This document provides an overview and analysis of the film Fight Club using various audience theory frameworks. It discusses the Hypodermic Model, Encoding/Decoding Model, and Uses and Gratifications Theory as applied to the film. It also summarizes the film's plot, release information, and the BBFC's rating of the film as an 18 despite some countries releasing it as a 15. Key details about the film and how audience theories help explain different audience interpretations are analyzed.

1. Lauren Allard
Unit 6: Critical Approaches
PR2: Audience Theory
PR2: Audience Theory
In this report I will be going through and explaining in detail the three different audience
theories and how they have all been used in the media. I will also be describing the 1999
film Fight Club and looking through the critical reviews about the film and also comparing
the film and the reviews with both the Hypodermic Model and the Encoding and Decoding
Model. I will explain the task that we have had to complete about the filmand also include
screenshots of my results from a survey that I had created about the film, which was sent to
12 people. I will be analysing my survey results and also explaining how my results can be
used in some of the audience theories. I will also use the Uses and Gratifications theory for a
piece of media text and be explaining why the filmwould fit into those categories for the
target audience.
The Hypodermic Model
The Hypodermic Model was the first attempt at explaining how mass audiences react to
mass media. It suggests that audiences passively receive the information transmitted via a
media text. This theory would suggest that as an audience we are manipulated by the
creators of media texts. But out behaviour and views would change easily based on the
media producers. It suggests that the audience of a media text respond in the same way.
For example – A person could own a high piece of technology, but then the same company
could release an upgrade that is slightly different to the old version. But the changes aren’t
that different, both pieces of technology are very similar. But because the media advertises
and makes the new product
look amazing and
completely different to the
old version, the audience
wants to buy it.
The filmfight club is known for its violent content, a lot of people thought that due to the
content of the filmgroups of men would get together and create gangs and commit
countless amounts of crimes. In addition to this as another example many films and video
games have been slandered by the media for encouraging violence, when actually it could
just be an issue with the person that is causing these issues. Child’s Play 3 was blamed for
the murder of a toddler, when a young boy kidnapped and murdered the child. The filmwas
blamed and banned for the “Influence” of this attack. Without looking into the child’s
background or mental state.
Encoding and Decoding Model (Hall)
Cultural theorist Stuart Hall wrote the encoding/decoding model back in the 1970s.
Encoding means that the text is encoded by the producer, so basically what the producer
wants the project to show and represent. Whilst Decoding means that the text is decoded
by the audience, the audience’s views and what they think the project was meant to show.
The audience interprets the meanings of any media text based on their individual cultural
background and life experiences, how the audience would view certain things.

2. Lauren Allard
Unit 6: Critical Approaches
PR2: Audience Theory
Individual cultural background and life experiences:
 Age
 Gender
 Social Background (Class)
 Cultural Background (Peer group/nationality/ethnicity)
 Political Views
 Circumstances of exhibition
All of the above could influence an audience’s reading of a text, their views could be
different based on how they are as a person.
Hall also reckoned that the producers could encode a preferred meaning and target
audiences due to this. Three different readings might be decoded by the audience with the
three meanings which are:
 Preferred
 Negotiated
 Oppositional
As a class in a group discussion we watched Miley Cyrus’s music video for her song Wrecking
Ball, since the video has gotten different reactions from the public. As a class we wanted to
get each other’s views, after watching the video
many members of the class had different opinions
to others. A majority of the class thought that the
view was either Negotiated or Oppositional, they
didn’t quite understand what the producer was
trying to show with the video, they also thought
that the video was a bit too extreme with the nudity
that was shown in the video. Where’s one or two
people including myself thought our views were
more Preferred, since we understood what the
producer was trying to show, also we didn’t particularly care about the nudity since it wasn’t
a big issue for us. These responses could mainly have been influenced by the way that
person is, how they view life and how they have been brought up.
Uses and Gratifications Theory (Blumler and Katz)
Blumler and Katz publishes this theory in 1974, this theory states that individuals might
choose to use a text for the following purposes.
 Diversion – Escape from everyday life
 Personal Relationships – Using the media for other interaction. For example,
Tinder to find romance and also watching family aimed shows for family life.
 Personal Identity – Finding yourself reflected in texts.
 Surveillance – Information which could be useful for living: The news for weather
reports, and information from around the world.
This theory could show that certain people are attracted to certain media products whether
it would be on the internet or in TV Shows or Films, based on what they find entertaining or
what they want. Someone might want an escape from everyday life so they might watch a
TV show or film about that particular subject. Using media for other interaction could be
watching romantic films or shows for family films for family life.

3. Lauren Allard
Unit 6: Critical Approaches
PR2: Audience Theory
As a class we looked at different types of social media, and as a class we had to decide
which category those websites/apps would go into base on why they are used. We looked at
popular forms of social media like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We all agreed that
Facebook would fall into all four categories, since it can be a diversion from everyday life,
you can share your personal relationships, you have your personal identity online for people
to view and also Surveillance, you can get the news available online through Facebook by
liking they company’s pages.
Task 4: Uses and Gratifications
For an example of the Uses and Gratifications theory, I’m going
to use a recent filmcalled Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find
Them. Which is a fantasy filmincluded in the Harry Potter
franchise. The main target audience for this film would be
mainly Harry Potter fans and also fans of Sci-Fi and also of the
books. But by using the Uses and Gratifications theory created
by Blumler and Katz.
Looking at the target audience and being a fan of the franchise
myself, I would say that the filmwould go into the following
categories for the following reasons.
 Diversion – Since it is a filmthat is meant to be
unrealistic, it’s filled with magic and things that would
never to be known to be possible in reality. For me it is
a distraction of everyday life, it takes me into a world of
my own imagination. And no matter how old the
audience gets the idea of being in that magic world is
something they would have dreamed of since the first Harry Potter book.
 Personal Relationships – For a lot of the fans of the film, they tend to put two people
together in a franchise. For most of the audience they could become attached to the
film due to the characters featured and also the relationship those characters’ share.
 Surveillance – Even though this film is a fantasy and does take the audience away
from reality throughout the entire film. For the audience especially the younger age
groups, the news and the dramatic events in the film seemreal to them (younger
age groups). They could be watching the filmfor the drama and the dramatic scenes
that happen in the film throughout.
Fight Club
BBFC Case Study
Fight club is a 1999 action packed drama, featuring a depressed man suffering from
insomnia. He then meets a soap salesman named Tyler Durden and soon finds himself living
in his squalid house after his perfect condo was destroyed by a bomb. The two men then
develop an underground club with strict rules which includes men fighting other men who
are now fed up with their everyday lives. From what started as a small underground club
known as “Fight Club”, then becomes something that is way out of the two men’s reach,
they then manage to get every single member under their control, creating an organization

4. Lauren Allard
Unit 6: Critical Approaches
PR2: Audience Theory
that was never meant to exist. The perfect friendship/partnership between the two then
crashes when Marla a fellow support group crasher and drug addict, attracts Tyler’s
attention. Throughout the film there are many plot twists and confusing scenes that can
twist the mind.
The filmmade $100.9 million on the U.S box office. The main character never got an actual
name other than “The Narrator” since throughout the entire film, he voices overs telling the
audience the story as the filmgoes on. Putting more of the book into the film.
The opening scene to Fight Club represents a brain’s Neural Network in which the thought
processes are initiated by the Narrator’s fear impulse.
Fight Club was released in the United States on October 15th
1999, and was directed by David Fincher. The film was
Distributed by 20th Century Fox, there was two versions of the
film released due to its graphic content, in some countries the
film was released as a 15 rated film, whilst in most other
countries it was released as an 18 rated film due to the film
containing so much violence and references to terrorism.
BBFC state that adults should be free to choose their own
entertainment. In this sense Fight Club did not break any UK Law
or was too harmful based on the content featured. The reason
why the film was not certificated an 18 by the BBFC was due to
the fact that they felt that there was nothing featured in the film
that breached UK law or featured anything that was too harmful.
Fully stating that if this was influencing anything to any member
of the audience, it would be due to the audience member. Not
the film.
"A toxic experience ... an inadmissible assault on personal decency ... and on society itself. It
resurrects the Führer principle. It promotes pain and suffering as the virtues of the strongest.
It tramples every democratic decency underfoot." – Alexander Walker. The Hypodermic
Model says that members of the audience can be manipulated by Media text. Alexander
Walker is stating that this film is promoting pain and suffering and how it is an inadmissible
assault on personal decency and also on society. But the Hypodermic Model also says that
the audience’s behavior and views could change based on the media producers. In this
quote Alexander Walker is saying that we are all going to get together in groups and causing
havoc, with an extreme amount of violence and copying the film’s content and placing in
into real life. But I would have to disagree with this statement, due to the fact that there are
worst films than Fight Club that has gotten a larger audience and has content that is a lot
more extreme. But yet again those types of films haven’t influenced people to do such
things in anyway. Since this film was released in 1999 it was before any major terrorist
events took place. But in present day 2016 there have been films that have promoted
violence and gang crimes, such as the filmseries The Purge, which is about 12 hours of
America having no laws, anyone can do anything and get away with it. Yet this has not
influenced any such event or influenced anyone to do anything similar in the film. And the
film series has been known and out for a few years now, if there have been any traumatic
events that involve mass murder it would have taken place due to that person’s mental

5. Lauren Allard
Unit 6: Critical Approaches
PR2: Audience Theory
state. The Hypodermic Model says we can be manipulated by media text so for this quote,
you could say that the audience would be manipulated to create underground clubs. BBFC
said that it did not break any UK law, so that Alexander Walker’s quote and views were
invalid for their laws and opinions.
“New BBFC Guidelines established the principle that adults should be free to choose their
own entertainment, within the law, and it was considered that there was nothing in Fight
Club that was in breach of UK law, or felt to be harmful.” – From looking at this quote from
BBFC and also looking into the Use & Gratifications Theory. Individuals do tend to choose
and use a text for certain purposes, for the filmFight Club they might choose this piece of
media due to the reason “Diversion” which means that the individual might want an escape
from everyday life, in some ways the film could be realistic. Also the film does feature a
large group of men who seek for this type of club to escape their everyday lives that they
are sick of experiencing. Also some members of the audience could relate to some of the
characters that are shown in the film. For some members of the audience the film could also
place them in a “Personal Identity” purpose, especially since the filmdoes include a
character who is suffering from a mental illness, the character could be relatable to some
viewers mentally wise. But this film based on the statement written by BBFC the film would
fit into “Diversion” for the escape of reality for adults.
After watching Fight Club and also looking into the Uses & Gratifications Theory. Personally I
would say that from watching the filmit is an escape from everyday life, which would put
me in the purpose, Diversion. It is meant to be an unrealistic filmwith a lot of action and
drama that you wouldn’t even think of happening in everyday life. For some scenes I could
put myself in “Personal Identity” especially when it comes to the main character, The
Narrator suffers dramatic events because throughout the film you can feel a connection to
the character, based on emotions. But from watching the film I can see why a lot of people
would prefer it to be certificated an 18 rating, due to the amount of violence. Especially in
this year when terrorism has become a massive thing in the world, I can see why some
people in this present time could have negative views towards the film especially when the
film carries on and you eventually realise what “Fight Club” actually is, which is a terrorist
organisation.
Fight Club Exit Poll Results – Audience Responses
After watching Fight Club as a class, I then created an Exit Poll for the filmand sent it to a
total of 12 people that have all seen the film. Before I sent the survey I already knew that
many members of the audience would have different opinions about the film based on their
preferred genre of film, their views on the content that was included in the film. Especially
the graphic content. I created ten questions based on the age and gender of that member of
audience, how they found out about the film, if they knew about it before watching it in
class, their opinion, and what their views of the filmwas and why.
Question One:

6. Lauren Allard
Unit 6: Critical Approaches
PR2: Audience Theory
To get a reading on the audience
that watched this film, I asked the
audience what their age is. Due to
the audience’s opinions being
different based on their age. The
Encoding and Decoding model would
show that the audience could have
different views on a piece of media
text, based on their age and gender
etc. Out of the ten responses that I
had gotten back, 10% of the
audience was over the age of 40,
whilst the remaining 90% are in the
age group 16-20.
Question Two:
Like with the first
question I wanted to
know the audience
member’s gender.
Looking at the Encoding
and Decoding model
certain people might
have different views
based on their gender,
or the way they were
brought up and view life.
Out of the ten responses
I got, 30% of the
audience was female, whilst the remaining 70% of the audience was Male.
Question Three

7. Lauren Allard
Unit 6: Critical Approaches
PR2: Audience Theory
The third question was to find out how
the audience knew about the film
before watching it. Since I placed this
question before any other question
about whether they heard about the
film before watching it in class, I added
an “Other” option, so that they can say
the other way that they discovered the
film. I included different options to how
they could have found out about the
film before watching it in class, one of
these options being “The original book”
since the film was created based of the
book which was released not that many
years before the film.
 Word of Mouth – 50%
 Teaser/Trailer – 10%
 Social Media – 10%
 Posters – 0%
 The Original Book – 0%
 Other (Please Specify) – 30%
o “College”
o “Class Project”
A majority of the class had found out about the film through a “Word of Mouth”, the film
was popular and requested to many different people either that or other people’s opinions
about the film were spread to other people, letting them know of the film.
Question Four
I have connected
question four to the
previous question,
about whether the
audience member had
known about the film
before watching it in
class. I had already
collected the responses
on how the audience
members had found out
about the film. Now I
wanted to know if they
already knew about it before the class discussion. Out of the ten responses 10% of the
audience did not know about the film before watching it/discussing it in class. Whilst the
remaining 90% of the audience had known about the filmbefore watching it in class.
Question Five

8. Lauren Allard
Unit 6: Critical Approaches
PR2: Audience Theory
For this question I wanted the audience to give
a rating from 1-10, I wanted to know their
rated opinion before they give me their
written opinion. 1 being that they didn’t like
the film at all and 10 being that they enjoyed it
a lot. Like I expected many members of the
audience had different opinions and gave
different ratings to the film. Out of the ten
responses:
 1 – 0%
 2 – 10%
 3- 0%
 4 – 10%
 5- 0%
 6- 0%
 7 – 10%
 8 – 30 %
 9 – 10%
 10 – 30%
A majority of the audience thought that the filmwas in between the ratings of 8 and 10, 8
and ten being the most popular rating at 30% each.
Question Six
This question was used
in my survey, mainly
because throughout the
film contained a lot of
excessive violence.
Some of which could be
too much for some
people, but based on
the storyline and plot of
the film it could be just
the right amount of
violence for the film. I
gave three different
options for this
question, the first one being “I felt there was too much”, which shockingly no one had
decided on. The second option was “Just right for the film” Based on the film’s storyline and
plot and the entire concept of the film, for some viewers it could be the just right amount of
violence for this film. 80% of the ten responses selected this option. And the remaining 20%
had selected the option “The violence was right, in the terms of content but I did not like it”.
Question Seven

9. Lauren Allard
Unit 6: Critical Approaches
PR2: Audience Theory
For this question I had already gotten the
audience’s rated opinion, but now I
wanted their written opinion on what
they liked and what they disliked about
the film. Here are the responses I got:
 "The complexity”
 “The Storyline”
 “Although the violence was right
due to the film’s context, it was
over excessive in parts”
 “Liked the detail e.g. violence.
Disliked how confusing it was”
 “Violence”
 “I liked it a lot because its real
and the acting was amazing”
 “I liked the narrative of the film
and how the ending makes the
whole filmmakes more sense”
 “The Plot Twist was pretty good”
A lot of the audience members focused on the amount of violence contained the film, whilst
others focused more on the storyline and the plot twist of the film, which was extreme,
shocking and confusing.
Question Eight
For this question I was
focusing on one of the
three Audience Theories.
The Encoding and
Decoding Model created
by Stuart Hall. For this
question I wanted to
know the audience’s
reading of the film. Whether they felt that they saw the film in a preferred way – meaning
that they understand what the producer was trying to show with the film. Out of the ten
responses 60% of the audience had a Preferred reading of the film, 50% had a Negotiated
reading of the film and also the remaining 10% had an Oppositional reading of the film. So a
lot of the audience members that responded to my survey had mixed opinions about the
film and understandable reading of the film. Despite some of their likes and dislikes of the
film.

10. Lauren Allard
Unit 6: Critical Approaches
PR2: Audience Theory
Question Nine
This question, like the previous
one. Is connected to one of the
audience theories, this one
being Uses and Gratifications
created by Blumler and Katz. I
asked the audience whether
they feel diverted by the filmin
any way. The reason for this
question is the film did contain
a group of men in the fight club,
that wanted an escape of
everyday life, they wanted to
experience different things
from their “everyday/boring”
lifestyles.
One of the categories for the
Uses and Gratifications theory,
is Diversion – An form of escape
from everyday life. Here are the
responses I got.
 “Yes, by the narrative and visual style. Also the humour portrayed in the dynamic of
the 3 main characters”
 “yes”
 “Yes”
 “Not Really”
 “Yes”
 “No”
 “Not Really”
 “No”
 “No”
A majority of the audience said that they did feel diverted by the film, they felt like they
were being diverted from everyday life, for some it was based on the narrative and the
visual style of the film and also the humour.

11. Lauren Allard
Unit 6: Critical Approaches
PR2: Audience Theory
Question Ten
The final question in the
survey I asked the audience if
there were any elements
throughout the film that they
might use for surveillance. For
example, the fashion or
Music.
Here are the responses I got:
 “Not really”
 “Yeah, the music”
 “No”
 “I became a fan of the
composers of the film’s
soundtrack, and I have also
enjoyed reading novels by the
screenwriter, inspired by my
enjoyment of the film”
 “yes”
 “Probably not from how
controversial the film is and that I didn’t like the filmtoo much”
 “Nope”
 “The music was popular at the time”
 “The music possibly”
 “Music”
A majority couldn’t find anything in the filmthat they might use for surveillance, where’s
one member of the audience did say that they used the music and the screenwriter for
surveillance, it inspired them to purchase the soundtrack, and also watch more of the
screenwriter’s work. The filmalso inspired this person to purchase the book that the film
was based off. This question can be connected to the Uses and Gratifications theory, one of
the categories in this theory is Surveillance, which is
Looking through my Exit Poll results about Fight Club, I can match my results to a few of the
audience theories. I focused a few of my questions on two of the audience theories, these
two theories being the Encoding and Decoding model and also the Use and Gratifications
model. The Encoding and Decoding model can be used in my Exit Poll results based on how
each member of the audience is an individual person, each person has different
backgrounds, gender, age and also different views on the film. The responses show that
each person’s opinions change at some points based on their rating, personal opinion and
also their reading of the film. The readings used were taken from the Encoding and
Decoding model. To find out what people thought and if they agreed with the screenwriter.
Which shows that most of the audience did agree with the screenwriter which for some
audience members was shocking since some of them have negative opinions of the film in
some responses to some questions.

12. Lauren Allard
Unit 6: Critical Approaches
PR2: Audience Theory
I also used the Uses and Gratifications model to analyse my results, this model shows that
the audience becomes interested in a piece of media text because of some of the four
categories.
Diversion
Personal Relationships
Personal Identity
Surveillance
It would appear that some of the audience became a fan of the film due to the fact that it
was a diversion of everyday life.