This week's assignment was to watch a television program we do not typically watch, first without sound and then again with sound. For this assignment, I chose to watch The Mindy Project. I have never heard of this program so I had no idea what to expect.
When I watched the show without sound, I did not understand the first part of the show. There were small clips of a girl watching tv, then a teenage girl watching tv, and finally, on to a hospital where there were a group of doctors or nurses gathered around a patient, talking. The main character, which I assumed to be Mindy, spots a doctor walking by the room and obviously has a "thing" for him. Later in the day, they end up in an elevator together where she gets nervous and drops her things. The elevator gets stuck and they formally introduce themselves. In the next clip, she is sitting at a table talking to a police woman then within a minute or so, it cuts back to the hospital. By this point, I am lost. I have no clue what is going on. The hospital clip shows the guy Mindy met with another girl then it moves to a scene where the other girl and the guy are getting married. A few minutes later, she was giving a toast at his wedding. Evidently, she had too much to drink. She ended up leaving the wedding on a bicycle and had an accident in which she rode the bicycle into someone's pool. In the next clip, she was in jail talking to a police officer then a friend came and got her out of jail. She leaves the jail and rushes back to the hospital where she talks to another doctor. She looks upset with the other doctor for some reason. She follows him to the staff lounge where another doctor is sitting on the couch. They engage in conversation. The doctor Mindy was originally talking to leaves the room and it seems like the other doctor that was in the room flirts with Mindy. She doesn't seem interested and she leaves. In the next clip, Mindy is walking in the hospital talking into her phone. She goes into her office and talks to a boy and his mom then she is back out to the nurses station, talking to colleagues. She changes into a new outfit and they seem to be discussing what she is wearing then Mindy ends up in an office, making out with the doctor who was flirting with her earlier. Mindy stops things and they seem to have a disagreement about stopping. Mindy then ends up on a date with a guy. The date doesn't seem to go well. The show ends with Mindy at the two doctors from earlier, sitting in the staff lounge watching tv.
After watching the show with sound, the beginning made a lot more sense. There is a lot of narration moving from scene to scene. The show starts by giving a background to Mindy and her infatuation with romantic movies. Even at a young age, she was quoting romantic comedies while watching them. The show fast forwards to Mindy's adult life, as she is a doctor at a hospital. She is working when she spots another doctor going by the room she is doing a consult in. She finds him attractive and wonders what he is like. Later in the day, they end up getting stuck on an elevator together, where they spend half an hour getting to know each other. They date for a few months then have a bad break-up, after he meets another woman at the hospital. Shortly thereafter, he and the other woman get married. Mindy gets invited and decides to go. She makes an embarrassing toast at the wedding after consuming a good amount of alcohol. She leaves the wedding drunk and rides her bicycle into someone's pool. She gets arrested for disorderly conduct and public drunkenness. Her friend bails her out of jail, just in time for her to rush to the hospital after being paged because one of her patients went into labor. She arrives at the hospital just after one of her colleagues delivers the baby. They have a discussion about her behavior at the wedding as they are walking to the staff lounge. Another doctor is in the lounge and the three of them discuss weddings and how single people can feel lonely, especially when attending other people's weddings. The doctor Mindy started talking to leaves the room. The other doctor suggests that he and Mindy get physical. Mindy shoots him down and leaves. The following day, Mindy is walking into the hospital, talking about changes she is going to make in her life such as being more responsible, getting in shape, and being more serious about dating. She meets with new clients and then goes out to talk to her co-workers. She changes into a new "first date" outfit, which is really sparkly. They discuss her outfit and the doctor who she previously had an argument with, tells her that it is not a good first date outfit and that she should just keep it simple. The doctor that flirted with her earlier said he liked it and in the next scene, they are in his office making out. Mindy stops them and talks about how she wants to be more mature and have a real relationship with someone. Mindy ends up on a first date with a guy, where she seems to be kind of crazy by the questions she is asking and the way she interacts with this guy. The date does not go well and the show ends with Mindy and the two other doctors back in the staff lounge talking about dating and why it is not as easy as she expects it to be.
After watching the show with the sound on, the show seemed to make a lot more sense. I was rather confused by the constant back and forth of the scenes so I never really know exactly what was going on or why the scene was changing when I was not listening to what was going on.
Through this assignment, I realized the importance of using both verbal and non-verbal skills at the same time. While non-verbal skills are important in communication, effective communication implements both non verbal and verbal simultaneously. Through both skills, effective communication can take place.
