One of the few topics covered in chapter five that caught my
eye was the concept of facial expressions. They say that your body making
facial expressions is partly natural and partly something that you learn as
time progresses. Which is interesting because what they basically say that our
facial expressions are pretty much pre wired into your brain. Which studies
show that a lot of the “pre-wired” facial expressions are shared universally
across the globe. Studies propose why we smile when we are happy and we cry
when we are sad are just part of our biological inheritance. All of how the
brain functions really interests me, just because it is so complex. Another
concept that is covered is that however we may have these expressions “pre-wired”
we learn over time to modify them to fit within our culture. Some expressions
are intensified while others are de-intensified depending on the culture.
3) Another avenue of consideration to take into account when speaking of facial expressions and how they are used to communicate meaning is perhaps to look at movie actors. Actors often have to communicate far more meaning visually than they can verbally as the nonverbal communication often takes less time. Especially if you go back to some of the earlier black and white movies when there was no sound available. Granted some of these facial expressions can be greatly exaggerated to ensure that their point or message is being made. While I agree that our communication stylistically is defined to some degree by our society and culture, one only need to look as some of these great examples of early movies to see how facial expressions can be used to spectacular effect.
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