Don’t slow down
An article by Deborah Tannen about the speed at which people talk uses as an example Gilmore Girls, a show I watch regularly. (Thanks to languagehat for the link.)
Part of the point of the show is, indeed, the speed at which the characters talk. It’s all about talking. (On rare occasion a scene involves Lorelai or Rory just watching someone who isn’t talking — Dean’s wedding comes to mind, but not Paris’s recent make-out session with a professor.) But the general idea — they talk fast — is fair.
She then says:
But not if the dialogue flies by so fast that it cannot be fully processed or even, in many cases, literally comprehended. The general ideas may get through: I’m sure fans of “Gilmore Girls” and “West Wing” can recount each show’s plot and theme. But I suspect that their understanding is gleaned from the general march of scenes and the gist of dialogue — rather than from the subtle nuances of phrasing and the precise wording or sequence of ideas.
This is unfair to the audience. It’s also untrue. (I don’t watch West Wing, though.) The point of Lorelai & Rory’s relationship is the clever banter. You watch it for the dialogue (which is sometimes better, sometimes worse). The plot lines are not that exceptional: Rory is dating someone but likes a bad boy; Lorelai can’t get along with her parents; Lorelai doesn’t want to tell her parents she’s dating her father’s partner; Rory’s father is (not) getting back with Lorelai; Rory’s father is having a baby. None of these are in any way new, or even approached in a particularly new way.
I catch up, when I miss a show, by the reviews on TWoP (television without pity), where they also focus on the dialogue. When I (rarely) discuss it with other people, we also discuss the dialogue. It’s like (I am told) rap, where the point is the clever wordplay *and* speed, together.
Perhaps this is age-related. It would not surprise me (in fact, Emily and Richard, the grandparents, both speak much more slowly). But it is just plain not true that the viewers of these television shows don’t catch the subtle phrasings chosen.