In the movie I Love You, Man, the actor Lonnie had a very high pitched voice. They use his high pitch in a funny way, because usually a man does not have such a high voice. Throughout the entire movie, he has this very sqeaky high voice that keeps it interesting to watch him. The scene I used here is when he is at a game and is trying to lead the crowd to do a chant.
According to Chaika, "Pitch, is how high or low your voice is, and physiological correlate of age, or culture" (pg.71). In this movie Lonnie had a very high pitched voice and it was not because of his age. In the SPEAKING acronym the SETTING was at a game. This makes the whole scene funnier because with Lonnies high voice he tries to lead a large group of people when he can barely be taken serious with his voice. Because of his voice, iot sets his identity, which makes him stand out from others because she has such a unique pitched voice, that if anyone was to ever hear his voice they would know it was him because that is part of his identity.
A question that I have is why does society categorize people in certain ways, which having this high pitched voice for Lonnie will cause him to be categorized in a feminine or childish way, when its just part of who he is?
Hey Ashton, Lonnie could be categorized in a feminine or childish way because his voice is not “normal”. Our society has created that “normal” men have deep voices and act manly. Since Lonnie has a high pitched tone, people will are going to laugh at him, because they have a different image about what men should act and sound like, and Lonnie is defying their image which may make them feel uncomfortable. If these individuals are uncomfortable they may laugh at him or wonder what is wrong with him, and think why can’t he have a “normal” voice like every other man.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I may point out, is hat in Chaika she mentions that we often categorize someone as straight or gay by the pitch and tone in their voice. Sometimes, its not that we we associate a straight man with a lower tone and pitch, but we often associate a straight man with what he isn't, or doesn't have- a high pitched voice. As Melissa said, these arent social norms; so when we hear a man with a woman-like voice or a child-like voice we don't associate him as manly as the others even if he is the macho-est of macho. Over the past centuries encountering a man with a lower voice has been the norm, 9 times out of 10, which can help us to understand why this is part of who we are.
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