The Transformative Power of Communication in Outsourced (2006)

Communication is used not only in daily activities but also for special events or experiences. The movie Outsourced produced in the year 2006 and directed by John Jeffcoat portrays a special occasion when Todd Anderson is forced to move to India. Without any option but to move to India, Todd decided to accept new situations by training an assistant who would adopt activities in the new country. He exposed himself to different kinds of cultural and language barriers that apparently exist because he had to move to another country.

The main character Todd slowly but finally adjusted to the new environment by changing his attitude about Indians. I would like to focus on communication and culture, language and verbal communication, and nonverbal communication of this movie.

To begin with, since Todd moved to a new region in the movie, language and verbal communication are one of the difficult part for him because barriers are obvious. For example, many people in the new location are not able to pronounce the name 'Todd' properly.

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Instead, they called him "Mr. Toad". Indian language definitely has a strong ascent which makes pronunciation of English words more difficult. In addition, due to the influence of the Indian dialects, learning English words is a main objection to the locals. For instance, Todd spent a lot of time trying to teach his assistant pro how to pronounce the word "Chicago," using the American ascent. He was frustrated because he was not able to achieve clear results despite of his hard work.

Language and verbal communication is directly connected each other, and thus if they do not share similar culture or language, it is likely to occur miscommunication due to language barrier.

Next, nonverbal communication is the most crucial and effective way. In this movie, nonverbal language used many times and it is more important when Indian people talk to others like Todd whose verbal communication is and new. At the end of the film, Todd was able to understand the meaning of strangers thanks to the nonverbal communication sign. The use of gestures is equally used among the Indian people. Like the shaking of one's head, they rely on gestures to make their messages clear. For example, when Indian people want to explain something, they are likely toholdtheir hands, or make finger movements in this film. Usually, gestures are accompanied by facial expressions of various emotions such as angry, happiness, sadness and so on. Todd represented the American society relies on verbal communication such as ascent, intonation and pronunciation. Although nonverbal language obviously helps people to communicate with others easier, they need to make sure different meaning of gesture in many countries. For instance, in most cultures, thumbs-up means the best, but in some cultures it contains bad meaning in some countries like Iran.

Finally, culture and communication are closely connected in the film and cultural variations are exist between the American and Indian societies. In the American society, proper use of verbal communication and language are important. Nonverbal communication is embraced as a complement to verbal communication in the Indian society. Todd struggled to train his employees to pronounce words properly. Indian ascent is seen as an elemental part of Indian culture. People who are fluent in English are seen as strangers in the Indian community. Other cultural diversity that are not related directly to the community include the type of clothes, kinds of food, religion or cultural events. Most of the features can be clearly contradicted to American society.

In conclusion, I think Outsourced 2006film by John Jeffcoat is a romantic comedy movie that focus on different communication and cultural types between American and Indian societies. When Todd Anderson moved to India due to the outsourcing of his department, he faced various kinds of communication such as verbal communication, nonverbal communication, cultural variations. This showsaseveral obstacle which he had to overcome. This gave people opportunity to learn, appreciate and adjust to the new environment and culture. At the end of the film, he was able to accept that diversity and love the Indian society ultimately be comfortable with it.

Reference

1. Jeffcoat, J. (2006). Outsourced [Film]. Hollywood: ShadowCatcher Entertainment.