On Cinema at the Cinema is a satire series about two grown men trying (and often failing) to exert control over their own lives and the lives of others. In the real world, these attempts fall into three broad modes, from least to most socially aggressive: positive feedback, negative feedback, and directly controlling behavior. While all three modes are important to facilitate normal social interactions, behaving at the lowest level of aggressive necessary is generally preferred. I believe that On Cinema reflects transgression of this social norm in order to satirize the hetero-patriarchal aggression present in non-satirical American media culture. This preliminary study will conduct a comparative analysis of how the first episode establishes the protagonists' personalities via these three modes of control.
Methods
To reliably assess the frequency of positive feedback, negative feedback, and controlling behavior, they must be defined and measured quantitatively. This data coding is then used to guide a more focused qualitative analysis of the characters' behavior.
Positive Feedback
Direct agreement to an opinion (e.g. "I think so too")
Direct confirmation of a fact (e.g. "that's right")
Nodding the head in agreement
Direct and indirect compliments (e.g. "you're the expert," "I like how you did that")
Direct appreciation (e.g. "thanks for being here")
Positive feedback is not assent to a direct command, back-channel responses (e.g. "mmhm", "yeah", "I see"), or affective responses (e.g. smiling, laughing, hugging).
Negative Feedback
Direct disagreement to an opinion (e.g. "I don't think so," replying with an opposing opinion)
Direct rejection of a fact (e.g. "that's wrong," "I don't believe you")
Shaking the head in disagreement
Direct and indirect insults (e.g. "you're useless," "that loser over there")
Indirect correction of behavior (e.g. "I don't like when you do that")
Negative feedback is not giving direct commands (e.g. "do it this way") or affective responses (e.g. frowning, yelling, crying).
Controlling Behavior
Interrupting a speaker
Giving direct commands (e.g. "do it this way," "shut up")
Moving or taking an object without permission
Moving a person without permission
Controlling behavior is not extreme affective responses (e.g. kissing, hitting), though they often coincide. It also does not use softening phrases (e.g. "I think," "I hope," "please").
Coding
Season 1 Episode 1 (6 minutes, 58 seconds) was divided into 14 thirty-second increments. Each increment was coded for all three factors, with 0 representing absence of the behavior and 1 representing at least one instance. The show features two main characters, with one round of coding being separately completed for each.
Results
Each factor was summed. Sums were then charted in a bar graph to compare against the common maximum sum of 14 points.
Tim exhibited controlling behavior once, when he physically took Gregg's VHS tape away from him in order to read it. In contrast, Gregg exhibited controlling behavior throughout a majority of the video (71% of increments). These were all verbal interruptions of Tim.
Tim gave Gregg positive feedback in 57% of increments. Gregg's single instance was a congratulations to Tim in response to Tim thanking Gregg for his presence on the show. Tim's feedback consisted of appreciation for Gregg's participation and validation of Gregg's movie knowledge.
Tim's moments of negative feedback were both indirect corrections of Gregg's behavior, expressing a preference for how he would like the show to run differently. However, Gregg's negative feedback towards Tim was more direct, as he rejects Tim's positive opinion of an actress in favor of his own diminished opinion.
Discussion
By the end of the first episode, Gregg stands out as the more dominating counterpart. He continuously interrupts, neglects to provide positive feedback, and his negative feedback is more socially aggressive than Tim's. Gregg comes across as overbearing and unwilling to permit disagreement. On the other hand, Tim seems generous with his attention to Gregg and patient in correcting the direction of his show. His only controlling behavior was in service of gaining movie knowledge, which Gregg (a movie buff) does not take offense to.
Long-time viewers will recall that, as the show goes on, Tim's character quickly loses any ostentation of generosity and patience. I believe that a primary cause of this change is Gregg's dogged bids for control and staunch refusal to appreciate Tim from the very start. Gregg's character is comparatively static, and I hypothesize that continuing this method of data collection will reveal a pattern of Tim's positive feedback being rebuffed by the buff, negative feedback going unheeded, and Tim's controlling behavior aggressively escalating.
Conclusion & Future Directions
The collection of additional data would be necessary to identify more key turning points in Tim and Gregg's dynamic in each of the story's main arcs. Through that further analysis, it may become possible to better pin down which particular details of asocial behavior the creators of On Cinema are aiming to satirize. These findings would also need to be put in conversation with current media and political events of the time. Furthermore, it is important to consider which aspects of social behavior are being left out. Who or what does the story not satirize, and what messages about control and appropriate social behavior might that negative space reveal?
while beautiful and relaxing, my fall loop has a somber objective. if I've really given this pumpkin a piece of my soul, it ought to be laid to rest the same way that I hope to be someday. there are an estimated 300 waterfalls in the u.p. — some, we'll admit, are just rapids, but nearly 200 of them are big enough to have a name. in my lifetime I've been to 41. so with approximately 259 waterfalls left to see, I'll just have to visit 4.6 waterfalls a year if I'm going to see the rest before I die at age 85. probably of a poison kiss. ... doesn't that water look like root beer? I wish it were, too. unfortunately, it's just colored by tannic acid leached from cedar swamps upstream.
