8.2.3 Non-engrossed Recipients
It is of note that of the sixty-six accredited utterances in this exchange
only two come from LL. (She does, however, contribute more in other sections
of the show.) Certain aspects of her behaviour raise questions: at one point
(not in the section under review) she is seen slumped in her chair with her
head tilted back seemingly staring at the ceiling; her contributions are usually
made at high volume with slightly slurred speech; shots of her face show her
to be noticeably glassy-eyed. It is difficult to avoid the conclusion that
LL is inebriated. This is not a rarity in shows of this kind, as some guests
have too much to drink in the Green Room beforehand. It is difficult to be
sure, therefore, what precisely her lack of participation in this particular
extract is due to. Her leading role in the discussion shortly after this suggests
that her ‘non-engrossed’ attitude here could be due to lack of
interest in the political microtopic. Evidence for this is that after 95 there
is a cursory discussion of feminism before LL asks, ‘Why have we got
off sex?’ and then steers the talk back to newspapers’ sexual
gossip, a topic about which she is voluble. Whatever the reasons may be, in
the stretch of talk being analysed she is clearly not engrossed and this means
she is largely absent from much of this analysis.
8.2.3 Non-engrossed Recipients |