Nonverbal vs. Verbal

To get a better understanding of communication in varies ways; I turned the T.V. on with the mute button down.  The movie I came across was “Mooz-lum” a black woman leaving the sanctuary of the church and a very light or white man following her. I couldn’t figure out the relationship of the two characters. She appeared be a woman who was down on her luck, and crying.  The gentle man seemed concerned and to wanted to help her.   

She woman was full of tears, she looked worried and he looked emotionless, strong in the eyes and whatever he was saying he looked convincing.  

Then , replayed the scene  with the sound turned on.

The assumptions I made were far from what was really going on. WOW, the woman and man that I spoke about were a Muslim married couple, and she did not want to be married anymore, so the husband told her he was taking their son. I was way off in my guess! 

If I had known a bit  about the movie and still watched the it with the mute button on, I think there would  have been still some inaccurate assumptions that I would have made, that is why listening is the key!