Scrutinising the Relational Formation and Development between Trio in Harry Potter

Lazing around while holding a novel in my hand is my favourite pastime. One such novel that is often seen around me is JK Rowling's Harry Potter series so please bear with me in this post as I put on my Harry-Potter-glasses and reveal my inner geek.

Amazingly brilliant plot aside, I admire the way Rowling portrayed the characters and the different relationship or magical bonds between them. Some notable ones include the trio's friendship, Harry Potter's mysterious link with Lord Voldermort and the ancient magical bond between Harry Potter and his mother.


Small little people but with spiderweb-like entangling with one another

J K Rowling did an amazing job at establishing the friendship between the trio in the series. For one, the trio were not all agreeable at the start of the series. There was an unmistakable disdain between the the two boys and Hermione due to the glaring dissimilarities between them. Hermione was exceptionally perspicacious and by-the-book while the two boys were hazardous in nature. Yet, as Rowling so aptly wrote, "There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them."


"Probably a nose-breaking wrestle with Snape in the dungeons?"

That one similar incident made them realise that they do have a similar sense of loyalty towards people who helped them and this attitudinal similarity enabled them to form a bond with one another. This is due to people's tendency to form relationships with those we perceive to be similar to us. The three of them realised that the values they share may be the same despite differences in their characters. Forming relationships due to this reason can reduce our uncertainties about them, reduce the associated risks in the relationship and serve as a form of social validation.

During later parts of the development of their friendship, one will see that their initial dissimilarities (or complementarities) actually sustained their relationship as they function better together than separately. Each of them had specific characteristics that enabled the trio to survive through many treacherous vicissitudes. Harry's valour motivated the trio to brave the many obstacles, Hermione's brilliance with spells warded off many magical disasters, and Ron's goofy nature was... well... great moral support? Their dependency on one other was exemplified when cracks appeared in their friendship but they soon realise that their bond was an intrinsic part of each other and patched up soon enough.

JK Rowling ingeniously portrayed how similarities and dissimilarities between people can co-exist and, most importantly, build a bond so pure and perennial that it evokes envy among people who yearn true friendship. I believe the series will continue to touch the hearts of many others even after her mortal departure (choy choy choy), becoming an old Classic like Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. It will continue to impart values of courage and loyalty, and teach the future generations of love and friendship.


PS, pictures in this post do not belong to me, click on pictures to reveal credits...

The Master of NonVerbal Communication - Tina Fey

A very BOLD claim: If you have yet to watch this video on the Internet, you have no idea what you are missing out on.


http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/palin-hillary-open/656281/

or for a less detailed version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FdDqSvJ6aHc

This clip features an impersonation of Sarah Palin and Hillary Clinton. Anyone who follows the elections in America will definitely place more attention on the Sarah Palin character in the parody as most have doubts regarding her capabilities as compared to Hillary Clinton's. And if anyone does notice anything in the clip at all, Tina Fey's impersonation of Sarah Palin was one that portrayed her to be totally daft.

While the speech totally demeans Palin's perspicacity, the the physical impersonation was uncanny. Since the speech was not what we expected to hear from Palin's mouth, the only way to make the impersonation convincing would definitely be through the nonverbal aspect of the act. Tina Fey clearly spent hours in front of her (television or computer) screen, dissecting Palin to the smallest hairpin and smile.

There are several types of nonverbal communication and Tina Fey's act of impersonation focused on kinesics, paralinguistic, oculesics and physical appearance.

Kinesics is the study of body movement, which Tina Fey managed to nail perfectly by studying the emblems, illustrators, regulators and adaptors that Palin tended to make in her speeches. Most of them were accurate except for the ones Fey made when 'Hillary' finally lost her cool and started to criticise 'Palin' and Fey was there waving and smiling away serenely. Palin smiles a lot but she does not do those ridiculous rock-guitar actions.

In my opinion, the paralinguistic and physical appearance aspects of the impersonation were flawless. Those Palin-signature spectacles and hairdo made Tina Fey almost indistinguishable from Sarah Palin. Furthermore, even though the verbal aspect was 100% inaccurate, the vocal nonverbal cues were perfectly precise. Fey's in-depth study of Palin's quality of voice, vocalics and non-fluencies were so exact that it seemed as though someone just ripped out Sarah Palin's intelligence and replaced it with rotten eggs. Ok maybe not rotten eggs but you get my point.

Some may refer to this act as blasphemy to the 2 women who are supposed to create a better future to not just America but to the rest of the world as well. However, in light of the solemnity of the elections, a little laughter is just what I think we need. Hope everyone reading this will enjoy the skit as much as I do.


Can you even spot the difference between these 2 people?
Which one is Tina Fey and which one is Sarah Palin?

When Obsession Overflows

NBC News Channel

Wednesday, September 10 2008

MSN Online Video

HIGH HEELS FOR _______ (read on to find out)

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Speaking from my personal perspective first, no matter how insane my obsession about a particular subject or object is, there is a limit to it and it will gradually deflate even if it may not totally be out of my system. However 2 women proved to me that one's obsession can push the boundaries so far that "insane" is no longer a word that can sufficiently describe them.

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2 well-heeled women from Los Angeles, Britta Bacon Hayden Porter, founded the very first company that sells pointy heels. I know, I know. It is not uncommon for women to form establishments that cater to the their own loves. Yet, how many women will love heels enough to actually create a pair for their infants? Yes. Let us welcome the most amazing innovation of the year, drum-roll please, the "Pointy-Heels For Infants"!

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(Credits to MSN Video and NBC News Channel)

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I was so elated when I read this piece of news that I almost wet my pants with excitement! I have always wanted to buy pairs after pairs of heels for my new-born baby and subject her to hours and hours of agonizing, feet squashing torture! (dripping major sarcasm)

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It is only human nature to use schemata to form impressions of other people, forming Person Prototypes, idealized representations of a certain kind of person. From their obsession with heels, I would initially group them under the Fashionista-Who-Chooses-Beauty-Over-Health category. However, after reading about their latest fetish of not just wearing heels to torment their feet but inflict this form of abuse on their babies as well, I am at a loss as to how else to categorise them.

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The Personal Constructs (characteristics noticed on a daily basis about others) observable from these 2 women is that they are exceedingly creative and dreadfully demented. Albeit the infant-heels may not exactly crucify the babies' feet like their adult counterparts, the thought of them wanting to make their babies wear heels and actually getting down to do it, scares me. However I know of plenty of people who beg to differ from my opinion and think of these heels as the coolest kids in town. Those shoes have been flying off the racks ever since the first one was sold 14 weeks ago and it may not be long before the phenomenon hits our shores (and possibly overwhelm the fashion scene here). Maybe the idea is not as insane as it seems, I am just too narrow-minded.

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I love my heels but I love my walking ability more. A note to girls who wear heels on a regular basis - visit a pediatric orthopaedist because you will need all the help you can get in future to ensure that you do not lose your mobility to your love for heels.

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How about you? What do you think of them and their invention?

Feel free to comment! =D

Applying Classroom Theories To Advertising

The Straits Times
Saturday, September 6 2008
PAGE C25 (World Section)
ZENITHOPTIMEDIA WINS TOP PRIZE

The annual Singapore Media Awards is into their fourth year and being a student whose first major is Communications, how can I miss out on the juicy bites of this prestigious event?

ZenithOptimedia's winning piece is a successful campaign that is aimed at drawing more crowd to the museums and libraries.

"Operating on a tight budget, advertising agency ZenithOptimedia made museum ambassadors out of local actor Mark Lee and a fleet of taxi drivers. It then splashed images of these people in newspaper advertorials and online platforms like Facebook. Its campaign, Explore Singapore! 2007, which aimed to draw more people to museums and libraries, attracted more than half a million visitors. For that dazzling success, the agency received the most prestigous Grand Prix Award at the annual Singapore Media Awards last night."
_________________________________The Straits Times

People normally associate libraries and museums to the 'keen learners' (or as most of the schooling society so cruelly taunt them to be 'Nerds') and avoid these places if they do not seek interest in what they provide. Idols of the cave, that is what most of us are, cookie-cutter mentalities within a narrow understanding, assuming libraries and museums to be a haven for the knowledge-thirsty freaks. And that is where the role of Mark Lee so aptly comes in.

I doubt I have to go into detail about Mark Lee's history and reputation since I assume my readers to be mainly Singaporeans or residing here (Idols of the Tribe, I know, I am a careless thinker) thus Mark Lee should not be foreign to any readers here. His comedian background acts as an ice-breaker between the general public and the libraries and museums.

The older generation who were intimidated by the overwhelming use of English and technology were won over by Mark Lee's humorous and (I know this may sound a little brutal but) less-than-English-speaking nature. The museum managed to banish the former image of being cold and exclusively-for-elitists, appearing more welcoming because of Mark Lee's charming, less-than-serious joker profile. Appealing through one's character to gain favour and appealing through emotions, that is Ethos and Pathos. The younger generation will be attracted to the cool technology and the interesting manner that history and arts were fused together to be presented to them, appealing through logic, that is Logos completing the equation.

ZenithoOptimedia also did a great job when it came to audience analysis. Their target audience is the general population of Singapore thus there is no specification when it comes to age or gender.

(Credits to MediaCorp)

Mark Lee was given a three-part series, Amuse Me, where he and co-host Vivian casted as intrepid museum guides and allowed the viewers to embark on a whimsical adventure. Viewers followed their lead and enjoyed their humorous adventures and antics as they explored Singapore’s museums and libraries while unearthing many fascinating but little known facts about Singapore’s past. The style of the show was very lighthearted yet educational, lively and engaging and the delivery was natural and varied. It was little wonder that the show received great response from all walks of life especially the seniors, families and children.

For the group of teenagers and 20-somethings who surf the net more than watch the television, ZenithOptimedia splashed advertisements on popular networking platforms such as Facebook and Friendster, knowing specifically where the "on-liners" crowd will be dwelling at.

All in all, congrats to ZenithOptimedia and salutes to the awards for providing a platform to showcase and appreciate the best campaigns and innovations in advertising. It is, in my humble opinion, not only a chance to bestow upon the worthy candidates their deserving attention, it is also a very good opportunity to induce a bit of positive rivalry amongst the advertising firms and show the world that we Singaporeans are not babies who require nannying - we can rock your socks off when we want to. We definitely know how to apply what we have learnt in the classrooms to our future work.

What do you think? Feel free to elaborate in the comment! =D