Nonverbal Communication

In the short film "Mr. Bean," the main character relies mainly on nonverbal communication. This means that he rarely speaks, but rather conveys the messages he wishes to send in other ways, such as facial expressions, body language, actions, and hyperbole. His audience understands him very clearly even without the use of words. However, the actors around him in the film itself often seem not to notice his outbursts or not to consider them humorous. When Mr. Bean decides to cheat on his exam, the audience immediately understands what he is up to. However, for the remainder of the scene, the film focuses not on understanding his message, but rather on all the crazy ways he tries to complete one task.

In the second skit with the swimsuit, Mr. Bean tries very hard to not look conspicuous to those around him, which seems to be a reoccuring theme within all of his comedy. However, the skit introduces irony when the man he is worried so much about gets out of his chair and makes evident that he is blind by using a walking stick.

In the church skit, the comedy is introduced by placing the outrageous Mr. Bean in a very reverent and quiet seting. The slightest occurences such as sneezing or dozing off or opening a wrapper cause the biggest problems, magnified of course by his exaggeration of every situation.

In all of Mr. Bean's skits, although he doesn't speak, devices such as irony and hyperbole are very liberally used. The audience understands these familiar situations without the use of verbal explanation or elaboration.
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In the second video, Mr. Bean is having a day out on the town. He seems to be focusing on financial situations; giving money, having money, spending money

. What stands out to me the most about this section in particular are the basic human emotions that he feels. His escapades are so humorous to us because we know exactly what it's like to feel all the basic things that he feels and think many of the same thoughts. This is why verbal communication is unnecessary. The difference is that we would never actually do these things and he just does without a second thought.