Culture and Communication Issues in Fawlty Towers: A Comprehensive Analysis

In this analysis we will discuss about culture & communication issues fawlty towers and below are the summaries point:- The report focuses on analyzing cultural capabilities and communication issues in the TV show "Fawlty Towers." It examines the concepts of cultural self-awareness, cultural intelligence, and cultural differences. The study explores the importance of cultural capability and safe spaces for positive cultural interactions.

Running head: CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION ISSUES: FAWLTY TOWERS
CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION ISSUES: FAWLTY TOWERS
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION ISSUES: FAWLTY TOWERS
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Background..................................................................................................................................2
Aim..............................................................................................................................................2
Scope............................................................................................................................................2
Summary and Observation..............................................................................................................3
Summary of the video clip...........................................................................................................3
Observation..................................................................................................................................3
Table............................................................................................................................................4
Analysis...........................................................................................................................................5
Highlighted cultural aspects in scenario......................................................................................5
Cultural self-awareness................................................................................................................5
Cultural intelligence among characters.......................................................................................6
Cultural Difference issues............................................................................................................6
Recommendations............................................................................................................................7
Summary and Conclusions..............................................................................................................8
References........................................................................................................................................9

2CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION ISSUES: FAWLTY TOWERS
Introduction
Background
The focus of the report is the essential analysis of various aspects that are connected
significantly with cultural capabilities. A chosen video has been utilized for better evaluation and
analysis of the subject. Cultural self-awareness, intelligence and capabilities can greatly
contribute towards the development of better cultural understanding. These concepts have been
analyzed through referring to the video chosen. The prospects of these three aspects towards
developing safe spaces for positive cultural interactions are assessed in the study. Cultural
capability refers to the ability of people to interpret and understand the cultural perspectives of
people from different cultures. Culturally safe spaces are places, whether social, mental or
emotional where free interactions between diverse people can take place. The significance of
cultural capability and safe spaces will be systematically analyzed for gathering better
implications.
Aim
The study aims to provide a systematic evaluation, analysis and discussion of whether the
characters, contexts and places shown in the video are safe or unsafe. Moreover, the study aims
to provide recommendations in regards to how the situations or interactions shown in the video
can be improved.
Scope
The video clip that is being considered for the study is from the series Fawlty Towers.
The part of the scene depicts handling of complaints mostly involving a young receptionist, a
waiter from Barcelona and Mrs. Richards.

3CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION ISSUES: FAWLTY TOWERS
Summary and Observation
Summary of the video clip
The video that is being referred to is from the show Fawlty Towers, exactly in episode 1
of season 2. The scene starts with a busy reception at the Fawlty towers hotel with two
receptionists catering to the customers that are checking in and out. The scenario changes when
the younger receptionist is interacting with a customer named Mr. Thurston when another
customer named Mrs. Richards interrupts her for change. After being allowed by Mr. Thurston
she provides her with the change but she interrupts her again shortly and disturbs her flow of
work. A mild confusion ensues and the receptionist calls the Spanish bell boy to help Mrs.
Richards. However, a language problem affects them as the bell boy communicates with Mrs.
Richards in Spanish and she is unable to state her demands properly and further adds to the
confusion due to her inconsiderate nature. She keeps on uttering what she tries to figure out from
interacting with Mrs. Richards. The receptionist has to interrupt them in the end and the situation
goes out of hands and utter confusion prevails.
Observation
The observations that were made in the video point towards the very low cultural
understanding of Mrs. Richards and the Spanish bell boy. There is a serious cultural safety issue
in the video as there is a very less scope of any meaningful cultural communications. It can be
said that there is no significant scope for the creation of any culturally safe space. The physical
factors that are depicted in the video are in place in the video seem to be safe. However, the main
problem with the video is in regard to the people and the kind of communication that is taking
place among the participants in the video. The communication factors are ineffective as well as
the outlook of the people in the video. Mrs. Richards is restless and does not make any attempt to

4CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION ISSUES: FAWLTY TOWERS
understand situational factors. This leads to the further confusion with regards to the
communicational aspects.
Table
Time sequence:
scene description
Empathy signs Body language Tone of Voice
00: 27 Beginning
scene
Receptionist are busy
catering to the
customers
Professional posture Professional and
formal tone
01:03 Mrs. Richards
interrupts
Restless and
persuasive
Restless pose
moving body
High
02:01 The bell boy is
asked to help Mrs.
Richards
Receptionist seems
disturbed due to the
minor altercation
Urgently calling the
bell boy
Moderate
02:43 Confusion ensues
between the bell boy
and Mrs Richards
Mrs. Richards shows
confused look, The bell
boy does not have any
idea of the matter
The bell boy looks
blankly, Mrs. Richards
has a restless body
language
High tone

5CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION ISSUES: FAWLTY TOWERS
Analysis
Highlighted cultural aspects in scenario
The lack of cultural intelligence is greatly highlighted in the video and leads to
ineffectiveness of the cultural interaction process. Cultural intelligence refers to the ability of
people to understand the cultural differences that are in place between them and people
belonging to different cultures (Quappe & Cantatore, 2005). Cultural self-awareness is a person’s
ability to be aware of the prevalence of various cultures. In the video Mrs. Richards does not
show any level of cultural capability or cultural intelligence. Hence, this adds to the creation of a
culturally unsafe space concerning the video. Mrs. Richards is a very restless person and does
not acknowledge the fact that there can be culturally different people that might work in a hotel.
She interrupts the receptionist while she is speaking with another guest and gives her much
stress. The later part of the video shows the bell boy not making any significant effort to make
effective communication with Mrs. Richards. It is seen that the low cultural capability of Mrs.
Richards only worsens the safe space aspects (Darrell, Littlefield & Washington, 2016).
Cultural self-awareness
Cultural self-awareness of the characters were not at par with effective levels of cultural
capabilities. Self-awareness with regard to culture refers to the state of being aware of one’s own
culture and the cultural differences that can exist between one’s own culture and that of a
different person (Holley & Steiner, 2005). Only if a person is well aware of the cultural
differences can better cultural understanding be established. There is a significant lack of cultural
understanding of the people in the video. Mrs. Richards for example, makes no attempt to
understand the cultural difference that exists between her and the bell boy which leads to the
creation of further confusion with regard to the scenario in the video. Moreover, the bell boy is

6CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION ISSUES: FAWLTY TOWERS
also not able to understand her or to take any significant initiatives to establish cultural
communication.
Cultural intelligence among characters
Cultural intelligence requires people to know that there can be different cultures and the
way in which a person of another culture needs to be communicated with differs from any other
person of the same culture (Brislin, Worthley & Macnab, 2006). In the video Mrs. Richards does
not give any importance to the same and seems to be more interested about her own interests.
Cultural intelligence needs to be well cultivated among people that frequently engage in
situations where diverse cultural groups interact. Here, the scenario present is a hotel and the
cross cultural interactions between Mrs. Richards and the bell boy becomes ineffective. The
receptionist however is culturally aware and has an organized manner of communications.
Cultural Difference issues
The major cultural issues in the video is the lack of a safe space where the people from
diverse cultures can effectively interact with one another. The Spanish bell boy speaks to Mrs.
Richards in Spanish. Mrs. Richards is unaware of Spanish and begins to assume new meanings
of his words. Moreover, the communication is ineffective due to both the people not being able
to come to terms with the cultures of each other. The cultural differences between the principle
characters are incomplete and make the interactions very difficult. It is important that differences
are acknowledged as a primary requirement in cultural communications (Ang, Rockstuhl, & Tan,
2015). However, the same is not evident in the video where the participants seem to be more
interested in expressing their own views rather than understanding others.

7CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION ISSUES: FAWLTY TOWERS
Recommendations
It is recommended that the people in the video develop better cultural awareness. The
receptionist made a wrong decision by asking the bell boy to assist the guest, without knowing
that his weak English could result in miscommunications. The most significant shortcoming that
was noticed in the video is related to Mrs. Richards. She was unable to understand or even try to
understand the requirements for developing better communication. On the part of the bell boy, it
was important that he developed essential levels of English communication as he frequently
needed to speak with guest that predominantly spoke English. Another significant issue was the
lack of people that could have assisted Mrs. Richard. She required essential attention from
others. The cultural capabilities of Mrs. Richards was definitely low. She should have attempted
to understand the situation more clearly. She should have made better attempt to make herself
clear to the waiter. Moreover, she was not giving the others time to speak as she was busy with
her own needs. These things could have contributed to a better interactive space in the video.

8CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION ISSUES: FAWLTY TOWERS
Summary and Conclusions
The main points that have been understood from the essential study of the video was
language, culture and communication barriers resulting in the creation of a culturally unsafe
space. The situation became comic rather than being normal and effective. The characters needed
to have stronger levels of cultural capabilities. Moreover, the people in the video were much
more engaged in doing their works than being understanding toward the cultural requirements of
the space. The video showed that culturally safe spaces can only be created through proper
communication effectiveness. The video shows a confusing environment that cannot be called
culturally inclusive.

9CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION ISSUES: FAWLTY TOWERS
References
Ang, S., Rockstuhl, T., & Tan, M. L. (2015). Cultural intelligence and
competencies. International encyclopedia of social and behavioral sciences, 2, 433-439.
Brislin, R., Worthley, R., & Macnab, B. (2006). Cultural intelligence: Understanding behaviors
that serve people’s goals. Group & Organization Management, 31(1), 40-55.
Darrell, L., Littlefield, M., & Washington, E. M. (2016). Safe spaces, nurturing places. Journal
of Social Work Education, 52(1), 43-49.
Groves, K. S., Feyerherm, A., & Gu, M. (2015). Examining cultural intelligence and cross-
cultural negotiation effectiveness. Journal of Management Education, 39(2), 209-243.
Holley, L. C., & Steiner, S. (2005). Safe space: Student perspectives on classroom
environment. Journal of Social Work Education, 41(1), 49-64.
Livermore, D., & Soon, A. N. G. (2015). Leading with cultural intelligence: The real secret to
success. Amacom.
Lyle, J. R. (2018). Self-Awareness and Cross Cultural Development.
Ott, D. L., & Michailova, S. (2018). Cultural intelligence: A review and new research
avenues. International Journal of Management Reviews, 20(1), 99-119.
Quappe, S., & Cantatore, G. (2005). What is Cultural Awareness, anyway? How do I build
it. Retrieved July, 17, 2008.
Spencer-Oatey, H., & Franklin, P. (2012). What is culture. A compilation of quotations.
GlobalPAD Core Concepts, 1-22.

10CULTURE AND COMMUNICATION ISSUES: FAWLTY TOWERS
Spiers, B. (Director). (1979). Fawlty Towers, Communication Problems, Handling Complaints,
Season 2 Episode 1 (BBC Television program) Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_cDmwlbVkg