Netflix describes Lost in Translation as, “Two lost souls
visiting Tokyo – the neglected wife of a photographer and a washed-up movie
star – find solace in each other’s company.” It came out in 2003. I believe
this movie is relevant to intercultural communication is because it centers
around two Americans in Tokyo, a foreign country to them. They are both trying
to navigate life and themselves in a new culture.
Explanatory uncertainty is the
concept that I connect to this film. Martin and Nakayama define explanatory
uncertainty as the inability to explain why people behave as they do (Martin
& Nakayama, 332). This theory connects with intercultural communication
because when there is no prior knowledge of a person or culture to explain
behavior, then one is left feeling anxious and uncertain. Many people
experience explanatory uncertainty because they do not speak the same language
or act in similar customs to those in the new culture.
Explanatory uncertainty fits right
in to Lost In Translation. In the
very beginning of the movie, actor Bill Murray is attempting to act for the
Japanese director. The director is verbally explaining what he wants Bob Harris,
Bill’s character, to do, but in Japanese. The translator gives Bill much
shorter instructions than what Bill assumes the director wanted to impart. Bill
feels uncertainty and asks, “Does he want me to look from the left or right?”
He does not understand why the translator is giving him random and unintuitive
instructions. He then asks, “Is that everything? It seemed like he said quite a
bit more than that.” The same confusing interaction occurs several times with
the same unsuccessful results. Explanatory uncertainty is a common theme that
comes to pass in almost situation where one is in a new and unfamiliar culture.
References
1.
Martin, J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2013). Intercultural communication in contexts (6th
ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw Hill.
2.
Coppola, Sofia. (2003). Lost in Translation. United States. Focus Features.
As a film nerd, I totally loved that you choose to do a movie to interweave the reading to the blog. I personally loved how you put them together. I really liked reading this blog post as the first few sentences automatically grabbed my attention and made me want to continue to read on.
ReplyDeleteI do think though that a clip of the movie of them struggling in this foreign country could have added a bit more to the post as a whole. Thank you though for doing a film, totally loved it!
I really enjoyed this blog because I have never seen this movie but I think that you did a great job of depicting what it is about. Finding ways to intertwine a movie and intercultural transitions can be difficult but I think that you did a great job!
ReplyDeleteLost in translation has always been one of my favorite films. Great job on explaining the concept! I certainly never thought about the cultural uncertainty in the film.
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