`Bones` Film Analysis

Bones : Jack Hodgins

Jack Hodgins is a character in the show Bones ' who likes to keep a low pro by being identified as the lab guy who studies dirt and bugs . He however has another identity as a member of the very wealthy and influential family who owns the majority of the Jeffersonian Institute , where he is employed . At the beginning of the episode neither his boss nor any of his co-workers realize he is the owner of the Institute , and he demonstrates a desire to keep it that way . A sub-plot

to the episode Boy in the Bush ' deals with Hodgins identity management as he deals with the two sides of his identity and the potential of the clash between them . He manages his identity through gestures such as nonverbal anger management techniques , avoidance , and direct defiance of authority

In the beginning of the episode , the director of the Jeffersonian gives all of the staff a directive to attend a fund raising banquet . All members including Hodgins show a lack of desire to go . The director refuses to accept excuses . Hodgins snaps a rubber band that is placed on his wrist . Angela later identifies it as an anger management technique , which has not helped reduce his anger . He presents himself as a person who is intelligent , but socially backwards , as he demonstrates through his frustration that he does not want to attend a social event . His personality is portrayed as that of a person who does not feel comfortable outside of the lab . Through his nonverbal communication and gestures such as frowns and the continual snapping of the rubber band he expresses his frustration at being expected to go to the banquet

When he is questioned about his obvious anger and frustration about having to go to the banquet , Hodgins attempts to avoid the issue entirely . One example of this is when Angela confronts him about his identity . He counters her question with a question of his own and explains to her that he has no desire to be anyone but the guy who studies bugs . He threatens the people who know his true identity to get them to keep his secret and refuses to tell the others such as Brennan why he does not want to go to the banquet . He does finally explain to Angela that he does not want to go , because people would recognize him and his quiet existence would be destroyed

When he became unable to use nonverbal communication and avoidance , he resorted to outright defiance . When the director insisted that he go if he wanted to keep his job , Hodgins identified that he did not intend to go . In the final scene when the others were dressed to go to the banquet , Hodgins was still wearing his work clothes to identify that he had no intention of complying with a request from his boss . He chose to refuse to comply with the directive in to stay in his comfortable territory and keep his social distances from the party quests he did not want to be associated with

Hodgin 's refusal to go to the banquet was due to his desire to maintain his appearance as a simple lab technician and avoid the stereotypes he knew would be associated with him once people knew he was wealthy . He chose to hide his social influence not because of a lack of self-esteem or self-concept , because he presents himself as very comfortable with his lab tech identity . It is apparent from the clip that he is a person who has spent much of his life being identified as part of a wealthy family and not as an individual . By his co-workers finding out his identity , he would risk losing the reputation he had built as an intelligent and effective scientist

Resources

Sample from class

Bones Video Clip ' You Tube Retrieved April 23 , 2008 from

HYPERLINK "http /www .youtube .com /watch ?v BA8SFOe3rOA feature email YouTube - Bones Video Clip ...