Amy Dencker, Sarah Thompson, Efrain Ovalle,

Nicole Harris, Bethany Kulasxa, Cornelius Ball

Presenting:Gran Torino & Divergent

CULTURE SHOCK

Gran Torino: Give examples of dialect, jargon/branding, argot, slang or

profanity. Be specific – which character uses it – in what context? Is it appropriate for the scene? Why or why not?

-Walt Kowalski, (Clint Eastwood) an unabashed racist, begins a journey to a slightly softer viewpoint through his encounters with his Hmong neighbors. However, this in no way stops him from using a wide variety of racial slurs throughout the movie, even from the grave.-Swamp Rats -Zipper-head-Chinks-Gooks-Dago-Spooks

-Fish Heads-Egg Roll-Slopes-Dragon Lady-Zip-Mick

-GinnyThe final two were read from his will:-Beaner-Zipperhead

Efrain Ovalle

Nicole Harris

Name the six universal facial expressions

and provide a description of two or more

that you saw in the movie, by who and in

what circumstances.

-There are six universal facial expressions: happiness, sadness, fear, anger, disgust, and surprise. In Gran Torino, one very soon recognizes the universal expression of sadness. Walt Kowalski, the main character, is conversing with a priest who asks him what he knows about life and death. Walt begins to tell the priest about his knowledge of death, about what he saw and did when he fought in Korea for three years. As he tells of the gruesome acts of those times, he becomes very sad. His eyebrows furrow and he looks down with pain in his eyes; his mouth also turns down in a frown.

-Walt also demonstrates the universal expression of anger. When his next-door neighbors are in a fight with a gang and they start fighting on his lawn, Walt runs out with his gun and orders the gang members to leave. His eyebrows narrow and his eyes glare in fury while his mouth is turned down and his teeth and jaw are tightly clenched.

Nicole Harris

What evidence of assigned face, face manipulation and

face changed by the surroundings or

received messages did you encounter? Describe carefully.

-Assigned face is the face that you are born with. Although it can be altered by age, health, cosmetics, and so on, this is your "basic" face. Walt Kowalski's face is evidence of this because, though he grows older and becomes ill, he still has the same face he was born with. Face manipulation is when you change your face at will; you can control this face. This face manipulation is evidenced when Sue Lor, Walt's neighbor, comes to say hello to him. In order to show that she is glad to see him, she changes her face; her eyes crinkle up at the corners and she smiles pleasantly.

Nicole Harris

You also also have a face that is changed by your surroundings and the messages you receive. This is evidenced by Walt's neighbor, Thao Vang Lor. Walt tells Thao that he can use his special car, the Gran Torino, to take a girl out on a date. Thao is surprised, but very happy. He lifts his eyebrows and widens his eyes in surprise while he smiles in pleasure. His face is altered because of the message he receives.

Nicole Harris

 List stereotypes found in each movie. Why do we favor stereotypes? Are they harmful to human interaction? Why? Give examples:-The main stereotypes I

see in this movie is racial stereotypes. Being racist to other people because of race or religion is wrong because God made us to be exactly how he wanted us to be. It is harmful to human interaction because if we were all racist to each other nothing in the world would work such as jobs or sports. No one would be able to get along and every race would be for themselves.

‘….On the condition that you don't

chop-top the roof like one of those

beaners, don't paint any idiotic

flames on it like some white trash

hillbilly, and don't put a big, gay

spoiler on the rear end like you see

on all the other zipperheads' cars. It

just looks like hell…”

ZIPPERHEADJUNGLE BUNNY

CHINKS

Cornelius Ball

Amy Dencker

-The movie starts out with Walt angry at the world. He had no one in his life after his wife passed away. The community that he lives in was once populated by wealthy white families, but has now been taken over by immigrants and gangs. Walt was a Veteran, who kept to himself. He appeared to be disgusted by his Hmong neighbors, especially after a teen –Thao- attempts to steal his classic Gran Torino for a gang initiation.

Provide messages

observed by the

characters regarding

skin color, religion,

politics, nationalities,

type of attire,

perception of beauty.

While Walt stands in his front yard, he watches large groups of Hmong enter his

neighbor's house. With a crinkled forehead  and a rough raspy voice, he says “How

many swamp rats can you fit in one room?” And proceeds to spit on the

ground towards the neighbor's house.

Amy Dencker

-While Walt is in his front yard, Thao's Grandmother comes out to sit on her porch when they immediately engage in eye contact. With eye's locked she starts to rant in her native language. Not knowing what she is saying, Walt again spits in the direction of her home. In return, with a mouth full of chewing tobacco, she spits also only her spit was twice as much as his in order to prove she is not threatened by him and can out do him.

Give examples of how understanding (or not) the

non-verbal communication

improved or hindered the

intercultural exchanges.

Amy Dencker

-It’s clear that the

non-verbal communicat

ion that happened in this scene

was because of a simple

glance. Walt knew that Su was in

trouble, and the gang

got defensive

due to guilt.

Amy Dencker

Sarah Thompson

Discuss appearance, body posturing, tone of

voice, paralanguage examples, unintentional

messages. Give examples:

At his wife's funeral, Walt's granddaughter walks down the aisle wearing a mid-drift shirt showing off her belly ring. Walt has a disgusted expression on his face and with a crinkled nose, he mutters “ugh” through his teeth in disapproval.

-As Thao works in a crouched position in his front yard, he is approached by his cousin's gang and taunted, called names and pushed as they try and pressure him into joining their gang. Thao remains silent with his head hanging down in a submissive position showing his lack of interest.

Sarah Thompson

Give the cultural/socioeconomic background of the main characters. include age, education, gender, expression of emotions, idiosyncrasies, eye contact.Walt Kowalski is a down-home stereotypical American white man. He appears to be roughly in his seventies and has led a very long hard life, including being a soldier in the Vietnam war, which would estimate his education level of at least high school. Throughout most of the movie, he expresses irritability, annoyance with the world (especially a different race), and a lot of animosity in general. He starts to care for his neighbors but still has a very gruff exterior towards them, although in a loving way. He continually makes comments about race in some form, using a lot of derogatory terms. He is very rude and yet speaks his mind, and teaches Thao, the neighbor boy, to do the same. He has no problem with eye contact and finds it odd when the neighbors look down when he looks at them.

Beth Kulasxa

Thao is of Asian descent, and comes from what seems to be an impoverished family. He is probably in his early twenties, and lacks drive in life due to fear and family ties. He  is probably finished with high school, since, when Walt asks him what he wants to do in life, he says he would want to go to school. Thao's exact reply is "Yes, but school costs money." He is a very timid boy that gets picked on by his cousin who is in a gang. His temperament is very shy and so easy going he is almost a pushover, until Walt gets ahold of him. He does not originally look people directly in the eye due to his culture.

Beth Kulasxa

Sue is Thao's brother, so she is also from Asian descent. She is probably also in her early twenties, and her education is unknown. There are no remarks to her education other than that she is a smart girl. She has no problem expressing her emotions or even her words. She is very outspoken and fights every stereotype put towards her about race and gender. She looks Walt in the eye, because she recognizes it for what it is: a sign of respect. Yet she still respects her family’s culture and does not look them in the eye. She explains to Walt that they see it as disrespect to look each other directly in the eye.

Beth Kulasxa

Divergent:What evidence of assigned face, face manipulation and face changed by the surroundings or received messages did you encounter? Describe carefully.

-Four would use many facial expressions to show his emotions.  Whether he was mad or sad he would always show his emotions with his facial expressions. That’s how the real tough ones always do that because they're all about action.

Cornelius Ball

Give the cultural/socioeconomic background of the

main characters. Include age,

education, gender, expression of

emotions, idiosyncrasies, eye

contact.

There are two main characters in the movie Divergent. They both come from a similar

cultural/socioeconomic background:The first character is Tris, a sixteen year old

female. She completed her high school education. She is training to join a new faction. During her training method, she uses a sense of nonverbal

communication. It expresses her emotions and it's really okay to do in her culture. She shows the

value of eye contact in Dauntless culture. Back in her other faction, looking down is a sign of great

respect. In her new faction it is a sign of cowardness and weakness. During her training she

adopted new ways to show respect.

Corn

eliu

s Ba

ll

Nicole Harris

The second of these two main characters is Tobias Eaton, more commonly called Four, an eighteen year old male. He too graduated from high school, but is already a trained member of Dauntless. Four is more of a stoic character, but he still uses similar nonverbal communication cues to express his emotions. He crosses his arms while narrowing his eyebrows and glaring when assertive and forceful, smiles and raises his eyebrows when pleased, and furrows his eyebrows when puzzled. Four reveals another idiosyncratic gesture: nodding one's head to signal understanding. Four, already trained in Dauntless ways, makes use of forceful eye contact to get his message across. As an instructor to those new to Dauntless ways, he uses direct and steely eye contact to show his authority and enforce his leadership; he also uses it to show that he is not afraid.

Provide messages

observed by the

characters regarding skin color, religion, politics,

nationalities, type of attire, perception of

beauty.

-The beginning of the film introduces the audience to a strictly structured society and its five factions, representing the virtues of; intelligence, bravery, kindness, honesty and selflessness. When children come of age, they take a test to help them choose which faction they will join for the rest of their life. When Tris goes in for her test, however, things don’t go as planned and she is left with uncertainty, fear and a dangerous secret.Efrain Ovalle

Discuss appearance, body posturing, tone of voice, paralanguage examples, unintentional messages.

Give examples.

At the beginning of Divergent, Beatrice is very quiet and shy. She isn’t very strong and she doesn’t know how to voice her feelings-as she is supposed to selfless. As Beatrice observes the Dauntless faction jumping from trains and their fearless behavior, you can see the awe and admiration in her wide eyes as they follow the group. As time goes on, she chooses to now be a Dauntless and wants to be called Tris. Now she is acting like a warrior. She begins training to become stronger, and she starts being outspoken and witty with her comebacks. She goes from rags to riches as far as her appearance. After choosing her new faction, she becomes a new person.

Amy Dencker

Eric, a leader of Dauntless is particularly disapproving of Tris throughout her “trials”. When she finally becomes injured and presumably

incapable of continuing on, at the last minute she makes it

onto the train to the next activity. Eric walks up to her and with an intimidating leer and snidely asks “who let you out?”. Trice responds “I did”

and he reluctantly says “okay” in a disapproving tone and abruptly turns and walks

away from her.

The expression of of Beatrice and Caleb's parents when they

both chose different factions than them

is that of disappointment and

shock.

Sarah Thompson

When Dauntless has been put into a drone-like trance, they load onto the train to go attack Abnegation, Tris slowly makes  her way to “4” so she is not noticed and he

slowly grabs her hand to show her his love and that he too is a “Divergent”.

Sarah Thompson

List stereotypes found in each movie. Why do we favor stereotypes? Are they harmful to human interaction? Why? Give examples.-A main stereotype in this film is the division of people into factions which are made up of the five virtues they consider to be of highest value. By giving every individual a test, how the individual chooses to complete the test is what determines what faction they belong to. For example, if one chose to rid the pack of wolfs with a sword instead of a steak or rid birds by jumping in water instead of using fire. These would determine where you “belong”.

Sarah Thompson

Another stereotype would be that “4” could be viewed as a sort of “night and shining armor” for Tris as she struggles the “trials” of Dauntless.

Sarah Thompson

Stereotypes are favored because they are a quick impression of a person or group of people. If it is a negative stereotype, then of course it is harmful. Classifying a group of people based on their race, religion, or past situations is wrong in the sense that not everyone of that description falls in the same category.

Provide messages observed by the characters regarding skin color, religion, politics, nationalities, type of attire, perception of beauty.

Abnegation dresses all in gray so that they don't stand out. Tris and her mom "picked up nearly identical stacks of clothing every six months or so. It's easy to allocate resources when everyone gets the same thing". Abnegation clothes are about promoting equality and blending in which is what Abnegation believes in.

Efrain Ovalle

Amity dresses in red or yellow clothes, and always makes comfortable clothing a priority. If your main goal is to be happy and friendly, you want to look bright and feel fine.

Efrain Ovalle

Candor dress in black and white because, as Tris notes, they see "the truth as black and white, so that is what they wear.” The clothes-as-symbols aren't just something subtle that we're supposed to notice.  They are symbols even in Tris’ world.

Efrain Ovalle

Dauntless dress entirely in black and are into piercings and tattoos . Tris recognizes that there's no clear connection between wearing black and being brave, but we recognize that the train-hopping, gun-wielding, fighting, and clubbing Dauntless aren't just brave. They're also supposed to seem cool, rebellious, and individualistic.

Efrain Ovalle

Lastly, Erudite wear blue, but they have a very serious, knowledgeable reason for that decision. According to the

Erudite, "Blue causes the body to release calming chemicals, and 'a calm mind is a clear mind’.” So the

Erudite all dress with at least some blue in order to have this effect. Candor people don't become more truth-telling

because they dress in black and white; but Erudite are supposed to become more clear-minded because they wear blue. Just like Abnegation folks are supposed to

blend in more because they all wear gray.

Efra

in O

valle

Give examples of how understanding (or not) the non-verbal communication improved or hindered the intercultural exchanges.

The intercultural exchanges were between the different factions. The use and understanding of the nonverbal communication between the factions improved these exchanges. There were times where, if not for the nonverbal cues, there would have been no action in the scene. In the end scene where Tris is cueing Four to throw her the dart gun, she says no words but instead uses a slight tilt of the eyebrow. Even though she originally started in a different faction (culture), she was still able to use non-verbal cues to clue him in.

Beth Kulasxa

Give examples of dialect, jargon/branding , argot, slang or profanity. Be specific –which character uses it- in what context? Is it appropriate for the scene? Why or why not?

The moment when members of Dauntless call Tris and other Abnegation members "Stiff". I'm thinking that that falls under the category of slang: non-standard terms usually used in instances of informality which serve as a means of marking social or linguistic identity. Stiff can refer to a deceased person, among many other things, but in Dauntless culture it has evolved to be a term, though a slightly derogatory one, for members of a different culture, specifically Abnegation. They also call members of Erudite a "nose" because they know it all. There is also argot in the movie. Argot is a private vocabulary unique to a co-culture, group, organization, or profession. An example of this is members of Dauntless referring to their basic hang-out place as "The Pit". This unites the members of Dauntless because no other culture except Dauntless understands this reference. There is a little profanity in the movie too. Peter says "fuck" when he is shot in the foot by Tris (I think, not positive) but it is barely audible.

Nicole Harris

Profanity: In the scene where the new initiates to Dauntless are playing a game similar to capture the flag except with simulating guns. Christina gets confronted by Will and Tris comes up from behind and shoots him in the shoulder. He falls and his response is "Bitch!" Christina then shoots him in the leg and says "Asshole" It was the perfect use of profanity. His being that he is mad that she got him and got lost in his arrogant attitude and Christina's because she showed that he deserved to be shot for his attitude. Branding: The term "Stiff" is used many times by different people referring to the Abnogite's, but specifically to Tris since she is most involved. The term is branding the people of that faction and generalizing them as a stiff. Divergent: Used many times during to movie, however a great example taht shows branding is at the end when Tris confronts Jenene and she has a knife to her neck, Jenene doubts her capabilities by saying "Maybe you're not as Dauntless as you thought" Tris then replies "You're right, I'm divergent" She is showing what they have labeled her as"rebellious" because she thinks for herself.Be

than

y Kul

asxa

Dialect: Dauntless seems to speak with more authority and straight to the point. For example when sitting down for dinner, Tris talks to Four and he says "What makes you think you can talk to me?" He has a very demanding presence and backs it up with his words.Then later you see a whole demeanor change through Tris and she is becoming more self-confident. When Al confronts her after his attack on her to apologize, she speaks with authority when she boldly tells him "If you ever come close to me again, I will kill you. You're a coward."

Bethany Kulasxa