60 Part 1 Basic Communication ProcessesBoy Wizard No More.
At the beginning of this chapter, we talked about how child
actors (like Daniel Radcliffe) struggle with audiences’ perceptions
of them. Let’s reflect on what communication and perception
scholarship might have to say about this phenomenon.c When an audience’s perception of a performer becomes deeply
embedded in the popular psyche, it’s easy for actors to get pigeonholed into
particular roles, a type of stereotyping known as typecasting in the business.
Some simply stick to the characters they’re known for (Samuel L. Jackson
usually plays a tough guy, Dame Maggie Smith is the go-to actress for Brit-
ish matriarchs, and Sandra Bullock rarely plays a villain). But others work
hard to resist typecasting: Bill Murray, Robin Williams, Denzel Washington,
Anne Hathaway, and the late Heath Ledger all garnered critical praise (and
in some cases Oscars) for playing against type.^ For Radcliffe, the key to gain-
ing respect as an actor has been to take on projects quite different from the
Harry Potter blockbuster franchise—challenging roles on stage and in small
independent films.
c Note that “former child star” also calls to mind schemas unrelated to partic-
ular roles. The brief careers of Gary Coleman and Macaulay Culkin are tes-
taments to audiences’ tendency to lose interest in precocious children once
they outgrow childish roles, and the erratic personal lives of Lindsay Lohan,
Amanda Bynes, and Miley Cyrus often overshadow the long, steady careers
of former child stars like Keenan Thompson, Jodie Foster, Jason Bateman,
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Anne Hathaway. We also ignore the countless
child stars who have gone on to successful careers behind the camera (like
Ron Howard and Peter Billingsley) or to happy, successful, and somewhat
anonymous lives outside Hollywood.^ In other words, the fundamental attri-AhBACK TO
Randomly select five of
your Facebook friends and
visit their profiles. Consider
their status updates, their
friends’ posts about them,
the pages they like, and so
on. What type of impression
does their profile make on
you? What words would
you use to describe these
individuals? Do you believe
they present themselves
accurately?AND YOU?
et al., 2013) have found that more time spent on Facebook seeing everyone
else’s seemingly “fabulous” lives can make you feel worse about yourself and
your own life!
In addition, how you present yourself online may not be the only factor
in how you come across to others. Statements made by your friends on Face-
book, for example, can significantly affect people’s impressions of you. One
study found that when people post on their friend’s wall positive statements
about their friend’s behavior, their friend’s credibility and “social attractive-
ness” increased, compared to negative statements (for example, about excessive
drunkenness or sexual behavior); in addition, the perceived attractiveness of
friends affected perceptions of self-attractiveness (Walther, Van Der Heide,
Kim, Westerman, & Tong, 2008). Even the number and type of friends you
have on Facebook can have an influence—if you have “too few” or “too many”
friends, your reputation could suffer (Tong, Van Der Heide, Langwell, &
Walther, 2008).