The Hypodermic needle theory was created in the 1920's by Harold Lasswell is the theory in which audience members are passive (do not question the media and are willing to accept the messages) rather than audience members being active (interact with the media, question the messages and form their own opinions).
The hypodermic needle model was relied on greatly throughout the war to spread propaganda against the opposition- Walt Disney created a propaganda film for the US government on the bringing up of a Nazi soldier, which spread the idea that they were brainwashing the Nazi children from birth.
As relatable as the hypodermic needle theory was when compared to propaganda and the time of wars, the theory is said to be outdated now as content is not nearly as credible; people are more educated and have more ways of checking.
In relation to the hypodermic needle theory and the teen drama genre, I personally would believe that the majority of the target audience of teenagers aged 13-19 would be passive audience members, and would watch the media product whilst doing other things.
On the other hand, a lot of media products create 'fandoms' which are made up of mainly teenagers, in which case would make them active audience members who partake in discussion and theories about the media.
The Uses and Gratifications theory was created by Bulmer and Katz in 1974 and the theory had four basic needs that one could gain from media:
The Vampire Diaries is a teen drama show that allows a lot of social interaction. The show has a large fandom and holds a convention every year (Insurgence) which allows fans the chance to meet some of the actors, meet up with each other and become friends with the common interest of the show.
Within this genre there are several age ranges that could apply to the products: for example there are Disney Channel Original Movies and Disney Channel shows (such as Teen Beach Movie/ Girl Meets World) that are aimed at an audience aged from around 7 or 8 to 14+, compared to films and shows such as Pitch Perfect (rated by the motion picture association of america PG-13 for sexual material, language and drug references) and Pretty Little Liars (which is rated as tv-14) that are aimed towards an older audience, around 13+, but both contain content that younger viewers would potentially find distressing; such as death, and content that could inflict a want to copy the characters; such as underage drinking.
The hypodermic needle model was relied on greatly throughout the war to spread propaganda against the opposition- Walt Disney created a propaganda film for the US government on the bringing up of a Nazi soldier, which spread the idea that they were brainwashing the Nazi children from birth.
In relation to the hypodermic needle theory and the teen drama genre, I personally would believe that the majority of the target audience of teenagers aged 13-19 would be passive audience members, and would watch the media product whilst doing other things.
On the other hand, a lot of media products create 'fandoms' which are made up of mainly teenagers, in which case would make them active audience members who partake in discussion and theories about the media.
The Uses and Gratifications theory was created by Bulmer and Katz in 1974 and the theory had four basic needs that one could gain from media:
- Personal identity- comparing own life with characters and situations and exploring individual problems and perspectives.
A teen drama media which could be used as personal identity is Divergent, a film about a society seperated into factions in which the main character doesn't fit into one particular faction. people could relate to the main character not fitting into her faction and wanting to break out of the main- this is a common theme in teen fiction as teenagers struggle to fit into society's norms and admire anyone who can escape from expectations.
- Information- finding out what is going on in the world.
The Fosters is an accurate depiction of foster families and has been praised for its representation of something which is not normally shown. This would be information as people have no idea how other people experience things. The issues that this show covers are same sex parents (and marriage), being a biological child in a fostering household, the american school system. It also covers real life experiences that a child in the foster system faces; such as estrangement from biological family, fitting into a new lifestyle, school and family home.
- Escapism/ entertainment- escaping from everyday pressures of life
Many teen drama medias are set in alternate realities so that they can be both relatable and help their audience to escape reality. Once Upon a Time shows fairytale characters like Snow White expressing real emotions such as anger, jealousy, hatred and love in a fantasy realm.
- Social interaction- sociability through discussion about TV with other people.
The Vampire Diaries is a teen drama show that allows a lot of social interaction. The show has a large fandom and holds a convention every year (Insurgence) which allows fans the chance to meet some of the actors, meet up with each other and become friends with the common interest of the show.
Within this genre there are several age ranges that could apply to the products: for example there are Disney Channel Original Movies and Disney Channel shows (such as Teen Beach Movie/ Girl Meets World) that are aimed at an audience aged from around 7 or 8 to 14+, compared to films and shows such as Pitch Perfect (rated by the motion picture association of america PG-13 for sexual material, language and drug references) and Pretty Little Liars (which is rated as tv-14) that are aimed towards an older audience, around 13+, but both contain content that younger viewers would potentially find distressing; such as death, and content that could inflict a want to copy the characters; such as underage drinking.
The media product of the teen drama genre that I am going to analyse is 13 Reasons why- the Netflix Original show; which is an adaptation of the book written by Jay Asher.
Genre characteristics of teen drama are teenage characters, teenage issues (such as romance, conflict with friends or family), status (popularity, money).The main teenage issues that this show focuses on are bullying and self harm.
Other genre characteristics include jealousy, romance, non diegetic music, and shallow personalities.
The codes and conventions of Teen Drama that this show includes are as follows:
Hannah's locker in the show.
Monet's cafe is the "hang out spot" that everyone goes to.
Book as a prop
Red cups at parties are a common prop in teen dramas.
Genre characteristics of teen drama are teenage characters, teenage issues (such as romance, conflict with friends or family), status (popularity, money).The main teenage issues that this show focuses on are bullying and self harm.
Other genre characteristics include jealousy, romance, non diegetic music, and shallow personalities.
The codes and conventions of Teen Drama that this show includes are as follows:
Settings-
- - High school: lockers, classrooms, and cafeterias
- -"Hang out spot"
Hannah's locker in the show.
The school corridor with sports banners, students with letterman jackets (jocks).
Monet's cafe is the "hang out spot" that everyone goes to.
- Stereotypes- Populars/ jocks being bullies, Un-populars/geeks being bullied by populars.
- Issues-Status (popularity), bullying, depression, social isolation, death/grief, sexual abuse, relationships.
- Lighting- The scenes are lighter during the times when Hannah is happier, and darker when she is going through dark times.
- Characters- Teenagers with significant issues in their lives, different types of parents (concerned/strict, neglectful)
- Props- School books, backpacks, mobile phones, red cups at parties
Book as a prop
Red cups at parties are a common prop in teen dramas.
- Narrative and plot- The episodes are linear as they have a start and an end, although they include flashbacks.
Mise En Scene
The characters shown in this screen cap are Clay and Hannah. The outfits they are wearing are their work uniforms as they worked at the cinema together. Clays body is leaning towards Hannah as he listens to what she is saying, whereas Hannah is leaning away from Clay which shows that she is more closed off than he is, even though she is smiling at him. This is reflected in the chairs the pair are sat in- Clay is sat in a chair with no arms and looks very relaxed, however Hannah is in a chair with arms and looks very closed in on herself, which is reflective of her hiding her depression and other secrets.
The background is mostly blue, which is a reflection of cold, unfriendliness and lack of emotions. There is a small sun in the conrner of the background painting which reflects that the cinema job and clay are the only pieces of happiness in her life, however yellow is an emotional colour which is also reflective of depression and suicide.
(http://www.colour-affects.co.uk/psychological-properties-of-colours)
The background is a picture of the town which looks like it is being taken over by plants growing from the bottom. This is a pathetic fallacy as Hannah's life got taken over by her mental health and this is a flashback scene to when she was still alive.
The background is a picture of the town which looks like it is being taken over by plants growing from the bottom. This is a pathetic fallacy as Hannah's life got taken over by her mental health and this is a flashback scene to when she was still alive.
Representation in 13 Reasons Why has brought along a lot of controversy and split reactions- both good and bad. The tv show focuses a lot on common teen genre stereotypes such as:
- Mean 'jocks' that bullied the protagonist prior to her death.
- Mean cheerleaders who focused on rumour spreading.
- Quiet members of the class who were ignored and ridiculed.
- 'Nerdy' members of the class.
Throughout the series both genders were badly represented as the majority of male characters were seen as jocks that were bullies and the majority of female characters were seen as being bitchy towards their classmates. This can lead to viewers beginning to look at their friends differently in their own lives.
Similarly to this was the representation of age, with this show painting most high schoolers (16/17/18 years old) in a bad light by saying that they contributed to the main protagonists suicide.
The representation factor which brought about the most controversy was the graphic depiction and representation of suicide. Despite the trigger warnings that appeared before the last few episodes, complaints still appeared online and letters were sent home to parents from schools, for example: 'One of the letters sent to parents of public school students based in Montclair, New Jersey read: “While the show is fictional, the series is extremely graphic, including several rape scenes, and raises significant concerns about the emotional safety of those watching it.“'
(http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/13-reasons-why-netflix-drama-suicide-schools-letters-warning-parents-mental-health-groups-a7703016.html)
An interesting article that describes the shows producer Selena Gomez explaining the effects of showing the suicide scene and justifying why they chose to show it is on Time.com (http://time.com/4808916/selena-gomez-on-13-reasons-why/) in which she says: "This is happening every day, whether or not you wanted to see it, that’s what’s happening. The content is complicated. It’s dark and it has moments that are honestly very hard to swallow, and I understood that we were doing something that is difficult. But these kids today are so exposed to things that I would never even comprehend when I was 8. The team behind the show have said that there was never any question about whether they would show it or not- believing that it would help people to bring up conversations about mental health and understand more about it. All the questions that came up, and all the talk about it is valid and I understand it. That stuff is uncomfortable for people to talk about, but it is happening and hopefully, it opened the door for people to actually accept what’s happening and actually go and change it, talk about it." The gist of this extract says that whilst the team behind the show expected a bad reaction, they still wanted to show the graphic scenes because they think it is important to trigger a reaction about a tough subject because it is important that people realise it is happening and it's not going to stop while there is so much stigma and silence surrounding mental health issues and suicide.
An interesting article that describes the shows producer Selena Gomez explaining the effects of showing the suicide scene and justifying why they chose to show it is on Time.com (http://time.com/4808916/selena-gomez-on-13-reasons-why/) in which she says: "This is happening every day, whether or not you wanted to see it, that’s what’s happening. The content is complicated. It’s dark and it has moments that are honestly very hard to swallow, and I understood that we were doing something that is difficult. But these kids today are so exposed to things that I would never even comprehend when I was 8. The team behind the show have said that there was never any question about whether they would show it or not- believing that it would help people to bring up conversations about mental health and understand more about it. All the questions that came up, and all the talk about it is valid and I understand it. That stuff is uncomfortable for people to talk about, but it is happening and hopefully, it opened the door for people to actually accept what’s happening and actually go and change it, talk about it." The gist of this extract says that whilst the team behind the show expected a bad reaction, they still wanted to show the graphic scenes because they think it is important to trigger a reaction about a tough subject because it is important that people realise it is happening and it's not going to stop while there is so much stigma and silence surrounding mental health issues and suicide.
No comments:
Post a Comment