Miscommunication in Celebrity Television

In today’s ever connected world, we are constantly bombarded by information—news, television ads, text messages, e-mails, billboards, etc. We are exposed to a wide array of implicit messages that attempt to control human psychology to someone’s advantage. As does power, youth, wealth, happiness, eternal life, and the list goes on. The denotation of a word is frequently quite different from its implied connotation, cleverly been used to evoke psychological states in the pursuit of some goal. Television given, its widespread consumption is a perfect example of this phenomenon.

I like to watch TV.  News, documentaries, and yes, celebrity television.  TMZ TV likes to cover the latest gossip and rumours, that at times are trivial and both exemplify modern contemporary culture. For example, recently a famous recording artist who goes by the name of Kanye West released a song which I was attracted by its name.  He named it “Perfect Bitch” in reference to his current girlfriend, Kim Kardashian, another celebrity artist. A lot of people were insulted, in particular women, not that he could date Kim Kardashian, but that someone can connotate an insult with endearment. There was some debate in the celebrity magazines and more established newspapers as to whether calling your significant a swear word can constitute affection. The answer to this question is rather complex and somewhat controversial, and as with any language, it lies in the context and parole of a specific language.

Kanye stated that he meant to compliment his girlfriend by calling her the “perfect bitch”. Judging by the lyrics of the song, with other use of words, Kanye discusses the term “bitch” is actually one of the cleaner terms in his song. Given that “bitch” is considered a swear word in everyday language, one can see where women and others were insulted when Kanye used this term to refer to his girlfriend. Kanye of course realized the controversy that naming his song would entail, and in a business where publicity = sales = money, he surely chose to profit on controversy as most rappers and recording artists do. Sometimes English is peppered with expletives and insults that are anything but. The denotation remains the same—they are swear words, words that in ordinary English would be utilized primarily as insults, but the langue has evolved to express itself primarily through connotation: bitch does not mean literally equating someone with a female dog as an insult, but has changed to mean something more along the lines of a “temperate woman that can be quite frustrating at times”, which some take to be a compliment, and some as an insult. In daily English, it comes out rather negative—try calling your mother a “bitch”, she would not be happy to say the least. But in some particularly situation, calling somebody a “bitch” might evoke some laughs. Insults to some, compliments to others.

The way that words take on different meanings and change is a fascinating topic, and one that can be explored for ages. I recall the first time when I visited New York. I was walking down the street with my friend and bumped into someone, and they turned around gave me the middle finger and loudly told me to go have intercourse with myself. Strangely, I asked my friend who studies in New York why they were so upset, and my friend said they weren’t, and they were just saying hello. The “New York Hello”.