New Girl, New Romance:
Language influences the development of a cross-gender relationship
Introduction
Watching a romantic relationship between two individuals develop in front of your eyes can be very interesting. However, watching a romantic relationship develop on a television screen each week is far more interesting, as it allows devoted viewers and fans to truly observe and analyze the progression of this – sometimes, six to eight season long – relationship. As this romantic evolution relates to language, the linguistic exchanges in the television series are predominantly responsible for moving the relationship along. Both the conversation between the two individuals and the utterances spoken about one another build the bond between the two up to the ultimate creation of a dynamic relationship.
Fox’s New Girl follows a bubbly, quirky young adult named Jessica Day who moves into an apartment with three guy friends. This three-season sitcom begins to develop the relationship between Jess and one of the male roommates, Nick Miller, in season one of the show. What begins as a flirtatious friendship in season one develops into a friends-with-benefits type affair in season two, eventually morphing into an exclusive romantic relationship in season three, the current season on television. In analyzing one episode from each season of the series New Girl, I will emphasize the linguistic influence in the development of the romantic relationship between Jess and Nick. Evaluating assorted conversations as well as specific words spoken, the variation in the nature of discourse and the shift in numbers of compliments and insults will prove to be of influence to the progression of the relationship between Nick and Jess. I hypothesize that the nature of the conversation between the pair will shift from friendly to romantic from season one to three. Additionally, my hypothesis states that the number of compliments spoken to and about one another will increase throughout the series, while the number of insults spoken to and about one another will decrease as the relationship progresses from season one to three.
Literature Review
Although the influence of compliments and insults on developing an on-screen romance has not specifically been researched, the following authors offer diverse framework to my research. The importance of language in developing plot and characterization in various forms of media is explored in Language and Society in Cinematic Discourse by Jannis Androutsopoulos. The author discusses the main components of media and the effect that language has on each of those components – in particular, characterization and creating relationships between those characters. As Androutsopoulos argues, “Characters are pivotal in the reconstruction of a film’s sociolinguistic repertoire, defined as a set of relations between characters and linguistic choices” (Androutsopoulos 148). Language is responsible for building and developing character relationships for the sake of the plot, and also for making these relationships known to the viewers. It is near impossible to think of a film or television show in which viewers can figure out the relationships between the characters without the use of language. The author goes on to explain that each character’s use of language can often index the decisions that specific character will make. In New Girl, this point made by Androutsopoulos holds true, as the individual linguistic choices made by the characters Nick and Jess define them in very specific and very different ways. Jess is characterized as a very awkward, sweet, and brainy female, while Nick is written to be an apathetic, sarcastic, and mostly grumpy male. The linguistic interactions between Jess and Nick are responsible for developing and transforming their relationship. Most importantly, the viewers and fans of New Girl would have no way of following this complicated relationship without the language.
Martha Lauzen and David Dozier analyze gender and appearance comments in media in You Look Mahvelous. This study took place during the 1999-2000 Prime Time Season, and examines the number and type of appearance comments made and received between the cross-gender prime time characters. Also included is the viewers’ reaction to these insults and compliments. It was found that, in these programs, gender largely influenced the type of comments made (Lauzen and Dozier 429) and that television viewers are “frequently not watching televised images; rather, they are listening to the characters” (430). This research illustrates the imperative nature of the language in media once again. If viewers are frequently removing their eyes from the screen, they need the linguistic components to help them identify the characters, follow the plot, and define the relationships among the characters. Furthermore, this piece connects to my research of insults and compliments between males and females. The majority of compliments and insults I recorded between Nick and Jess in New Girl were actually not about appearance. However, I did find unique differences in the number of comments based on gender roles across the three seasons.
In her book You Just Don’t Understand, Deborah Tannen highlights the connections between gender and conversation. In particular, her book outlines the stereotypes of both females and males associated with talk. “For most women, the language of conversation is primarily a language of rapport: a way of establishing connections and negotiating relationships” (Tannen 77). On the contrary, “For most men, talk is primarily a means to preserve independence and negotiate and maintain status in a hierarchical social order” (77). Although these stereotypes may hold true in day-to-day interactions among males and females alike, it definitely appears to be a different story within cross-gender relationships of any kind – friends, brother and sister, father and daughter, and of course, lovers. While gender roles define one ideology at play, there is always more than one linguistic ideology in a given conversation. In terms of my research, these stereotypes did not appear at all. Jess is certainly looked at as one of the guys as she lives with Nick, Schmidt and Winston, and is involved in their natural conversation without any gender specificities. While she is linguistically a female, she is also taking on the linguistic role of a friend, and finally a girlfriend, which requires different components of language.
James Honeycutt discusses the aspects of language involved in a romantic relationship in his book Cognition, Communication, and Romantic Relationships. Specifically, Honeycutt points out the content of their discussions and the influence of language on building this potential relationship. Honeycutt brings up the concept of specific language unique to each type of relationship. He states that “individuals distinguish communication behaviors (e.g., cooperative versus competitive) among relatively few dimensions that are used to distinguish almost all types of relationships (e.g., personal enemies, husband-wife)” (Honeycutt 3). Within this reasoning, members of any type of relationship, from friendly cross-gender roommates to romantically involved roommates, use specific linguistic characteristics, or behaviors, that personify the features of their relationship. Focusing on these behaviors, I noticed a strong distinction between competitive language (in season one) and cooperative language (in season three) as the relationship frame surrounding Jess and Nick shifted drastically from friendly cross-gender roommates to romantically involved roommates.
Additionally, This piece refers to the stimulus-value-role theory by Bernard I. Murstein, suggesting that “courtship begins as a simple exchange of information involving initial impressions of physical attributes followed by an interpretation of individual values, attitudes, and beliefs about a variety of topics that are of interest to each” (1). This analysis of the linguistic development of courtship does not necessarily parallel my research with the television show New Girl. The observed relationship between the characters Nick and Jess went through a much different sequence of development in terms of language. The two characters were originally established as new roommates, removing the exchange of initial impressions in a courtship frame. Jess was added into a previously-formed group of friends (including Schmidt and Winston) as a platonic friend to all three of the guys, so the interpretation of one another’s values or beliefs were not in a romantic context. This unique courtship development increased the entertainment value of the sitcom, but more importantly the intriguing nature of Jess and Nick’s relationship.
Finally, Dorothy Holland focuses on human beings’ motives toward cultural scenarios in her book Human Motives and Cultural Models. Chapter four of this book touches on our motives surrounding love and romance. As human beings, we have truly constructed our own perception of what romance should be and what it should consist of. However, according to the studies, these culturally constructed expectations are not always the case. For example, it is assumed that romance comes about automatically, when in reality, there is another important force required in the development of a romance – social interaction (Holland 61 – 62). Holland describes talk playing a large role of the formation of a love connection. These arguments relate directly to my research of the show New Girl. This incorrect expectation of romance as being natural is seen first hand in the progress of the relationship between Jess and Nick. When they meet for the first time, they are thrown into a roommate-based friendship, with this strong love-connection developing later in the series virtually non-existent. Without the social interaction, the conversation, and the language shared between them, this romance would not have developed in front of viewers’ eyes. The interesting part of the connection between this book and my research is that the book discusses romance and expectations in terms of real life, while my research deals with data of this real-life phenomena coming from a television show.
Methodology
While watching my weekly television shows, I decided it would be extremely interesting to research and analyze the development of a relationship between characters through language use. There were many options of both drama and comedy series, but New Girl seemed the most diverse, as it allowed me to analyze the linguistic aspects of a friendship relationship, a romantic relationship, and the transformation from one to the other. I chose one episode from each of the seasons of New Girl in order to represent an accurate depiction of the three distinct stages of the relationship between the characters Jessica Day and Nick Miller. I chose the last episode of season one, “See Ya,” in which the flirtatious friendship between the two has been established, an episode from the middle of season two, “Table 34,” which builds the base of their friends-with-benefits relationship, and finally the first episode of season three, “All In,” in which the exclusive romantic relationship between Nick and Jess is finally in full effect.
I watched each of the three episodes, noting the times of conversations that interested me for transcriptions. The conversations I chose to transcribe portrayed the three main stages of the relationship development between the characters being researched, while maintaining the comedic tone of the television show. Specifically, these pieces of discourse encompassed the conversational characteristics I was interested in observing between the two characters – both the tone and the content accurately represented the pair’s relationship at the time. After transcribing the three scenes, I watched each episode again, counted the number of compliments and insults spoken to one another and about one another. In order to standardize my research of compliments and insults, I used the Merriam-Webster definitions of the two terms. Each compliment I recorded was “a remark that says something good about someone or something” or “an action that expresses admiration or approval” while each insult I recorded was “a rude of offensive act or statement.” It is, however, important to note that most of the insults I observed in New Girl are good-hearted and playful, not necessarily meant to hurt the recipient. Through my chosen transcribed scenes and this specific word record, I felt that these research topics and pieces of data connected with both my thesis and my hypothesis.
Results
The three conversations I chose to transcribe definitely painted a clear picture of the development from friendly roommates to friends-with-benefits to committed lovers. The transcribed conversation from season one’s “See ya” establishes the playfully negative discourse between the Nick and Jess, beginning with an announcement from Nick that he is moving in with his girlfriend, Caroline. In a jealous (based on friendship, not romance) rage, Jess responds to this conversation with a number of light-hearted insults, calling Nick out for becoming an “agoraphobic, turtle-faced, border-line alcoholic” (1:14-16). She chimes in again a bit later to expose Schmidt and Winston to the true tragedy that is occurring: “What are you guys doing? You’re just sitting here and letting this happen?” (1:31-32). Although she does direct some insults at Nick, she shows her emotions in that last utterance, illustrating that she is truly saddened that he is leaving the apartment. In regard to the specific number of compliments versus insults between Nick and Jess, Nick does not compliment Jess at all, and the one compliment from Jess to Nick is shared at the tail end of the episode, when she finally tells him that she wants him to be happy, and because she met him, she is going to be okay. In contrast, there are quite a few insults shared between the two of them. Nick shares with Jess: “I don’t think you can do it” and “I think you need me too much” While the number of insults (two from Nick and four from Jess) establishes the jokey, flirtatious nature of their platonic relationship, the existence of the genuine compliment from Jess in the raw ending moment institutes the true love they have for one another as friends.
“Table 34” in season two takes place directly after Nick accidentally kisses Jess for the first time. Throughout the episode, the majority of the screen-time with either one of the characters, especially the interactions between the two, is centered around the kiss. In particular, the conversation always seemed to return to whether or not the kiss meant anything for either one of them. In the scene I chose to transcribe, Nick finally approaches Jess and decides to apologize for his kiss, as it was “a mistake” and “it was like a nothing kiss,” “so non sexual and nothing” (2: 14, 23-26). From a viewer’s stand point, this apology appears completely infelicitous, as Nick does not seem to want to make amends or believe he did something wrong. However, Jess forgives him, followed by a number of attempts to get Nick to admit that the kiss meant something to him: “I think it meant something..you know, to you..because YOU kissed me” (2: 29 – 32). This back-and-forth banter between the two clearly shows the importance of the topic being discussed – the kiss. Interestingly enough, the only two compliments shared in this episode, one from each of them, revolve around the quality of the kiss, building the ground for the friends-with-benefits partnership that is to come. Nick states, so eloquently, that “it was a nice kiss” while Jess, in discussing the kiss with her friend CeCe, mentions that she “saw through the space of time for a minute.” While these compliments were aimed at the positive quality of the kiss, many of the insults in this episode were aimed at the negative quality of the very same kiss, preserving the crude, yet undeniably keen essence of Jess and Nick’s relationship. In this episode, Nick insulted Jess four times, all of which indexed the unimportance of the kiss, and Jess insulted Nick six times, including the basic remarks “Stupid Nick Miller!” and ”Hey dummy.”
Dissimilar to the episodes from both season one and two, season three’s “All In” had not one insult from Nick or Jess. Also very different from the previous two, this episode housed a large number of compliments (seventeen from Nick and twelve from Jess) in which there is absolutely no negativity involved. Sincere utterances such as “you’re the prettiest girl on the beach” come from Nick, while Jess uses the phrase “I’m all in” to describe their relationship four times, and the phrase “I really like you” five times. I chose to transcribe the second to last scene in this episode, in which Nick and Jess return from their relationship honey-moon in Mexico to the apartment that they share with Schmidt and Winston. The conversation between the couple begins with a round of sighs and statements such as “you ready?” (3:3) and “We can do this” (3:15). In line 23 of the transcription, the pair realizes that the door is locked, as Nick reveals: “why would I carry a key?” (3:30) This utterance sets off a playful fight about keys through line 34, where the fighting turns into kissing, ending the conversation with one final round of “I like you so much” and “I like you too” (3:35 – 36). The beginning and end of this transcription present the true development of this romantic relationship. However, the middle is filled with a good-natured screaming match, reminding viewers that the comedy of their relationship is not coming to an end just because they are now romantically committed to one another.
Analysis
Through my research of these three television episodes and the evolving relationship between Jessica Day and Nick Miller, I discovered many parallels to my hypothesis, but many differences as well. I had hypothesized that the differences in conversation characteristics and the numbers of compliments versus insults would be very clear-cut, showing a strong increase in compliments and decrease in insults as the seasons progressed. While both instances held true from the first season episode to the third season episode, there was no gradual decline or incline.
This could highlight the writers’ desire to keep plot lines exciting and not give too much away about what is yet to come in this exciting relationship. Interestingly enough, the insults were more prevalent and less playful in the second season, which definitely represents the state of the their relationship, in which the sexual and romantic tension is brewing beneath the surface. An insult like “stupid Nick Miller” from Jess in the second season is less playful than calling Nick “turtle-faced” in the first season, but it is not meant to be taken literally or to hurt Nick in any way. The existence of the harsh humor in the way they talk about each other and in their interactions with one another are very important to the mood of the television show as a whole. The compliments, as expected, are much more frequent in the third season, with many variations of “I really like you” and “we can do this,” depicting the nature of the romance that has finally come to life.
However, my collected data clearly proves that the language between Nick and Jess is responsible for the progression of their relationship from flirtatious roommates to more-than-friends to finally, a romantic couple. Although the humor is still there, the transcriptions have three very different premises. In the first episode, the analyzed conversation relates to Nick moving out of the house, whereas the transcription from the season two episode focuses on analyzing the kiss accidentally shared between Nick and Jess. Lastly, of course, the third season’s episode revolves around how much the two of them like each other, and their confidence that they can make this relationship work. To refer to Jannis Androutsopoulos’ piece once again, language plays a pivotal role in the building of relationships among various fictional characters. The development of the relationship between Nick and Jess in New Girl shows just that.
Conclusion
Watching a romantic relationship between two individuals develop on a television screen over the course of three seasons is certainly intriguing. However, it is even more intriguing when you are able to look closely at the main components of the progress – in this case, language. The build up of the relationship is strongly outlined by the use of conversation, both between Nick and Jess and from one about the other. The linguistic exchanges in these three episode of New Girl – the compliments, the insults, and the additional pieces of conversation – show a clear shift from the season one, when the two are roommates and friends, to season three, when the two agree to go all in on their romantic relationship
Works Cited
Androutsopoulos, Jannis. “Introduction: Language and society in cinematic discourse.” Multilingua-Journal of Cross-Cultural and Interlanguage Communication 31.2 (2012): 139-154.
“Compliment.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/compliment>.
Holland, Dorothy. “How cultural systems become desire: A case study of American romance.” Human motives and cultural models (1992): 61-89.
Honeycutt, James M., and James G. Cantrill. Cognition, communication, and romantic relationships. Psychology Press, 2000.
“Insult.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 8 Nov. 2013. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/insult>.
Lauzen, Martha M., and David M. Dozier. “You look mahvelous: An examination of gender and appearance comments in the 1999–2000 prime-time season.” Sex Roles 46.11-12 (2002): 429-437.
Tannen, Deborah. You just don’t understand: Women and men in conversation. Harper Collins, 2001.
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