'A' Grade Exam Response: Television

Section B 

B1: Explore the different ways in which your chosen texts attract their audiences.

In order to analyse the television industry, it is important to look at the way in which certain T.V programs attract their audiences. With this in mind, the producers will construct the media based on target audience and the uses and gratifications of each viewer. In this essay, I am going to analyse how audiences are attracted to my three chosen texts: Lost, Mad Men, and Louis Theroux: America’s Most Hated Family.  

Mad Men, an American T.V show produced by AMC, is a good example of how audiences are attracted to television, through elements of the uses and gratifications theory. It is clear that the target audience for the show is a middle class male demographic. The highbrow nature of the show lends itself to a middle class audience, as it is often re viewed in newspapers like ‘the guardian’. Therefore, a preferred reading of the text would come from a more middle class viewer; perhaps an older male based on its more mature content. With this in mind escapism plays a vital part in Mad Men, as the situations and settings within the show are different to the social norm. For instance, the misogynistic way in which Don Draper attracts the woman in the taxi would be unrealistic and fantastical for the average older ‘guardian’ reader, and therefore desirable. This implies that a passive audience would take a preferred reading of the text, and thus be ‘entertained’.   

A different reading – one that may not fit the target audience – is a female interpretation of the show. The idea that women see other women doing well in television inspires them to also be strong and independent. This is the case in Mad Men, with characters like Betty being the only female character that other women can relate to. This notion of personal identity sees women as a secondary passive audience, as women can relate to the feminist nature in which Betty becomes divorced and finds another man, at one point manipulating the central male character. With this in mind, a female interpretation of Mad Men would be a negotiated one as it is split between a positive and negative reading. Despite there being some argument for a female preferred reading, it is clear that a lot of women would take a negative stance on the themes and issues raised. A feminist reading of the text, might argue that its persistent use of patriarchal narratives, allows for its misogynistic messages to become a tool for oppressing femininity. This is evident through the season’s opening episode, especially through the character of Peggy. Despite her apparent ‘rising star’ status in the episode, she is still controlled by Don Draper.  However, an oppositional reading of the show may come from a younger audience, as the slow paced editing and long detailed narratives are unknown to a generation of ‘MTV’ viewers. The opening to Season 4, see’s an extended conversation between Don Draper and an interviewer take place, something that a younger audience – 16-25 – may find unappealing. This therefore rejects the messages and values of the show. A younger audience would be more used to fast paced editing and simple narratives.  

In Comparison to Mad Men, another American TV show that I have studied is ABC’s critically acclaimed ‘LOST’. The show combines elements of science fiction and drama, something that appeals to a wider demographic, thus creating a wider target audience. A key element of ‘LOST’ that attracts its audience is the element of social interaction. With websites like ‘Lostpedia’, the science fiction genre itself enjoys a certain amount of ‘cult status’. It is important for many ‘Lost’ fans to interact with each other about the shows narratives and characters. A younger person may take a more preferred reading of ‘LOST’, as they are more likely to discuss it with their peers.  This is why many science fiction fans are attracted to ‘LOST’, as the nature of the unpredictable narratives makes them want to talk about it with others. The scene in which the polar bear appears is a prime example of this, as for many later episodes, fans speculated why it was on the island.  It is this kind of speculation and discussion that makes ‘lost’ so popular to young people and science fiction fans.

As well as this, ‘LOST’ appeals to its target audience through its use of an extended ensemble cast. This allows for an audience to personally identify with a specific member of the show, based on their own personalities/experiences. The cast features a member of almost all races, personalities and gender and this helps to bring in a wider target audience. However, some people may take an oppositional reading from the way in which ‘Lost’ uses many cultural stereotypes. For instance, the representation of Jin and Sun, highlights a cultural stereotype that Korean couples are male dominated. Some people may see this as being offensive and take an oppositional reading from it.     

Finally, Louis Theroux’s documentary show ‘Most Hated Family in America’, explores many elements of documentary making that appeal to its target audience. An important factor here, is the show’s BBC scheduling: BBC’s aim being to entertain, inform and educate. The show ticks all of these boxes, and therefore makes it an ideal BBC viewing. Regarding the uses and gratifications, the show’s key method of attracting audiences is the informative nature of the program. The show deals with a controversial topic, something that a lot of audiences may be unfamiliar with. This attracts its audience using unknown information. Louis Theroux’s interview style also attracts its target audience, as he is very open minded, often appearing naive in order to get more from his interviewee. In doing this, he is asking the questions on the viewer’s mind attracting the target audience through information. In this same way, ‘America’s Most Hated Family’ may be viewed with an oppositional reading, the focus being primarily on Louis’ documentary style. A review in the Irish Telegraph, criticised the programs motives thus creating an oppositional reading of the text. ‘A group of loathsome people who spend every second of their lives trying to attract free publicity for themselves got a whole hour of it courtesy of the BBC. Ah, the joys of public service television.’ This is an interesting take on the scheduling and decisions the producers make to attract audiences : an oppositional reading may infer that the producers are using shock tactics to draw in more of an audience.

To conclude, it is clear that each of the three texts, attracts their audience differently and that each text appeals to its target audience in different ways. However, there are negotiated and oppositional readings of each of the texts, suggesting that it is the audience who make the final decisions on what they wish to watch no matter how much the text is targeted at a specific audience by the production company that makes them.