Mean Girls Case Study

It is quite easy to pass off the study of communications as “no, duh” research, but every aspect of human communication can be further studied and explained in a way that cannot be seen from the surface. There is a name and concept that accounts for virtually all human behaviors and interactions. Careful study and observation of these behaviors can help us better understand the way people function and become more self-aware. There are some main, key concepts that can give a good basis for understanding communication, but it is a field that goes incredibly in depth and detail. As people, we are communicating constantly, even when it is subconscious. The first proposition of communication states that one cannot NOT communicate (lecture). The signals we send, both verbal and nonverbal, are received and interpreted by those around us. Although we are unaware of every detail communicated in our own daily lives, it can be much easier to study such phenomena within pop culture examples, where it becomes very evident. The movie “Mean Girls” is the perfect subject of such a case study, where it is full of examples of the theories discussed and read about thus far in the quarter. The two main categories that define communication are verbal and nonverbal. As discussed in class and in the book, verbal communication is literally what we say. This could also include silent verbal communication such as e-mails or texting. Non-verbal communication comprises most of what we communicate as it accounts for everything else, such as facial expressions and overall appearance. The other side of communication is not the messages we give off, but what and how we receive messages from others. This is the listening aspect of communication and it is composed of numerous different kinds such as critical listening, pseudolistening, selective listening, selfish listening, and defensive listening. Critical listening is when you analyze the messages you receive from another. Pseudolistening

Cited: Real communication: an introduction Dan O 'Hair - Mary O.Wiemann - Bedford/St. Martin 's – 2009 Mean Girls. Dir. Mark Waters. Perf. Lindsay Lohan. Paramount Pictures, 2004. Film.