Sunday, February 8, 2009
Hello all things good and bye bye to judgementalism!
P.S This video contains some foul language and very very humorous content.
For those who have not a hunch or inkling about what 'Little Britain' is all about, then I'll let you in on what it's actually about. As the name suggests, the comedy series was a concept by Matt Lucas and David Williams, who are also the main characters of the comedy, taking on different roles. Interestingly, it sketches the daily lives of the British and is presented to non-British in wicked humour. The series has been running for quite a few years(Seasons 1 to Little Britain USA-the latest of the sequel, which is one of the episodes as shown above).
What makes 'Little Britain' so addictive is its clever use of props-from the clothes, make-up, expressive faces(also forms of non-verbal communication). The episode also depicts how people picture transvestites as-wearing dresses, lacy ones in this case to behaving like a woman(the tonation of the voice eg. giggling like a woman). It then shows us how we react to these people whom we label based on our own judgement or the hear-says of others. In this case, it is acted by Matt Lucas, who is the police officer, as he gives Emily Howard doubtful glares and the 'I don't take you seriously' laidback attitude.
Usage of facial expressions weigh heavily in the 'Little Britain' series. Earlier, I mentioned about non-verbal communications. If you watched the video(which I presume you would have done so before even reading this), the way Emily Howard posed in front of the camera shows a typical, yet a little exaggerated, version of how transvestites should behave. In this case, the way he moved his body and made pouty lips is enough to make one go 'oh my goodness! super gay...!'
" I'm a lady, I do lady's things...," as abstarcted from the conversation between Emily Howard and the police officer, verbal communicators like these further amplify the effect of the 'gender-deficiency' Emily Howard portrays. Surely, expression or also a form of non-verbal communication is effective. But let's just admit it, verbal communication is and will always be, the main form of communication. This is to avoid any miscommunication which in turn, results in misrepresentation(eg. legal cases).
In all aspects, the video has very clear and expected visions of what transvestites should look, behave, dress etc. I'd like to say it touches on soft spots and makes us realize that whatever is being shown on screen is very much a true reflectio of ourselves(I'm not saying everyone agrees with me).
If you ask me, I am guilty of these, being judgemental based on a person's physical appearance and the body language I infer(or think means what I was accustomed to by the conversations of others). It is sad when we see someone who acts a little feminine then he should be and pass off rude remarks like 'Eyer...so sissy. Must be gay.'(But we argue that this is because men should be acting in all ways masculine) Ah... perception then comes in and we zoom in on his voice, his hairstyle, his dressing and even the bag he carries and how he walks. Just what is wrong with us?! Human nature and biasness, that's what it is.
I believe that perception can be changed, if only we were brought up to be less judgemental toward others and situations. So go on, be a good samaritan and start your day by being nice to everyone you see, even if the sight of the person makes you go 'Eeyer...'.(But don't pretend!)
Yeah right.
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first of all, yes! doing good deeds does make me happy and proud, when i think back and realise how much happiness i have brought to the person. i had watched a few episodes of Little Britain prior to this. indeed, it is the emotional expressions they had, their sense of dressing and its style of humour of the movie that left a deep impression on me. from this, we do realise the importance of how nonverbal communications play a part in affecting emotions, perceptions and eventually the behaviours of its viewers.
ReplyDeleteWhen it comes to humour, the jokes and gags being told is not so important. Whats more important is the character of the person that is being portrayed.
ReplyDeleteThats where the body language,tonality, appearance, hairstyle, etc comes in.
Which is why a person reciting jokes from a jokebook isnt half as funny as a naturally comedic person doing the idiotic things he does everyday.
And also, if its just one joke or two, then you will say "Thats funny...."
But if you keep stacking joke after joke, then it becomes "You're funny..."
Just my two cents.
(PS: the comments icon on my blog is located at the end of my post. No more excuses okay? LOL)
I have the urge to watch "Little Britain" right now!
ReplyDeleteI do agree to what you've mentioned in your entry regarding the successful use of facial expressions and costumes in the video which helped to bring out the nonverbal communication aspects in the video.
Additionally, it also showed that nonverbal communication can be more effective with just a little help of some verbal communication!
Interesting post! :)
haha! this video is really cute.
ReplyDeleteI've never watched this series before so i find it pretty amusing. LOL :D
I'm guilty of judging people by their body language and physical appearance too...sometimes...=X
But somehow this seems like human nature and i can't really change that...Whenever we see someone who acts weirdly in the MRT or bus, our 1st reaction is to turn to our friend and start "gossiping" about it. Oops!
But of course there are times when we've mistaken the non-verbal cues. To me, i really feel that action speaks louder than words. Our perception of someone is mostly based on their non=verbal cues more than their verbal cues.
At least to me that it. -.-
I think non-verbal communication is more important than you give it credit for. They say "a picture paints a thousand words". Likewise, a well executed gesture or expression can convey so much more than a thousand-word speech.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, this reinforces your point about perception, which is more often than not, formed by non-verbal communcation that is picked up and then processed, isn't it?
:)
Just my 2 cents.
being judgmental is a human's natural instinct of survival. we learn to judge things by the first thing to assess their threat to us.
ReplyDeleteof course these days it's not woolly mammoths we are worried about.
our perception of things have a tendency to fluctuate according to social conditions and in any context, there is a chance that even before we form an opinion of anything, when a person 'imposes' their opinion of us. we may build ourselves to a certain extent on theirs.
i cannot agree with you that nonverbal communication has taken a backseat to it. maybe in certain contexts like a court of law, verbal communication may play a stronger role.
but i think ultimately nonverbal communication triumphs. try watching a silent film and you'll know what i'm talking about =P.
Heh.. Judgemental, eh... I try not to judge the people around me, 'cos judging tends to give you negative thoughts about a certain person.. who are we to judge another person anyway, right? we all have our own flaws, too...
ReplyDeletesometimes it's just too difficult not to judge, especially when your first impression of a certain person isn't a very good one.. so i agree with what you say, about human nature and biasness being the major contributing factors.
however, i cannot agree on the part where you said nurturing a child to be less judgemental can change the perception... after all, human nature takes precedence over anything else, me thinks. it's what we'd do naturally, instinctively, without a second thought. there is always a chance that we'd go against what we are taught, no?
i dont know if im making any sense at all. o.O