Transgressing the Communication and its Implications
Appearance of public figures on TV and radio or just the speeches available for a great number of people are inevitably tied with responsibility inherent in those who deliver such speeches. However, there are numerous examples when public figures violate the norms of public communication. Below there are three main principles about transgressed communication elicited from the real life incidents (TheRichest, 2016; VMU Dream, 2016).
One of the most widespread things making the audience feel embarrassment and disappointment is incompetence of people concerning certain events, facts or fields of knowledge. It is especially vivid in cases when a public person is not aware of universal truths or tries to be an expert in a domain into which they are not actually involved. Examples of such dilettantism are, for instance, Rosie O’Donnell’s assertion that steel cannot be melted by fire, Tom Cruise’s statements about chemical imbalance in the context of mental illnesses, or Brian Kilmeade’s shallow knowledge about diversity within Latin American world.
Another transgression of communication has more severe implications since it deals with inappropriate statements that can offend various groups of people (women, people professing certain religion, people belonging to certain race, etc.). Such incidents are dangerous not only due to the concrete offence they entail, but also because values recognized as universal in the Western society appear to be discredited by famous people. In this respect, the taped conversation between Donald Trump and Billy Bush in 2005 is a striking example.
Finally, there are public people who directly reveal their egocentrism prescribing themselves a unique status and exclusive rights. The audience therefore may feel humiliated since it is put into a minor position against the background of such public figure. Richard Nixon, Kanye West and Paris Hilton are among those who ventured statements of that kind.
To sum up, the three key principles of transgressed communication are lack of knowledge, offensive statements that imply disrespect towards different groups of people and arrogant extolling oneself over ordinary people.
References
TheRichest. (2016, July 21) The dumbest things ever said on live TV [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSFAUkmvi1Q
VMU Dream. (2016, October 7) Complete Donald Trump leaked audio with Billy Bush from 2005 [Video File]. Retrieved from …
