Oh What A Night Language Analysis

After selecting a clip entitled “Oh What a Night” for the hit TV show, “The Game”, the characters Derwin and Melony intriguingly displayed verbal and non-verbal communication. During this particular conversation the characters discussed their first sexual encounter. Melony, who is the fiancé’ of Derwin, utilized a less demanding form of communication when she conveyed her ideas about their first physical interaction. Melony used more relaxed language and had a very calm tone. Her body language was very welcoming as she remains seated during most of the conversation. Derwin demanded Melony to stay and she was submissive in her actions by staying to hear more of what he had to say. There is a point in the conversation where Derwin initiated a kiss with Melony and she is receptive to it. He then picks her up and puts her down after being told too. Afterwards he tells her to be quiet and she does. From this interaction it can be concluded that Derwin was more aggressive and assertive in his communication style. He used more demanding language that seemingly directed action and

results. His language displayed his dominance and self-concept which is derived from social constructs and societal norms of how women and men should interact. Based on this video women seem to be more intrinsic when communicating ideas where as men seem to be more extrinsic and result oriented. Based on my experiences with communicating with women and with watching male role models in my life communicate with women I was not surprised by the interaction between Melony and Derwin given that women seemingly have a deeper regard to communicating with men.
Due to the context of Derwin’s and Melony’s relationship I think that the submissive and assertive behavior displayed by both of the characters was established based upon their roles as spouses.

If Derwin and Melony were friends their behavior would have been less intimate and more report and rapport based in terms of surface based communicational styles. My point here is that because Derwin and Melony are in a relationship they are more in tuned with one another and interact with open verbal and non-verbal interactions. Derwin’s communication was encoded and decoded with the two culture theory in mind. This theory highlights the rules and norms of communication for men and women in a particular society. There were moments in Derwin and Melony’s communication when codability was established. For example Derwin refers to their favorite snack by its nickname and Melony interprets this

concisely.
When communicating with my 16 year old brother I noticed that I listened more to understand his perception than I actually sought out for him to understand my views. I often summarized what I thought that he meant to say and questioned his statements to gain a full understanding of his views before I commented about my own views. There were a few moments where I ended his statements early due to the conveying of my own which can be potentially worked on to sharpen my ability to effectively communicate. Through this experience I realized that often when we communicate we can miss the entire point of what is being communicated from the other individual. As a remedy it is important to actively listen and to ask questions to seek understanding before assumption. Selective listening can be a potential problem when aiming to establish an effective line of communication. As an older sibling the dynamics of our communication was centered around our relationship and that could have potentially lead to why I controlled most of the conversation through questioning