The Stagecoach : Non Verbal Communications And Social Classes

In 1939 John Ford masterminded a classical western film by the name of Stagecoach. This film has the integrity of a fine work of art. Being that it could be considered a work of art, the impression left on a viewing audience could differ relying on the audience's demographics. However, it is conceivable to all audiences that Ford delivers a cast of characters that are built on stereotypes and perceptions conjured from 'B' westerns that preceded this film's time. Each character is introduced to the audience in a stereotypical genre, as the film progresses, these stereotypes are broken down and the characters become more humanized. This is apparent with a handful of characters being

John Ford built a standard that many future directors would follow with his classic 1939 film “Stagecoach”. Although there were a plethora of western films made before 1939, the film “Stagecoach” revolutionized the western genre by elevating the genre from a “B” film into a more serious genre. The film challenged not only western stereotypes but also class divisions in society. Utilizing specific aspects of mise-en-scène and cinematography, John Ford displays his views of society.

Stagecoach – a movie that is widely accepted as the most damaging movie for the Native identity – helped to illustrate this image to viewers at the time. As a result, many Americans believed Natives were all uncivilized and violent, leading to nationwide stereotyping and prejudice. The Indian was the enemy of America as a result. Stagecoach also shows Natives being hunted like animals, which sends the image of them being non-human and thus they should be treated as such. Stagecoach and movies like it mispresented Natives for decades and caused a loss-of-identity amongst the Native community because Natives were dressed the same throughout various films. It was not until the 1970s and 1980s where Natives were properly represented on

The Breakfast Club is such an interesting movie to use with this topic. The wide range of characters allows for a variety of different interactions. The way we are going to approach this, is to look at each character and examine the different interactions between.

The Breakfast Club is a movie that was directed by John Hughes, and was released in the spring of 1985. It is about five teenagers from different worlds, who all come together on a Saturday for detention. The movie is filled with a multitude of scenes that may apply to many of the course concepts found in Interpersonal Communication.

The site I chose for observing non-verbal communication was a coffee shop that I go to frequently to study. This coffee shop is located in the center of town in Lacey, is adjacent to a bus terminal, a community college satellite campus and close to office buildings. This coffee shop is always busy with a diverse group of patrons from students, businessmen and women, and elderly couples and friends. After observing several potential duos, I decided on two females who I started observing as they approached the coffee shop. Both women looked appeared to be in their mid twenties. They were walking side-by-side, arms linked at their sides and both looking straight ahead as they entered the coffee shop. One woman had brunette hair, which was styled and shoulder length. She was dressed all in black, with black leggings, top and black boots. She had a silver necklace and black purse. The other woman had short blonde, tussled hair. She too was dressed all in black; black pants, shoes and a black shirt. She was also carrying a backpack. She appeared to have some visual disability as she was carrying a cane and using it to gauge the whereabouts of tables and counters. Her right eyelid dropped down and appeared almost closed while the left eye was open. They stopped briefly at a square table in the middle of the coffee shop, right by the door so the blonde could get her wallet from her backpack. From here they proceeded to the ordering counter, where the brunette stayed close by the

American western movies were a thing of the 1950’s but they were no longer captivating in the 1970’s. It was apparent that guns, cowboys, and American heroes were no longer seen as a point of interest for the viewing public. Mel Gibson’s film entitled, Blazing Saddles, debuted in 1974 and seemed to fit the bill of the post-1960’s western. Blazing Saddles is a film that is able to take on racism and utilize it as an important reflection of the time. The film goes where no film has gone before in terms of discussing race and Hollywood. Blazing Saddles was able to seemingly integrate elements of Blaxploitation and introduce the film industry’s first interracial buddy comedy.

In Interpersonal Communications, it is important to understand how stereotyping can affect close relationships. When an individual uses stereotyping in a negative way, this in return negatively affects the relationship. This can lead to major problems in the long run. In Sweet Home Alabama, it is easy to see that false stereotypes lead to judgments reflecting badly on relationships.

The question is whether No Country for Old Men and Stagecoach provide adequate examples of the decline in American moral values. From my perspective of today’s world and my interpretation of No Country for Old Men and Stagecoach, I can see how the argument could be made that they have declined or haven’t changed at all. I see a difference between the relationship of Ringo and Dallas vs other members of their traveling group compared to Sheriff Bell vs Chigurh. These relationships, in my opinion, explains a lot about the development of moral values, or lack of, in the western United States. In this paper, I will describe the moral values that are represented in each movie and I will also try to describe my understanding of why American moral values may have declined between No Country for Old Men and Stagecoach.

The southwest is a region of the United States that makes our country unique. Without the southwest, we would undoubtedly lack the spirit, hope, beauty, and truth that this vast region brings to the rest of the United States as a whole. The southwest represents many things, such as journeying, racism, violence, the clashing and cooperation of cultures, and spirituality, as well as primitivism and pastoralism. All of these elements that the Southwest is comprised of is perhaps the reason why the rest of the country feels so captivated by it; why the southwest is considered a place to “find yourself” or to “regenerate”; and why literature and film regarding the Southwest has been and continues to be of the most popular genres. The western film was one of the most popular during the first half of the twentieth century. Audiences far and wide were mesmerized by actors such as John Wayne and Roy Rogers, and their roles as heroes who fought to tame the American frontier. This very concept, ‘taming the frontier’, gives way to a larger theme that was prevalent in many western films and literature of the southwest: ubi sunt, or rather “where are those who came before us?”. Director Sam Peckinpah’s The Ballad of Cable Hogue portrays this idea better than any other western film; the concept of ubi sunt is undeniably the film’s overarching theme, clearly seen through its components.

The division between the upper and lower class proves how social class influences the effect on your intercommunication. The interaction between Connie and Arnold at Connie’s door step, demonstrates how Connie observes him. As Arnold talks to Connie, she detects all the small details about him, “She recognized most things about him, the tight jeans that showed his thighs and buttocks and the greasy leather boots and the tight shirt... that slippery friendly smile of his” (pages 5-6). The reader can find it strange how Connie picks up details, such as the way Arnold talks that relates to Arnold’s social class. An example would be when Arnold says,” Don’tcha wanta see what’s on the car? Don’tcha wanta go for a ride?”(page 4).

While Stagecoach (John Ford, 1939) is representative of Classical Hollywood cinema providing its audience with escapist entertainment, it also develops an “acute social observation” of life during America’s westward expansion and it challenges elements of the myth constructed around this history (Bernstein 316).

In this paper, I will use CAT (Communication Accommodation Theory) to explain how convergence, divergence, and intergroup contact are illustrated within the film American History X.

The site I chose for observing non-verbal communication was a coffee shop that I go to frequently to study. This coffee shop is located in the center of town, is adjacent to a bus terminal, a community college’s satellite campus and close to office buildings. This coffee shop is always busy with a diverse group of patrons from students, businessmen and women, and elderly couples and friends. After observing several potential duos, I decided on two females who I started observing as they approached the coffee shop. Both women appeared to be in their mid twenties. They were walking side-by-side, arms linked and both looking straight ahead as they entered the coffee shop. One woman had brunette hair, which was styled and shoulder length. She was dressed all in black, with black leggings, top and black boots. She had a silver necklace and black purse. The other woman had short blonde, tussled hair. She too was dressed all in black; black pants, shoes and a black t-shirt. She was also carrying a backpack. The blonde appeared to have some visual disability as she was carrying a cane and using it to gauge the whereabouts of tables and counters. Her right eyelid drooped down and appeared almost closed while the left eye was open. They stopped briefly at a square table in the middle of the coffee shop, right by the door so the blonde could get her wallet from her backpack. From here they proceeded to the ordering counter, where the brunette stayed close by the blonde,

One can communicate across social or economic classes. Class barriers prohibit the communication across classes. Time makes the transition between these defined class structures much more easy for a person, no matter their current class. Charles Dickens compares the identity of an escaped convict and a boy in his Victorian era novel Great Expectations, while E.L. Doctorow compares the identity of an upper class family and a Jewish immigrant family in his 20th century novel Ragtime. The increase in communication and transition across social and economic classes, in both novels, show the possibility for the destruction of highly restrictive class barriers.