Communication 205
Application Paper

Coordinated management of meaning, created by Pearce and Cronen, says that two people in a conversation can only understand each other if they agree on the four contexts that influence meaning: the episode, the relationship, the self-concept, and the culture (Griffin, 1997). This paper will demonstrate the influence of each of those four contexts by providing dialogue from an episode of Friends that first aired in 1997. There were two major story lines during this episode. First, Monica is asked out by Chip Matthews, a guy that she went to high school with who had dated Rachel (and treated her badly) during high school. Second, Joey and Chandler try to sell an entertainment center that Joey had built, and in the process they are robbed.

The first main idea in the theory is the idea of an "episode." According to Pearce and Cronen, an episode refers to the understanding of what is going on in the communication (Griffin, 1997). For example, one person might view an interaction as friendly, while another might view it as romantic, which would prevent understanding. In the episode of Friends, Joey has labeled a particular interaction as a sales interaction, while the guy he is speaking with has labeled it as a robbery. This prevents Joey from understanding what is happening. To illustrate, consider the following dialogue:

Joey: This is the unit for you. Sturdy construction and plenty of storage compartments. Some big enough to fit a grown man.
Guy: What?
Joey: Oh yeah. I got in there myself once. My roommate bet me five bucks that I couldn't, and then he stuck a board through the handles and locked me in.
Guy: Nah, you can't fit in that thing, it's not deep enough.

Because Joey labeled this as a "sale," he was willing to do anything that might make the sale. The thief, however, was looking for a way to rip him off, and had labeled the episode differently. Joey's offer to physically get into the entertainment center provided the thief with the perfect opportunity to stral from Joey. In this case, the differing notions of the sort of interaction took place is what caused Joey to misunderstand the request to get into the entertainment center.

The second context is the relationship context. In this context, the nature of the relationship between the two people helps to provide the meaning of the conversation (Griffin, 1997). Because the audience knows that Ross and Rachel have recently broken up, and that they recently had a conflict over a letter that Rachel had written to Ross, the audience understands that the following exchange is meant to be a put down:

Ross: I was just leaving.
Rachel: Good, 'cause I've got a product report to read. It's like 8 pages, I hope I don't fall asleep.
Ross: Why? Did you write it?

In this case, knowledge of the relationship between the two characters provides the meaning of the exchange, which are not simple nor innocent, but fraught with sarcasm.

The third context is the self-concept, which says that the images that people hold of themselves influence the meanings of their interaction (Griffin, 1997). In this episode, Rachel is upset that Monica would consider going out with Chip Matthews after what he had done to her (Rachel).

Rachel: Why of all people do you have to go out with Chip.
Monica: You and I went to different high schools.
Rachel: Ok, this isn't helping me 'cause we went to the same high school.
Monica: You went to the one where you were popular and you got to ride off on Chip's motorcycle and wear his letterman jacket. I went to one where I wore a band uniform that had to be specially made.

Monica goes on to say that "the fat girl inside of me really wants to go." At that point, Rachel finally understands that Monica's desire to go out with Chip has nothing to do with her relationship with Rachel, and has everyting to do with her Monica's own self-esteem. Monica wants to feel desired by someone who had previously rejected her, and so her desire to go out with Chip should not affect the relationship between the two friends.

The fourth context is culture, which refers to a "common set of practices and values" (Griffin, 1997, p. 75). When Monica actually goes out with Chip, she realizes that he has never left the high school culture. He still hangs out with his high school friends, works at the same movie theater, and relates stories of "pantsing" people. All of her efforts to have an "adult" conversation fail. After the date, Rachel asks Monica how the date went. Monica replies "Well, you know how I always wanted to go out with Chip Matthews when he was in high school? Tonight I actually went out with Chip Matthews in high school!" Although Monica has changed, Chip's "values and practices" have not, causing cultural problems in their conversation.

According to coordinated management of meaning, when people understand the four contexts of a conversation, they will create meaning (Griffin, 1997). In this episode of Friends, sometimes the contexts are understood, but sometimes they are not, which creates communication problems.