The Use of Off Record

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3. The Use of Off Record

Off Record is considered as the third most strategy applied by the main characters of Thank You for Smoking. This strategy involves indirect utterance and removes the speaker from the potential to being imposing. By applying this indirect politeness strategy, the speakers can say something that can be interpreted in more than one way. Then, it depends on the hearer’s ability to decide the real meaning. Thus, if the speaker wants to do FTAs, but wants to avoid the responsibility for doing it, he she can apply Off Record strategy, and leave it up to the hearer to decide the meaning by himself or herself. It could be done by giving hints, using metaphor, understating, being vague, or being sarcastic, and many more. The application of Off Record is as follow. Setting : at BR’s office Situation : Nick is telling his journey by Captain’s plane Participants : Nick and BR SPEECH ACT 8 NICK: BR. BOSS: Pleasant flight? NICK: Oh You could say that. Came up on the Captains plane. Oh, its quite the way to travel. OR 1 BOSS: I wouldnt know. NICK: No? You never been on Tobacco One with those seats, that kitchen, that stewardess, Tiffany? OR 1 PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 61 BOSS: Havent had the chance yet. NICK: Oh, well, you really must try it. Its the only way to travel. OR 1 BOSS: Whatd he think of your 50 million anti-smoking campaign? NICK: Oh, the 50 million anti teen-smoking campaign? BOSS: Yeah. NICK: Yeah, he gave that the go-ahead. Oh, and he loved your idea to put cigarettes back into movies. OR 8 BOSS: - That was your idea. – NICK: Oh, yeah? BOSS: - He must have gotten confused. NICK: - Hmm. Yeah. Well, either way, he was pretty blown away. OR 11 BOSS: Right. Well, get a flight to L.A. Ill get you a meeting with Jeff Megall. NICK: Who? BOSS: Hollywood super agent. Runs the agency EGO: Entertainment Global Offices. This guy is the entertainment business. NICK: And you are cigarettes, BR. OR 11 BOSS: Whatever. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 62 The conversation that is carried out by Nick and BR above is very interesting and challenging to analyze and discuss. Firstly, it is due to the emergence of various kinds of Off Record strategy in this part that are mostly done by Nick. Secondly, this conversation actually contains uncomfortable and even annoyance feeling of Nick toward BR’s behavior. He indirectly conveys his feeling or implied intention by being ambiguous, ironic, vague, and many more. Firstly, Nick answers to BR’s question by committing Off Record strategy number 1 that is Give hints. He tells to BR with satirical intonation, “Oh You could say that. Came up on the Captains plane. Oh, its quite the way to travel.” Observing on the surface meaning of these utterances, Nick does describe his journey on the Captain’s plane. On the contrary, based on the deep meaning, those utterances indicate that he is boasting about his journey in order to make his boss, BR envious. In fact, he does not reveal his intention through this kind of way once, but he carries out of this repeatedly. It could be seen from Nick’s next utterances above. He remains to being boasting about his journey toward BR. Secondly, Nick conveys something that is contrary to the fact of BR’s behavior. He says, “Oh, and he loved your idea to put cigarettes back into movies.” After having a meeting with the Captain, the founder of The Academy for Tobacco Studies, Nick knows that BR has claimed his idea of putting cigarettes back into movie as BR’s own idea. Therefore, here, in order to insinuate BR, Nick is committing Off Record strategy number 8 that is Be PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 63 ironic. By saying the opposite of what he means, the speaker Nick could indirectly convey his intended meaning. Thirdly, Nick is being ambiguous to BR by saying, “Hmm. Yeah. Well, either way, he was pretty blown away.” It is still associated with the previous case that is about BR’s innocence of claiming Nick’s idea. Here, actually, Nick makes purposeful ambiguity and let the hearer BR guess what he means. It is regarded as Off Record strategy number 11 that is Be ambiguous. This kind of strategy also happens in the next of Nick’s utterance. Nick said, “And you are cigarettes, BR.” Once again, Nick is being ambiguous to BR. The meaning of the speaker Nick is not clear, that is why he let the hearer BR guess what he actually means by. In the order words, this utterance is apt to be considered as an ambiguous utterance rather than a kind of joke because BR’s face does not look satisfied and he just responds, “Whatever.” All of these strategies are done by Nick due to his uncomfortable and annoyance feelings of BR’s behavior. Therefore, he remains to reveal indirectly his feelings and intention by committing Off Record strategies in order to remove himself from any imposition and responsibility of doing FTAs. Furthermore, the other example of Off Record strategy could be observed in this following conversation, in Speech Act 6. Setting : in the meeting room Situation : BR and his employees are discussing crucial matter befalling their company Participants : BR, Nick and the other employees PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 64 SPEECH ACT 6 BOSS: in the meeting People, what is going on out there? I look down this table, all I see are white flags. OR 9 Our numbers are down all across the board. Teen smoking- our bread and butter, is falling like a shit from heaven. OR 9 We dont sell Tic Tacs, for Christs sake. We sell cigarettes. And theyre cool and available and addictive. The job is almost done for us. This environmentalist is challenging us. We have to have an answer. Im asking you, when this cocksucker puts Captain Hook on our products, what the fuck are we going to do? NICK: - BR. – BOSS: Yeah, Nick. ..................................... After watching Senator Ortolan Finisterre on TV that persuades a poison label on cigarettes, almost all the The Academy for Tobacco Studies employees feels anxious, surprised, and panic. Hence, BR switches off the television and immediately opens the meeting by illustrating their crucial matter first, then asking for follow-up to his employees at last. From those BR’s utterances, it could be noticed that two metaphors are applied. He mentioned, “......white flags, .....our bread and butter”. These two utterances are regarded as Off Record strategy number 9 that is Use metaphor. First, “white flags” here is interpreted as desperate feeling or condition. Second, our “bread and butter” here is interpreted as livelihood. Here, BR applies some metaphors within his speech in order to redress FTAs that might bother his employees’ face. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 65 Besides, it implies that BR is trying to draw his employees’ attention to concern more with this problem. The last type of Off Record strategy found in this movie was Off Record strategy number 12, that is Be vague. It could be observed through this following dialogue. Setting : on TV talk show hosted by Dennis Miller Situation : Nick and Senator Finistirre are attending on TV talk show. They are giving teasing comments each other on the talk show Participants : Nick, Senator Finistirre, and Dennis Miller the host SPEECH ACT 17 ...................... DENNIS MILLER: Nick, ready to trek up the Hill and testify before Congress? NICK: Well, Id love to, Dennis, but not as long as the senator is calling for me to be fired. Its not exactly a welcome invitation. DENNIS MILLER: Yeah. Bit of a mixed message, Senator. SENATOR: Well, not as mixed as the stance that Big Tobacco has taken about the dangers of smoking cigarettes. OR 12 NICK: Oh, no. ......................... As having been analyzed and explained in the discussion of the use of Bald on Record strategy, besides this Speech Act 17 consists of Bald on Record strategy, it also contains a kind of indirect strategy. That is Off Record PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI 66 strategy number 12, namely Be vague. It is done by Senator Finistirre. He said, “Well, not as mixed as the stance that Big Tobacco has taken about the dangers of smoking cigarettes.” From this Senator Finistirre’s utterance, it could be illustrated that he is doing Off Record with an FTA by being vague about what the offence is. It is implemented, for he is going to aim his criticism or a kind of allusion at Nick indirectly. In other words, he does not reveal what he means by the stance of Big Tobacco has taken about the dangers of smoking straightforwardly, because he believes that the hearer Nick already knows his intention. Furthermore, he indirectly reveals his feelings and intention by being vague in order to remove himself from any imposition and responsibility of doing FTAs.

4. The Use of Negative Politeness