Interpersonal Communication in Hollywood
In Troy DuffyÆs (1999) Boondock Saints, two Irish Catholic brothers Connor and Murphy MacManus work and live in Boston, Massachusetts. When the two brothers accidentally murder some mafia thugs, they turn themselves in to police. However, the police release them and the brothers are viewed as heroes by the local townsfolk. At this point the brothers begin to view themselves on a mission from God to rid the planet of all human evildoers. They set out to kill those who commit evil (from those who partake in pornography to Russian mobsters), without so much as any form of protect from the townsfolk. Even the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent, Paul Smecker, who tracks their murderous trail, suggests that they are actually doing what he has always secretly hoped would happen to such victims. Drunk in a confessional, Smecker admits, ôI put evil men behind bars, but the law has miles of red tape and loopholes for these cocksuckers to slip throughö (Duffy, 1999).
The brothers MacManus believe their trail of blood is symbolic of their quest for truth and justice as they perceive it to be in the eyes of God. As they go about their murderous mission, Smecker comes closer and closer to catching them. However, the closer he gets to capturing them the more he begins to think they are doing the right thing. There is a great deal of nonverbal communication used in the film, from the moment we see the fraternal MacManus twins walk into church dressed all in black, symbolic of death, to the time we see the brothers mock the misplaced mask of Rocco, one of their accomplices who becomes enamored with the mission of the brothersÆ. As Connor tells him, ôYou look like Mush-mouth from Fat Albertö (Duffy, 1999). Throughout the film Christian images and symbols and nonverbal communication plays a major role in expressing the motives of the characters as well as the central theme of the f...