Dialogue can function to clarify the modality of happenings to the audience. Modality is used here in the sense of the credibility or reliability of messages: ‘Is what we see or hear true, factual, real, or is it a lie, a fiction, something outside reality?’ (Kress and van Leeuwen 2006: 154). In other words, is what viewers experience on the screen marked as an event that ‘really’ happened in the fictional world, or is it identified as a character’s dream, fantasy, desire, hallucination, etc? While it is often visual cues that identify something as ‘non-real’, dialogue can contribute to the clarification of modality, as in example (1) from the romantic comedy-drama Jane The Virgin:
Example 1
[Jane is sitting at the beach, her gaze following her boyfriend Rafael, who is leaving after an argument about her rejecting his marriage proposal earlier]
LATIN LOVER NARRATOR [voice-over]: In that moment, Jane wanted to toss her fears aside and fling herself into his arms. [orchestral music, slow motion visuals, Jane, with different hair and clothes, running after Rafael]
JANE [with different hair, different clothes]: Stop! My love… You’re all I need. Of course I’ll marry you.
RAFAEL [with different hair, different clothes]: Juana… you are the very air I breathe.
[exaggerated, passionate kiss]
LATIN LOVER NARRATOR [voice-over]: But, alas, that was the stuff of romance novels, [camera shows us Jane sitting at the beach in her normal clothes] and not real [musical score ends] life at all.
(Jane The Virgin, season 1, episode 15, “Chapter Fifteen”)
In this example, the voice-over narration by the ‘Latin Lover’ clarifies that what we see and hear is not ‘really’ happening, but represents Jane’s momentary desire, inspired by her love of romance novels. The over-passionate and marked nature of the dialogue lines by ‘Juana’ and her lover during the romance novel sequence also shows us that this is outside the reality of the fictional world. The dialogue works here in conjunction with other semiotic resources to tell the audience that this is ‘not real life at all.’ This clarification of modality through the narrating voice-over happens in several episodes in Jane The Virgin, as the following three examples illustrate:
Example 2
[Encounter between Jane and Michael. We can hear the sound of Jane’s heart beating, her heart lighting up in red, Michael’s heart also lighting up in return; heart-beating sound continues throughout]
LATIN LOVER NARRATOR [voice-over]: Here is what Jane wanted to do in this moment.
JANE [walks up to Michael, touches his shoulders, her face close to his] It’s you. It’s always been you. [they start kissing]
LATIN LOVER NARRATOR [voice-over]: And here is what she actually did. [beating-heart sound stops, hearts are no longer lit up]
JANE [raises hand in greeting, mouths]: Hi.
MICHAEL [smiles, waves hand in greeting in return]
[Jane walks toward him, but they are interrupted by Rafael’s sister Luisa; scene continues]
(Jane The Virgin, season 2, episode 5, “Chapter Twenty-Seven”)
Example 3
[Encounter between Rogelio and Michael at the coffee cart. A few utterances between the two characters.]
ROGELIO: There are some things going on. And you give such good advice, so, I was thinking, if I asked Jane and she okayed the friendship, could we [brief pause] maybe [brief pause] hang?
LATIN LOVER NARRATOR [voice-over]: It should be noted that this is what Michael wanted [camera shows Michael smiling, laughing] to say:
MICHAEL: Sure, bro. You crack me up. [laughs]
[Rogelio smiles]
LATIN LOVER NARRATOR [voice-over]: And this is what he actually said.
MICHAEL: I just think it’s, it’s better for me if we all kind of [gestures, pauses] move on.
[…]
(Jane The Virgin, season 2, episode 8, “Chapter Thirty”)
Example 4
ROGELIO: Jane, do you doubt my babysitting skills? Because you have asked me to watch Mateo before.
LATIN LOVER NARRATOR [voice-over]: Only to be nice, and only when she knew he wasn’t available.
JANE: That’s true.
ROGELIO: Then it’s settled.
LATIN LOVER NARRATOR [voice-over]: And that’s when Mateo said his first word. [followed by screeching sound, somewhat similar to Psycho shower scene]
MATEO: Noooo!
LATIN LOVER NARRATOR [voice-over]: Well, Jane wished he had, but he didn’t, so instead she had to say [screeching sound stops]:
JANE: Yes?
(Jane The Virgin, season 2, episode 11, “Chapter Thirty-Three”)
References
Kress, G. & van Leeuwen, T. (2006). Reading Images: The Grammar of Visual Design, 2nd edn, London/New York: Routledge.