Sociolinguistics

Christina Baek

American sitcoms have attracted large audiences with the utilization of satire and dark humor. Some popular long-running sitcoms, loved by the public, include “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, “Family Guy,” and “The Simpsons.” However, one show has recently gained popularity amongst a young demographic. “Rick and Morty,” which centers on the adventures of a sociopathic scientist, Rick, and his grandson, Morty, has achieved mainstream success. But what can be attributed to “Rick and Morty’s” cult following?

“Rick and Morty” follows the lives of the dysfunctional Smith family and appeals to the young masses by engaging popular social media issues and caricaturizing celebrities. An analysis of the lack of gendered interruptions in the show highlights how “Rick and Morty” tackles social constructs of masculinity and criticizes gender stereotypes. This study found that aggressive characters, without regards to gender, utilized interruptions in their speech more frequently. By employing satire and irony, it is no surprise that “Rick and Morty” has gained the recent traction that it did amongst millennials and Gen Z.

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Introduction and Background

By employing dark humor, “Rick and Morty” engages with its young audience that birthed social media and grew up with the beginnings of the internet. A Pew Research study found that a majority of teens, regardless of income boundaries, saw anxiety and depression as a top major mental health concern among their peers (Graph 1). With the COVID-19 pandemic, uncertainty over job prospects and the future has contributed to the generational rise in negative feelings of anxiety and depression (Horowitz et al., 2020). The deprecating humor used in “Rick and Morty” has found a cult following by appealing to these young audiences enchanted by a specific type of absurdist and dark comedy. These young audiences are attracted by dark humor, which shows a shift in the demographic over generations.

Methods

This study analyzed the number of interruptions in the episode “Raising Gazorpazorp.” Interruptions are typically exemplified in masculine speech because they break the flow of the conversation. By speaking over or preventing the other party from speaking, interruptions allow the user to control the conversation and exude dominance. In “Raising Gazorpazorp,” a total of 17 interruptions were indicated (Graph 2). There was a negligible difference in the number of interruptions used by each gender.

Results

In “Raising Gazorpazorp,” Morty has sex with a robot doll, which gives birth to a half alien Gazorpazorp species and a half human doll. Beth interrupts Jerry in line 5.

Later in the same episode, Summer and Rick go to the Gazorpazorp planet to find a foster parent for Morty’s child. They get sentenced to death for coming from Earth, which has a patriarchal society that the female Gazorpians disapprove of. Rick interrupts the Gazorpian judge in line 4.

Analysis

In the first excerpt, Beth cuts off her husband, Jerry from speaking further. By interrupting her husband, Beth prevents Jerry from going off on a tangent and forces the family to focus on the issue at hand – her teenage son birthing a half alien child. She controls the flow of the conversation while mocking Jerry for pursuing civics as a major, which might insinuate to the audience that she does not respect her husband and sees him as inferior. A common trope in “Rick and Morty” tackles the marital issues between Beth and Jerry, and portrays the latter as an incompetent male who impregnated his young wife during their teen years. By interrupting Jerry, Beth exudes dominance and ensures that the family remains focused on Morty’s problem.

In the second excerpt, Rick interrupts the judge Gazorpian and prevents the latter from executing him and his granddaughter, Summer, to death. By interrupting the judge, Rick also adds comedic effect by insinuating that a society that places women in a higher class would employ less drastic punishments, like “a night on the couch.” However, he responds with “Ooh, gerp” in line 7 to show that he was gravely mistaken and immediately regrets interrupting the Gazorpian judge, who is in a higher position than him. By interrupting the judge, Rick not only shows that he remains level-headed in disadvantageous situations, but also employs typical masculine linguistic features. He stops a judge from informing him and Summer, the prisoners, of their sentence in front of a large audience. Rick fights against all odds and proves time and time again that he is capable of escaping predicaments when Summer and him safely escape the Gazorpazorp planet and returns to Earth.

In “Raising Gazorpazorp,” we found a negligible difference in the number of interruptions by gender. In fact, characters in “Rick and Morty” who take more dominant roles, like Summer, Beth, and Rick, interrupted other characters the most. Morty and Jerry, who are more passive male characters, conversely got interrupted by Beth and Rick.

Conclusions

With a lack in gendered interruptions in “Raising Gazorpazorp,” “Rick and Morty” shows how relevant, popular sitcoms highlight the issues with gender stereotypes and social constructs of masculinity. “Rick and Morty” places aggressive characters like Beth, Summer, and Rick, above passive characters like Morty and Jerry. Other sitcoms that analyze the dysfunctional family trope, like “Family Guy,” employ these same values by putting stronger, confident characters on a pedestal and berating those that enforce negative, patriarchal views. With the changing social demographics of younger generations, like millennials and Gen Z, comedies have adapted to their target audiences by utilizing dark humor and satire. In particular, “Rick and Morty” tackles important societal issues at hand and this can be exemplified by analyzing the linguistic features of the characters’ speech.

References

Horowitz, J. M., & Graf, N. (2020, May 30). Most U.S. Teens See Anxiety and Depression as a Major Problem Among Their Peers. Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2019/02/20/most-u-s-teens-see-anxiety-and-depression-as-a-major-problem-among-their-peers/

Koltun, K. (2018). Rick, Morty, and Absurdism: The Millennial Allure of Dark Humor. The Forum, 10(1), 99–128. https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/forum/vol10/iss1/12

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Tina Izad

While previous studies have explored the gendered differences in linguistic traits and plot lines between male and female main characters, they have failed to provide significant focus on the differences in insults directed towards male and female main characters and the gender stereotypes which these differences may be perpetuating. Thus, this blog will analyze how differences in intonation, word choice, and the impact of insults on male versus female main characters in romantic comedy movies perpetuate gender stereotypes. These stereotypes include the ideas that men demonstrating emotion is a sign of weakness, females categorically demonstrate inherently inferior capabilities intellectually, physically, and professionally, that a woman’s primary occupation should be to maintain a specific aesthetic appearance, and if she does not, she should anticipate, if not expect, to be insulted, and, finally, the idea that a female needs a heteronormative relationship in order to feel fulfilled and truly succeed. Thus through the stereotypes perpetuated through insults, romantic comedies may contribute to the systemic oppression of women and subsequently uphold the socially antiquated gender binary.

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Introduction and Background

In an era in which technology is central to our lives and learning, film has developed the power to color our perceptions and sway our understanding of social norms. Romantic comedies are no stranger to this, as not only their plotlines but also their use of linguistic properties exhibit significant differences between male and female main characters. For example, a study at Heriot Watt University at Edinburgh found that enjoying the romantic comedy, “The Wedding Planner,” a film based on an engaged man falling in love with his wedding planner, was associated with poor communication with romantic partners, thus demonstrating the powerful influence romantic comedies may have over our interactions.

Previous studies have failed to draw attention to the differences in insults directed towards male and female main characters; thus, this blog will analyze how differences in intonation, or shifts in pitch and volume, word choice, or the deliberate presentation of certain language, and the impact of insults on male versus female main characters in romantic comedy movies perpetuate gender stereotypes. These stereotypes include the ideas that men demonstrating emotion is a sign of weakness, females categorically demonstrate inherently inferior capabilities intellectually, physically, and professionally, that a woman’s primary occupation should be to maintain a specific aesthetic appearance, and if she does not, she should anticipate, if not expect, to be insulted, and, finally, the idea that a female needs a heteronormative relationship in order to feel fulfilled and truly succeed. Thus through the stereotypes perpetuated through insults, romantic comedies may contribute to the systemic oppression of women and subsequently uphold the socially antiquated gender binary.

This study focused on the three romantic comedies “She’s the Man,” “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days,” and “Legally Blonde.” Although the insults in all three films were analyzed in depth, this blog will focus on gendered differences in insults in the film “Legally Blonde.” “Legally Blonde” focuses on the main character Elle Woods, a sorority president, who makes her way into Harvard Law after her Harvard Law boyfriend, Warner, the male main character, breaks up with her to find a more serious relationship which will put him on the right path towards eventually becoming a senator.

Methods

While watching each film, I took notes on the context of each insult, the speaker and the recipient, word choice, intonation, impact of the insults, and the frequency of insults directed towards the male and female main characters in each film.  Close attention was paid towards insults perpetuating gender stereotypes including the need for males and females to adhere to heteronormative societal standards, women’s obligation to maintain a specific aesthetic appearance and that her appearance contributes to her worth as a person, the necessity for women to act lady-like (including the need to not be “too” sexually active) to be accepted, the idea that women are inherently inferior intelligently, physically, and professionally, and that men must refrain from showing emotion in order to appear manly.

Results

Among the three studied romantic comedies, the frequency of insults directed towards the female main characters was approximately triple that of the frequency of insults directed towards the male main characters, with the exception of the number of insults directed towards Viola in “She’s the Man,” while she is disguised as Sebastian (as shown in Chart 1). Across the three films, there were a total of 50 insults directed towards female main characters and a total of 15 directed towards male main characters and an additional 8 which were directed towards Viola while she was “Sebastian.” Furthermore, of the 15 male-directed insults, five were in regard to the male lead’s intelligence and professional abilities, 2 were directed at his sexuality or sexual performance and one was about him being too lady-like or not manly enough. This does not include the six insults directed towards Viola dressed as Sebastian which were about “him” not being masculine enough. Among the 50 insults directed towards the female main characters in these movies, 21 were in regard to her intelligence and professional abilities, 10 were about her sexuality and/or appearance and five were about her being too manly, or not lady-like enough.

Gentler and more polite word choice with less negative connotations both emotionally and historically and softer intonation were used more in male-directed insults than in female-directed insults. Additionally, across all three films, the female lead’s goals were talked down upon, mainly by men and she was spoken to as if her career aspirations were outlandish, while men in the same positions were not questioned. Lastly, the male-leads responded more strongly to the insults directed towards them, while the female leads brushed off insults more often.

Discussion

The delivery and impact of insults vary based on if they are directed towards male or female leads. Through all three films, the male-lead reacted much more shocked when insulted, emphasizing the infrequency at which this occurs. In contrast, women seem to nearly anticipate insults as they tend to react in a more muted fashion and will even insult themselves while attempting to understand others’ decisions about them. In “Legally Blonde,” while at dinner, Elle is broken up with by her boyfriend, Warner. The following transcription depicts Elle’s response to the breakup and Warner’s explanation to his decision, much of which exemplifies Elle’s socially induced perception that her appearance constitutes a significant portion of her worth as a person and Warner’s misogynistic leaning and disrespect towards Elle.

As Elle is baffled, stating that she anticipated a proposal, Warner responds, while chuckling with lines 3-4.  Elle immediately responds to this misogynistic insult by questioning if his rejection of her has to do with her boob size or hair color, further emphasizing her perception that a significant portion of her worth as a woman has to do with her external appearance.

Furthermore, Elle does not react to Warner’s insult in itself, ignoring the sexist leaning of his comparison of her to Marilyn Monroe, who was thought to have had an affair with John F. Kennedy, and contrasting of her character with Jackie Kennedy, who was viewed as more sophisticated and classier. Elle’s lack of response to the insult in itself emphasizes her possible expectation for such misogynistic comments. This loaded insult from Warner can be contrasted with a later insult from Elle directed towards Warner, as shown in example 2.

Elle adopts the same format as Warner’s insult, and responds with lines 9-11. While it is noteworthy that she adopted the same structure, “bonehead” is a far less condemning and charged insult than Warner’s comparison. Further, Warner’s speechless reaction indicates that he likely is not insulted often, even in this somewhat elementary way.

Additionally, while Elle’s insult towards Warner in lines 9-11 of example two is said with confidence, implying respect for herself, Warner insults Elle in line three of example one with a condescending tone, outwardly implying a lack of respect for her and belittling her intelligence. This contrast in tone demonstrates the way in which insults towards male main characters may be softened, whether through intonation or other methods, to reduce the insult’s impact, while the same considerations are often not taken with women.

Conclusion

The results of this study corresponded to previous research done on gender differences in romantic comedies, however it is worth noting that limitations were present in this study, as all three films held a primarily straight, white, cis-gendered cast. This lack of diversity limits the applicability of the study to society as a whole and also emphasizes the need for greater diversity in film.  This study in particular shone a light on the differences in insults directed towards male and female main characters and the ways in which not only the words verbalized, but also the tone of voice used during these insults along with the impact of these insults contribute to the perpetuation of gender stereotypes and thus continuously normalize a gender binary and the acceptance of outdated gender roles.

References

Angyal, C. S. (n.d.). GENDER, SEX, AND POWER IN THE POSTFEMINIST ROMANTIC COMEDY. Retrieved February 6, 2021, from Edu.au website: http://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/fapi/datastream/unsworks:12432/SOURCE02?view=true

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. (2003). Available from https://play.google.com/store/movies/details?id=6SHj4gXvPk8&gl=US&utm_source=na_Med&utm_medium=hasem&utm_campaign=MoviesPLA&pcampaignid=MKT-DR-na-us-all-Med-pla-mo-Evergreen-Dec1115-1-movieslibrary&gclid=CjwKCAiA9vOABhBfEiwATCi7GAK5dyy7YlgLnuPH5FR_Kv-W_e1CtcYpk1hJgOlwNaA_05DM9_qMIBoCtQ0QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

José Mateo, F. Y. (n.d.). Towards an intercultural pragmatic taxonomy of insults. Retrieved February 12, 2021, from Personal.ua.es website: https://personal.ua.es/francisco.yus/site/insults.pdf

Lauzen, M. (2016, June 8). Articles about our Research. Retrieved February 25, 2021, from Sdsu.edu website: https://womenintvfilm.sdsu.edu/contributions/about-our-research/

Legally Blonde. (2001). Available from https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/amzn1.dv.gti.f8a9f71d-741f-7cff-a561-efc0b720b6d9?autoplay=1&ref_=atv_cf_strg_wb

Legally Blonde wallpapers – wallpaper cave. Retrieved from https://wallpapercave.com/legally-blonde-wallpapers

Raymond, C. W. (2013). Gender and sexuality in animated television sitcom interaction. Discourse & Communication, 7(2), 199–220.

Scharaga, J. A. (n.d.). Female moments / male structures: The representation of women in romantic comedies. Retrieved February 6, 2021, from Ursinus.edu website: https://digitalcommons.ursinus.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1008&context=media_com_hon

She’s the Man. (2006). Available from https://www.amazon.com/Shes-Man-Amanda-Bynes/dp/B015O3MPZA

The representation of love in Romantic Comedies. (n.d.). Retrieved February 25, 2021, from Centreforjournalism.co.uk website: https://centreforjournalism.co.uk/content/representation-love-romantic-comedies

Vignozzi, L. B. A. (n.d.). Gender Stereotypes in Film Language: A Corpus-Assisted Analysis. Retrieved February 6, 2021, from Openedition.org website: https://books.openedition.org/aaccademia/2367?lang=en

Wright, B. (n.d.). Gender and language: Challenging the stereotypes. Retrieved February 6, 2021, from Birmingham.ac.uk website: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/Documents/college-artslaw/cels/essays/sociolinguistics/Wright5.pdf

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Liam Anderson

The interaction between coach and athlete is one that is gendered and incorporates the dominance model. The show the Last Chance U gives examples of how coaches use gendered word choice and vulgar language to interact with their male athletes. What was found is that coaches want their athletes to be mentally tough but this can sometimes get stacked with vulgar language. This vulgar language is on top of all of the stress and pressure of the sport at hand. This is when it becomes gendered because the vulgar language is expected to be handled with mental aspects of the sport. Male athletes are not supposed to show any emotion, which is a male gender stereotype which incorporates the dominance model. This leads to coaches perpetuating male gender stereotypes when trying to get the most out of their athletes through promoting mental toughness. Through this, sports continues to perpetuate gender stereotypes that we are trying to get rid of.

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Introduction

Have you ever seen a coach cuss out an athlete for doing something wrong? Coaches will use vulgar language towards their male athletes to try and get the most out of them and make them perform better. The use of vulgar language towards male athletes that coaches use can be seen as gendered as it can perpetuate male stereotypes. Stereotypical male characteristics like being strong and not showing emotion can be perpetuated through the word choice of coaches. This research will give a linguistics view on how sports can further gender stereotypes like being the strongest and most dominant male. This incorporates the dominance model and can be seen through the interaction between coach and athlete. The dominance model is the stereotypical notion that men are above women in society. Coaches word choice and tone affect the interaction between coach and male athletes and how this can incorporate the dominance model and perpetuate gender stereotypes. To look at these aspects the show Last Chance U will be analyzed to give examples of discussion between coach and athlete. The show Last Chance U is about junior college football athletes trying to make it to a Division 1 program and this is their last chance of making it in football.

Methods

The methods that were used to answer these questions were by watching the show Last Chance U. The show gives lots of interaction between coaches and male athletes and how their relationship is on the field. This type of source gives lots of conversations and allows to dissect information about coaches’ word choice and tone. The show also gives multiple perspectives of coaches and athletes which allows for further analyzing from each side. It also gives examples of coaches talking negatively to athletes and what words are used to try and get the best out of the athletes. Through multiple seasons there were a lot of examples and information that gave a good representation of the interaction between coach and athlete.

Different linguistic studies also helped with analyzing the interaction between coach and athlete. The linguistic studies helped identify what the interactions that were going on in Last Chance U meant and how this was shown linguistically. Through different studies on the linguistics of sports it gave a background knowledge of what types of words and tones coaches would use with their athletes. These studies helped in finding answers to how coaches used word choice and tone to perpetuate gender stereotypes.

Results

The results found that linguistically there are a lot of gendered interactions between coach and athletes that incorporate the dominance model. The idea of being mentally tough was found as an aspect that coaches pushed on athletes. This idea of being mentally tough is that an athlete must be mentally tough and be able to handle the mental stress of a sport as well as the physical. Mental toughness seems to improve sports performance based on Chang (2012), “Numerous studies have indicated that mental toughness plays a significant role in successful sports performance”. Therefore, so many coaches push for mental toughness and can even overextend the limits of mental toughness with vulgar language. Through vulgar language and negative word choice coaches can stack this with mental toughness to try and push their athlete. In Feezell (2008) Coach Knight uses vulgar language and justifies it by saying that the athlete should handle it by being mentally tough. Based on Feezell (2008), “Coaches like Knight might think they’re only trying properly to motivate an athlete, but the possible damage done by a coach’s tirade might still be palpable and unacceptable”. Coaches will use vulgar language and harsh word choice to try and push their athlete but this can be confused for mental toughness. This is stacked on top of mental toughness and it is expected for male athletes to be able to handle it because of male gender stereotypes. This type of motivation from a coach is perpetuating the male stereotype that males are not supposed to show emotion.

Discussion/Conclusion

Coaches will use harsh language with their athletes to try and perform better but sometimes this can result in the athlete using it themselves to push themselves. There is a lot of pressure for athletes to do well so they will use vulgar language themselves.  Below is a transcription from Tovares (2010).

This transcription is of an athlete talking to themselves while running a marathon and it shows some of the pressure that the athlete is facing. The vulgar language is present in transcription, and it is showing what mental toughness is all about. This is what a coach would push for an athlete to do because it is an example of mental toughness. This language is reflecting the gender stereotype and is a way of establishing masculinity. This falls right into the incorporation of the dominance model because emotions are supposed to be put aside for men and this is an example of bottling up emotion.

Example 1 from the show Last Chance U demonstrates how the word choice of coaches can become gendered and even make them feel marked. Marked is when someone feels like an outsider or does not fit in fully. This example is at practice when the coach Diaz pulls Malik to the side and tells him that he is making him look bad in front of everyone else.

The word choice of “lipstick” and “fuckin’” make this interaction between coach and athlete gendered. The coach is referring to how Malik is making him look like a woman on the football field. This in football is unacceptable for a football coach and is something that coach Diaz lets Malik know. This is an idea of markedness because coach Diaz feels like an outsider with his reference of feeling like he has lipstick on his face. This gendered interaction perpetuates male stereotypes and makes it seem like you can only be a strong and emotionless man to be on the football team.

The hall of mirrors effect could be present in this research because by searching up the topic some of the information that contradicts my claim could be overlooked. The sources that were used fit my claim and therefore no sources that contradicted it were found which is why the paper could fall into the hall of mirrors effect. This research contributes to the larger phenomenon that sports drive a lot of stereotypes that society is trying to rid of but they stay in sports.

References

Chang, Yu-Kai, Lin Chi, and Chih-Shiung Huang. “Mental Toughness in Sport: A Review and Prospect.” International Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology, vol. 10, no. 1, 2012, pp. 79-92. ProQuest, https://search.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/mental-toughness-sport-review-prospect/docview/1011870028/se-2?accountid=14512, doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1612197X.2012.661202.

Tovares, Alla V. “Managing the Voices: Athlete Self-Talk as a Dialogic Process.”Journal of Language and Social Psychology, vol. 29, no. 3, 2010, pp. 261-277. ProQuest, https://search.proquest.com/scholarly-journals/managing-voices-athlete-self-talk-as-dialogic/docview/758115517/se-2?accountid=14512.

Feezell, Randolph. “Vulgarians of the World Unite: Sport, Dirty Language, and Ethics.” Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, vol. 35, no. 1, May 2008, pp. 17–42. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1080/00948705.2008.9714725.

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