Verbal and Non-Verbal Messages

If culture is a lens through which we see the world, language is the means to communicate that world to others. Even so, language isn’t simply a tool for communication. Language, and all its variations—accents, dialects, argot, slang, etc—is also an expression of one's Identity. It presents information, at least in part, about who you are. It unites people but it can also divide or be used as a means of exclusion. 

When I was three or four years old my grandfather died. My aunts, who were going to school in the United states at the time, invited my grandmother to spend some time with them. They wanted her “to get away from it all.” My grandmother took me with her to the United States and we spent almost a year here. I gained new friends. I met family. I even went to school. It was a new experience. 

When I returned home, that too was a new experience. I had to adjust, especially in regards to the way I spoke. I remember  friends and classmates and even me own family making fun of the way I spoke. According to them, I’d lost my Statian accent, and I sounded like an “American.” Needless to say, I felt like an outsider, well, until I got my accent back that is. Obviously, the way we speak can influence how we’re perceived by others.

 Language can also be used to categorize people into groups according to age and/or gender. Take for example my mother. It’s hard to explain how freaked out my brothers and I get whenever our mom texts us using popular abbreviations or speaks to us using slang terms. Just thinking about it now freaks me out. Yeah, let’s not talk about that. I’ll just say it can get very awkward. Language and the way it is used emphasizes what is considered important in a culture. It reflects a culture’s values and beliefs.

“Although much of nonverbal communication is universal, many nonverbal actions are shaped by culture” (Samovar, Porter, McDaniel, Edwin, Roy, 2016). That is, culture teaches us how to interpret and make use of these nonverbal actions or messages. 

Nonverbal messages are more often than not done without a conscious awareness that they may mean something to other people. And sometimes the message(s) you had hoped to convey takes on a whole other meaning for someone else. Consider Zendaya, an American Disney star, who was visiting the UK. Pictures of her posing with fans surfaced on social media. In the pictures, she can be seen holding up the ‘peace’ sign, or what she hoped was the peace sign. Turns out she was actually flipping off her fans. As a  twitter user pointed out, in the UK, making a “V” with your index finger and middle finger with the palm facing towards you is an “up yours” gesture or the equivalent of a middle finger.  If she wanted to show the peace sign she should have done it with her palm facing outward. Here in the U.S., the peace sign means “peace” no matter which way your hand is facing.

The ambiguity of nonverbal messages (especially with the added variable of culture) may hinder people from accurately reading the nonverbal messages of other people. Imagine how Zendaya’s fans may have interpreted her “peace” sign had they not known what her true intentions were. Understanding the nonverbal language of a culture is useful because people use nonverbal communication as a substitute for words or actions, for expressing how they feel and what they’re thinking, and for communicating their identity. And just think, the more understanding you have of cultures nonverbal languages the least likely you are the flip someone off when you don’t intend to. 

I think It would be hard not to notice the many conflicting and controversial verbal and nonverbal messages found during the most recent US presidential election campaign. Just turn on the news, go on social media, youtube, you’ll probably find lots of videos. Right now, one thing that fascinates me though is the fact that we don’t know as much as we should about president-elect Donald Trumps. Who is he really? How will he lead? And that, to me, is one of the many conflicting messages to emerge from this US presidential election campaign. Trump’s entire campaign was run off of demagogic propositions. Some have said that the behavior of "Campaign" Trump isn't a sign of who president-elect Trump really is and that he will be more "presidential" once in office. But which Trump is the real one? Is he the demagogue that appealed to the uneducated "white" America, the “scam artist” or the compassionate and understanding "victory speech giver.” I hope it’s the latter. 

"Offside" Film Analysis

The Film begins with a blank screen. Words fade-in, and fill the center of the screen. They read, “In Iran, women are officially banned from men’s sporting events.” 

“Offside,” directed and written by Jafar Panahi, tells the story of 6 women, who, disguised as men, attempt to sneak into the 2005 World Cup qualifying match between Iran and Bahrain held at Azadi Stadium in Tehran. Some of the women are discovered at the gate and some in the stadium. They are placed in a holding pen directly outside the stadium, and are guarded by a few soldiers. Some, if not all the soldiers don’t seem to care whether the women should be allowed to attend a men’s soccer match. They’re simply doing their duty as national service men. 

Seeing as they are being held directly outside the stadium walls, the women can hear the loud cheers emanating from inside. They become antsy and frustrated. They’re stuck. They beg and plead with the soldiers to let them in the stadium, but to no avail. As the film continues we see the women badgering the soldiers to offer commentary on the game, debating soccer strategies (rather heatedly),  and arguing the laws that ban women from these events with some of the soldiers, especially the main soldier. We even see one woman escape from one of the soldiers while on a restroom break, though she eventually returns because she does not want the main soldier to get into trouble. 

The sixth woman is introduced rather late in the film.  She arrives handcuffed and dressed as a soldier. She is corralled into the pen with the rest of the women. Because of her soldier disguise she had one of the best seats in the house—the official stands. The women are impressed.

The match is in second half when the chief arrives and orders the soldiers to drive the women to Vice Squad headquarters. The soldiers are just as interested in the results of the soccer match as the women. One soldiers fixes the bus’ radio and tunes the radio to the commentary of the match. Tensions are high as the women and soldiers await the conclusion of the match. The tension gives way to joy and celebration. Iran has defeated Bahrain 1-0. The city celebrates and the bus is in caught in a traffic jam. At the film's end we see that the women and soldiers have left the bus to join in the city’s festivity. 

In Iran there is an unofficial ban on women going to watch boxing, swimming, volleyball and football matches. Just this year a 22-year-old woman disguised herself as a man and “slipped into the stadium alongside roughly 95,000 spectators” (Ershad, 2016). She recorded her experience and posted it on social media. She also describes, in one of her videos, how she was able to pull it off.

“Offside,” though simple in plot, offers a peek at gender roles in Iranian society.  Some of the distinct roles between men and women comes from the belief that men are stronger than women, physically and mentally. Therefore, women need protecting (Samovar, Porter, McDaniel, Roy, 2016).      

This is belief is seen throughout the film. For example, in one of the scenes one woman asks the main soldier, ““what happens if we go inside?” The soldier replies, “there are lots of men in there.” “So,” she retorts. “It’s obvious. They’ll be cursing and swearing if they lose,” the soldier says. She counters,“We promise not to listen.”  “A stadium is no place for women,” is his last response. Still, in another scene, when a soldier has escorted one of the women to the men’s restroom (there are only male restrooms in the stadium) he tells her to cover her eyes when they enter. There are words written on the walls that no woman should read. 

The impact that globalization has on gender roles is especially clear in the film. In such a scene, one of the women approaches the main soldier.

 

Woman: Can I ask my question now?

Main Soldier: What question?

Woman: Why can’t women go in there and sit with the men?  

Main Soldier: Why are you so stubborn? Women can’t sit with men in the stadium.

Woman: Then why could Japanese women watch the Japan-Iran game here?

Main Soldier: They were Japanese.

Woman: So, my problem is that I was born in Iran? If I were born in Japan I could watch soccer?

Main Soldier: They don’t speak our language. If the crowd curses and swears, they won’t understand.

Globalization, at least in part, has effected the way this woman perceives herself and, in turn, how she wishes to be perceived by others. 

Despite the seriousness of the issue tackled, the film doesn’t preach, it just is. It feels as if your watching an actual event  in real life. The narrative flows seamlessly. And the film is actually funny. I found myself snickering throughout. The film is simple in its plot. The six women aren’t revolutionaries. They weren’t hoping to create ‘social reform.’ They love soccer. They’re simply fans who want to see the live match.   

Soldier: Why did you come? You’ll get us all in trouble.    

Woman: To watch the game up close?

Soldier: Is it so important?

Woman: More than food to me.

“Offside” is not concerned with ascribing names to its characters— the women nor soldiers. And although the women’s distinct personalities are enough to differentiate them that does not seem to be of importance. What is important, is not so much their differences but their similarities. They’re all women, dressed like men, confined to a pen, together. They share a love for soccer, a desire to see a very important  match (a match that could qualify Iran for the World Cup), to support their county’s team. While watching the film it I hardly saw them as distinct characters, I saw a unit. So, how would my thoughts, feelings or actions be the same or different from these women?  I don’t feel like I’d be brave enough to do what they did. I think I’d be too shy. What if I got caught? I could bring shame to my family. But these women didn’t concern themselves with any of that they simply wanted to see the game.  Perhaps I don’t think I’d be able to do what they did because I’ve never been placed in such a situation. I’ve never felt the need to go against social rules, or and kind of rule, because I felt that It was my right to do so. Maybe If I felt the need to fight for something I believed in or loved I’d be just as brave.   

“Offside” was banned from theatrical release in Iran. However, this isn’t the first time that Jafar Panahi has had his films banned. After his earlier films, “The Circle” and “Crimpson Gold” were banned from theatrical release, the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance forbade Panahi from creating any more films until he reedited them. Panahi resorted to trickery. “He  gave them a different script with a different filmmaker's name,” and began filming (Kaufman, 2007). The Ministry of Culture and Islamic guidance sees the important role media plays in the reinforcement or destruction of cultural values, but so does Panahi. As Jamsheed Akrami, an Aranian film scholar, says, Jafar Panahi’s “films are direct attempts to expose inequality and injustice throughout Iranian society” (Kaufman, 2007). Panahi believes film can effect change in Iran.  

Ershad, A. (2016, May 19). How an Iranian woman snuck into a football stadium only open to men. Retrieved from http://observers.france24.com/en/20160519-iran-football-women-ban-stadium-woman

Kaufman, A. (2007, March 18) Soccer film's goal is public dialogue. Retrieved from http://articles.latimes.com/2007/mar/18/entertainment/ca-offiside18

Samovar, Larry A.; Porter, Richard E.; McDaniel, Edwin R.; Roy, Carolyn Sexton (2016). Communication Between Cultures (Page 87). Wadsworth Publishing. Kindle Edition.