “ordinary” people who are beautiful as well. In this case, Dove has hit the jackpot, because their Campaign for Real Beauty advertisements are able to portray a different perspective of beauty, while not sticking to the normal way of using thin, pretty models. By showing the masses what they want to see, Dove is able to garner more attention, largely because of our selective attention.

The effects of the mass media can be detrimental, and it causes a lot of misconception among people. As shown by the videos above, it brings about insecurities in people, especially women, since they are usually the epitome of beauty. Many of these insecurities stem from imperfections that everybody has. I first came across the “Dove Evolution Advertisement” on my friend’s website [you can view it here: http://wearetrueheroes.wordpress.com/2008/02/13/adnalysis-dove-evolution-ad/], and there I saw a plain-looking model get primped up for a photo shoot. In the end the model looks like an entirely different person! In the above two advertisements, Dove makes use of the distorted definition of beauty to put across a strong point to people – beauty is not skin-deep.

It comes off as raw and striking because of how it takes on a very different marketing strategy. Instead of making viewers compare themselves to beautiful, slim, and seemingly-perfect women, it uses ordinary-looking people who, like everyone else, are imperfect and insecure. It is appealing because it allows viewers to relate to the ordinary-looking models, and the beauty is more subjective, like that of the saying “beauty is in the eye of the beholder.”

In conclusion, the definition of beauty is subject to different views, but it should never be only skin-deep. After all, if models themselves require so much assistance in order to look perfect, then no one can really be called a beauty. Should we say then, that beauty doesn’t exist?

Dexter, an American cable network TV series, is based on the book Darkly Dreaming Dexter, by Jeff Lindsay. It is about a sociopath named Dexter Morgan, who is a forensic blood spatter analyst by day and a serial killer by night. He was adopted into a family as a child and never learnt anything about his biological family, so the reasons for his sociopathic ways were at first unclear to him. His foster father (a policeman) first found out that he was killing neighbourhood pets. As Dexter grew older, it became apparent that he would remain a sociopath for as long as he lived, so his foster father taught him many things in order to survive and avoid getting caught.

For instance, he taught Dexter to fake emotions, since he was incapable of feeling any. Later on in his adult life, he also had girlfriends that served as cover-ups. He also realised that Dexter’s need to kill was insatiable, so he taught him things that would serve to guide and protect him. He taught Dexter to kill only people who “deserved it”, such as other murderers and serial killers on the loose, so his murders would be “justifiable”. Dexter’s foster father also taught him how to cover his tracks and ensure that he would never get caught, and Dexter followed all this strictly and called it “Harry’s code”.

This TV series is truly a must-watch, largely because of the conflicted main character, Dexter Morgan.

Firstly, as the show progresses, more and more is revealed about Dexter’s past, and though we know that he is a gruesome serial killer, we still feel sorry for him at times because, as we later find out, it isn’t his fault that he turned out to be such a blood-thirsty monster. His mother was brutally murdered in front of his eyes, and he was left soaking in her blood until he was found two days later. And he was only three years old then. We would not ordinarily show sympathy for a savage killer, but in this show, we see that Dexter is driven to kill only because of the insatiable need within him. He isn’t truly evil and neither does he want to be this way. He simply has a strong desire that has to be quenched, much like our basic human need to quench thirst, except that it has worse consequences.

Secondly, in normal circumstances we would say that it is wrong to murder, but wait a minute! What about murdering murderers? As Dexter would put it, it’s like “taking out the trash”. He likens himself to “The Dark Defender”, one who lurks about at night, killing bad guys on the loose. It makes one think, “Is it really so wrong to kill a murderer that is on the loose?” It would be better for the community anyway, since those murderers will only proceed to kill more people. Even Dexter treats them as vermin, because his killings are carefully thought-out and necessary, whereas they are driven by their own greed, jealousy and foolishness. After all, Dexter does make sure he has solid evidence and proof that his victims are indeed murderers, and he makes them face up to their deeds before taking their lives.

Lastly, it is fascinating to watch Dexter as he develops throughout the show. He is very conflicted, and we often see him stuck in situations which would be easy for us to handle, but otherwise for him. At the beginning, we see a man who is a gruesome serial killer that is incapable of feelings. As the show progresses, we see that despite being emotionless, he highly reveres his late foster father, Harry, and is extremely fond of his older foster sister, Deborah. He also learns how to further develop his relationship with his girlfriend, Rita, realising that he cannot do without her. Dexter truly likes Rita’s children, and he is able to connect with them very well. He does not want them to turn out like him, because they grew up in an abusive environment. We can sense that Dexter also feels very much alone, because he cannot reveal what he really is to anyone. Therefore, he is happy when he learns that he has an older brother who, just like him, has an insatiable need to kill. However he is forced to kill his brother in order to save his foster sister, and we see that he is once again very conflicted. [I've attached a video of this scene below.] Though he really wanted someone he could “be himself” with, he killed his brother in order to save Deborah. In essence, he killed his only blood relative in order to save someone who was not really related to him. This goes to show that Dexter is not totally incapable of rationality and feeling, and that he is able to care for the people around him. These things are not characteristics of sociopaths, who usually lack a sense of moral responsibility or social conscience. Perhaps, beneath his façade, there might some humanity in Dexter.

On a different note, what I like about this show is also that it changes one’s perceptions. Our perceptions are influenced by social factors and psychological factors, and in this case, the media (which is a social factor) has a large impact. This show stars a character who isn’t your average hero. While most other shows have characters who are clearly either protagonists or antagonists, this has neither. Dexter is not the stereotypical protagonist, since he is a murderer himself. We would normally label an inhuman murderer as the antagonist, but here we have a clashing viewpoint: He is a murderer, but a “good” murderer at that, whereas the rest are “bad” murderers. And thus, he is also our protagonist. Viewers usually root for the protagonist, but in a show such as Dexter, it isn’t as straightforward because we cannot do so without opposing our own moral standards. Also, being such a thought-provoking show, it influences our thought processes, and affects our perceptions too, because of how the show plays on our emotions and our ability to discern right from wrong. We know that what Dexter does isn’t entirely right, but it isn’t very wrong either. He is a tormented creature himself, and does not want to be the way that he is, but he has no choice. We also feel sorry for him, and thus change our perception, whereby we don’t assume that all murderers are “baddies”, or antagonists.

The controversial nature of this whole issue makes the show captivating. Personally, I hope Dexter never gets caught, and that he will somehow become more humane over time. I do not think murders are justifiable. But then again, Dexter is not the average bad guy either. He picks out his victims carefully and does not kill innocent people. There is a lot of unpredictability involved, and well, that’s probably why I keep watching it. (: 

*Warning: swift murder!