The Problem with Learned Culture

Skylar Joyner
COMM 3560: Intercultural Communication
Instructor Lindsey Bier
23 March 2016

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From the moment you are born you are taught what is appropriate and what is not.
Thus, everything we know about society and the way to treat people is learned. Culture is
learned. Which can create communication issues between different cultures. Thus,
creating the need for intercultural communication, which is defined as interaction
between people whose cultural perceptions and symbol systems are distinct enough to
alter the communication event (Samovar, 12). A movie that is a wonderful example of
how culture is learned is The Help. From day one of class, the aspect of how culture is
learned has been a major focus. This film is based in the southern town of Jackson,
Mississippi during the 1960s. Even though these women live in the same city and area
they possess different cultures. This film is a wonderful example of how intercultural
communication in relation to racism, language, and nonverbal communication.
The Civil Rights Movement was in full swing during the 1960s in America,
particularly the south. The Help is centered on the treatment and interaction between high
society white women and their African American maids. One of the characters that show
the most racism is Hilly Holbrook who is the head of the wives group. Racism is defined
as the belief in the inherent superiority of a particular race (Samovar, 177). To show
exactly how racist Hilly is she talks about her maid Minny like she owns her. For
example, Minny use to be a maid for Hillys mother Missus Walters. Hilly has learned
through her culture that it is acceptable to treat African Americans horribly. Hilly is a
white women who is obsessed with power. When Hilly was heartless Hilly said that
Minny belonged to her because she was previously her mothers maid. This resembles the
ownership of slaves that was many years prior to this. This is a great example of how

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Hilly felt that she was superior to Minny and all other African Americans she comes into
contact with.
Intercultural communication is also seen in the aspect of language throughout The
Help. Our book refers to language as a set of shared symbols or signs that a cooperative
group of people has mutually agreed to use to create meaning (Samovar, 225). However,
there are language variations within cultures as well. There is a difference in speech in
many ways throughout this movie. The white women are younger and have had proper
education. While the African American women have not had as much education. Even
though they all speak English and have southern accents they speak in different dialect.
Accents are known as simple variations in pronunciation that occur when people are
speaking the same language (Samovar, 227). This is related to the geographical
placement where the movie takes place. The main difference is in dialect, which is
distinguished by differences in vocabulary, grammar, and even punctuation (Samovar,
227). This is seen when Aibileen, a maid, tells a little girl You is smart. You is kind. You
is important (The Help). This shows the difference in language and culture between
these two groups of people who are only divided by the color of their skin.
The third example is seen in nonverbal communication aspects. Nonverbal
communication is defined as all those nonverbal stimuli in a communication setting that
are generated by both the source and his or her use of the environment and that have
potential message value for the source or receiver (Samovar, 246). A fantastic example
of a hostile nonverbal communication can be seen in through the act of personal space.
Personal space is exactly what you would think it would be, Each person has around him
an invisible bubble of space which expands and contracts depending on his relationship

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to those around him, his emotional state, his cultural background, and the activity he is
preforming (Samovar, 270). For example, Hilly has a separate bathroom built for Minny
outside of the house that resembles an outhouse. This was a hostile nonverbal action. This
tells Minny that all she is so beneath white women that she is not allowed to use the same
toilet as them. Nonverbal communication is one of the largest forms of communication
and expression of emotion.
The obvious nonverbal communication that can be seen is the difference of skin
color. The whole movie is about how African American culture and white culture
interaction in the 1960s. It is important to note that skin color is the first thing that people
recognize as a difference (Samovar, 252). From the beginning of the movie, there is a
separation of races. This is seen when Yule Mae who is a maid for Hilly. She has twin
sons and they both were accepted to college. However Yule and her husband could only
afford to send one of them to college. After Yule was denied a loan from Hilly and her
husband she stole and pawned a ring she found while cleaning. Ultimately she gets
arrested and spends a long time in jail. According to the textbook, skin color is
important to intercultural communication [because it] draws attention to the idea of
differences (Samovar, 252). Yule should not have stolen that ring however she was
treated very poorly through the arresting process and persecution.
In conclusion the film The Help is not only a fantastic film to review in the idea of
intercultural communication. The Help shows how culture is learned. Intercultural
communication is seen through racism, language, and nonverbal communication in the
film The Help. In the end, intercultural communication is not only needed around the
world but in peoples everyday life as well.

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Work Cited
The Help. Dir. Tate Taylor. Perf. Emma Stone, Viola Davis, and Octavia Spencer.
DreamWorks Pictures, 2011. The Help. 10 Aug. 2011. Web.
Samovar, L. A., Porter, R. E., & McDaniel, E. R. (2010). Communication between
cultures, 7th edition. Boston, MA: Wadsworth.

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Statement of Originality

As a member of the academic community, my typed name below

certifies that this paper is my original work. I am familiar with and
acknowledge my responsibility to follow the guidelines for academic
integrity as described in the course syllabus. I have used quotation
marks for materials quoted verbatim, and I have identified all sources of
information, whether quoted verbatim or paraphrased, that I used to
write this paper.
Name: Skylar Joyner