PR2

1. Alexander Broadley Audience Responses
Audience Responses
There are 3 differentaudience theoriesyouhave toconsiderwhenlookingataudience responses
whichare the Uses/GratificationTheory(BlumlerandKatz) thislooksat how people will satisfytheir
needsbylookingforcertaintypesof media, these needscanhelpthese peoplewiththeirpersonal
identitywhichishowyoudevelopandthiscaninclude aspectsof yourlife,where yougrew upof the
colourof yourskin,personal relationshipishow close youare withcertainpeople andhow bonds
are formed andsurveillance which ishow muchyouobserve somethingespeciallypeople.These will
helpunderstandwhypeople lookforcertaintypesof media. Anexampleof thiscouldbe musicor a
TV showyoulike asyou are divertedbyitand will continue toconsume thatproduct,thiswill then
influenceyourpersonal relationshipsbecauseyouwill gainanew groupof friendsandwill startto
interactwithpeople of the same interestandthatdefinesyouridentityasitshowspeople whatyou
like andhowyouare a person.
The HypodermicNeedleTheory isbelievedto“inject”thoughtsandfeelingsintodifferenttypesof
audiences,thisistoinfluence and change people’sviewsoncertainsubjectthiscaninfluence
someone toact differentlyanexample of thiswouldbe the Mediainthe UK especiallynewspapers
as theymanipulate people intothinkingdifferentopinionsoncertaintopics. Thiscanbe highly
influencedby the mediaandcertainadvertisementswhichwill persuade youtogoout of your way
to getthat product an example wouldbe technologydependingonyourage if yousee a new piece
of technologyadvertisedwhichyoulikethe lookof youare more likelytobe influencedbythatand
to go out andpurchase that product.
ReceptionTheory(StuartHall) isatheorywhichlooksat people’sreadingsof certaintexts,this
meansto encode anddecode anaudience,the three possiblereadingsare Preferredwhichmeans to
lookat somethinghowitissupposedtobe lookedatthismeansthe audience will have apositive
lookat the product and won’thave anynegative opinionsaimedtowardsit.A Negotiatedreadingis
whenthe audience willhave bothnegativeandpositive opinionsaboutthe productbutwill enjoy
whatis happeningwiththose opinionsandthe final readingisanoppositional readingwhichmeans
to have a complete negativeopiniontowardsthe productandwill have complete disagreementwith
the productsmessage. these are reallyimportantwhentakingresponsesintoconsideration. An
example of thiswouldbe fashionandhow youas individualswill have preferredreadingsforit.You
are more likelytowanttowear certainthingsif youpreferitto otherpeople.
FightClubisa 1999 AmericanfilmbasedonFightClubthe bookfrom1996 andwas directedby
DavidFincher.The filmstarsEdwardNortonas the Narrator,Brad Pittas TylerDurdenasthe lead
characters featuredinthe movie andHelenaBonhamCarteras Marla Singer.These three are the
maincharacters featuredinthe movie andhave bigpartswhicheffectthe storyline of the movie.
The movie isabout two guyswhocome togethertocreate a fightclubfor mento attendand fight,
the plottakesa turnand leadsintosomethingmuchmore thanjusta fightclub.
In the BBFC case studyit statesthat the filmwouldhave tomake some cutsbefore theycould come
to an agreementof givingitan18 rating,the cuts were made to be 6 – 7 secondsto twoscenes
whichtheybelievedwere toofocusedonviolence.Afterthe cutswere made the BBFCgave the film
an 18 certificate andpasseditforstrong violence andwasclassifiedanRinthe UnitedStates.
AlexanderWalkerhad anoppositional readingtothe movie ashe statedit wasa toxicexperience
whichcomparedto the otherpeople whowatchedthe movie hadanegotiatedopinionastheywere
willingtoallowitbut hadtheiropinionsonwhythe movie wastooviolent.AlexanderWalkerhad
alsostatedthat it promotespainandsufferingandisresurrectingthe FuhrerPrinciple,which
stronglyrelatestopeople inthe USwhostartedFightclubsin resultof the movie butthere was no

2. Alexander Broadley Audience Responses
similaractivityinthe UKwhichlinkstothe Hypodermicneedle theorybecause the filmhadchanged
people’sviewsandhowtheylookatcertainthingsforexample people startingfightclubsafter
watchingthe movie.Thishashad a negative impactonpeople whichiswhyAlexanderWalkerhas
saidthat it promotespainbecause people are usingthisasa wayto go out and fightotherpeople,it
has influencedcertainpeopletoact differently.
I recentlydesignedasurveytofindoutpeople’sopinionsonthe
filmtohelpgive me a betterunderstandingathow different
people view differenttextsandhowtheoriesrelate tothe
answersIreceivedbackfromit.I asked10 questionsinmysurvey
and thiswasa range of basicquestionsandquestionswhich
helpedgive me responseswhichrelate tothe differentmedia
theories.The firstquestionIaskedwas‘Whatis yourage?’this
questionshelpsme understandhowoldthe everyoneisand
helpsme relate myfindingstothe theories,the majorityof
people whotookthissurveywere betweenthe agesof 16 to 24
and one personbeingbetween45and 54.
The secondquestionIaskedwas‘What isyour gender?’thiswillalsogive me anunderstandingat
whoansweredthe surveysoIcan relate itto the
theoriesIam usingasexamplesandfrommy
surveyresponsesthe majorityof peoplewho
tookthe surveyare male andI onlyreceived2
responsesbackof people beingfemale.This
relatestothe movie asit has a strong male
dominantfeel toitandis all based around
masculinitywhichiswhyIcan understandwhy
more malesansweredthe survey.
The third questionIaskedwas‘Where didyoufindoutabout
the film’Igot a range of responsesfromthisquestion,the
more popularresponse wasfriendsorfamilyas5 people
chose this,3 people saidthe internetand2people saidsocial
media.Seeingasthe movie isquite oldIcanunderstandwhy
more people have saidfriendsandfamilyorthe internet
seeingasthe majorityof people totake thissurveywere
between16and 24 so thisprovesthattheyare more likelyto
have friendsrecommenditortosee it onthe internet
somewhere.
The fourthquestionIaskedon mysurveywas‘Did
youknow about FightClubbefore watchingitin
class’thisquestionisimportanttosee whether
people were fansof the movie before we watchedit
togetherinclassand the majorityof people saidYes
with3 people sayingnotheyhaven’t.Thismeans
the advertisementforthe movie andwhatother
people were sayingwaspositiveif people hadheard
aboutit before.

3. Alexander Broadley Audience Responses
The fifthquestionIaskedwas‘ona scale of 1-10 how
wouldyourate the film’ Mostpeople toanswerthis
questionall votedabout6or above and3 people voted
for 4. From thisI,can see thatthe majorityof people
somewhatenjoyedthe movie andonlyhadafew things
theydidn’tenjoyitwhichmeantthatnoteveryone gave
it 10 outof 10 as only2 people gave the movie a10 out
of 10.
The sixthquestionaskedonmysurveywas‘How do you
feel aboutthe use of violence inthe film?’Thisquestion
has helpedme understandthattheyamountof violence
usedwasenough
for the films
context/subject
mattermeaning
people were
pleasedandhappywithhowthe violence wasusedandonly3
people hadsaidthe rightamountof violence intermsof
contextbutdidn’tlike itmeaningtheywere okaywithwhat
was usedinthe movie butweren’thappywithitif itwasused
ina differentenvironment.
The seventhquestionIaskedonmysurveywas‘What didyoulike anddislike aboutthe movie?’
From the responsespeople wrote Icansee thatpeople didn’tlikethe plotasithad a confusingtwist
half waythrough the movie andpeople didn’tenjoythe violence usedandthenafew people
enjoyedthe plotandthe movie ingeneral.
The eighthquestionusedonmysurveywas
‘whatis yourreadingof the film’ thisis
relatingtoStuart Hall’sreceptiontheory
whichisto have eithera preferredreading
whichmeanstheywere completelyhappy
witheverythingusedinthe movie,a
negotiatedreadingwhichmeanstohave a
positive andnegativeopiniontothe movie
and an oppositionalreadingiswhenyouhave
a complete negativeopiniontowardsthe
productand theyaren’thappywithit and
aren’tinterestedinitinanyway.5people hadsaidtheyhave a negotiatedopinionwhichmatches
withthe responsesonpreviousquestionswherepeople have saidthattheylikedsome of the movie
but there were pointsinthe movie thattheydidn’tlike,4people saidtheyhadapreferredopinion
because theyenjoyedthe movie andwouldwatchitagainor have seenitbefore andhave saidthey
will watchitagain andthen1 personsaidtheyhave an oppositional readingwhichmeansthat they
didn’tenjoythe movie atall.
The ninthquestionIaskedonmy surveywas‘Do youfeel youwere divertedbythe filminanyway?
How?’From myresponses,Ican see thatpeople were divertedbythe movie astheyhave saidthe
musicand the narrative andsubjectof the movie wasveryappealingandtheyenjoyedthe different
eventsthathappenedandthenafewpeople hadsaidtheyweren’tsure whichcouldeithermean
theydidn’tunderstandthe questionordon’treallyhave anopiniononthe film.

4. Alexander Broadley Audience Responses
The final questionIaskedwas‘Are there anyelementsof the filmthatyoumightuse for
surveillance?Eg:fashion/music’Fromthe Reponsesthe people whoansweredmysurveyhave said
theyenjoyedthe musicaspeople have statedthattheyverymuchenjoyedthe songsusedinthe
filmandtheyrecognisedthe music.
From the questionnaire,ithasgivenme agoodunderstandingatwhypeople enjoyedthe filmand
whytheydidn’t.Itshowsthat despite whypeople didn’tlike the moviedue tothe violence useditis
still agood movie peopleare willingtowatchevenwiththe badcommentstowardsitandwiththe
articlesfrompeople sayingitwasabad movie due tothe amount of violence andthatitspromoting
people tobe more violenteventhoughfromthe researchIhave foundthat’snotwhatpeople are
takingfromthe movie whichmysurveybacksup.