I watch the soap Hollyoaks on a regular basis. although it is a british soap, it is not as appealing to a mainstream audience like other british soaps such as Eastenders and Coronation Street, it is more of a younger 'teen' audience.
This programme has several gratifications that justify why people spend their time watching it. some of them are:
Finding out about relevant issues and events in society (e.g. domestic violence, illnesses, teen pregnancy etc.), shown through Sinead's story of her being a teenage mum forced to go into prostitution to support her child. Seeking advice on practical matters or opinion and decision choices (regarding the issues involved in the programme) which could involve things such as relating to someone with a illness in the programme and finding a way to relate and cope with these issues in your own life, or it could be something a lot less simple such as how to get a boy/girl to like you. Escaping or being diverted from problems which could be something like watching the progression of a relationship such as Dodger and Texas in this soap. However these may also cause you to relate them to your own life. Relaxing, which is simple. Just something like watching this programme while eating dinner in the evening and helping you to relax. Filling time which is also quite simple as you could just watch this programme as you see it being shown on the TV whilst looking for something to watch. Emotional release. This can go hand in hand with seeking advice on practical matters, as a story regarding illness in the programme, such as Tony suffering with cancer, could also relate to your own life and could cause emotional release if you can connect with the story. It could also be the same for other items such as relationship issues and family problems e.g. money. Finding a basis for social interaction and conversation which could be the only reason someone watches a programme. If the audience is mainly your age group and is a popular soap such as this one, people may watch it just to relate and interact with peers as to not feel left out from conversations.
All of these are ways that the programme interests and brings in viewers. All of these factors appeal to viewers in different ways. some audiences want a show that helps them escape from reality, others like to be able to relate to issues involved in programmes as they may relate to them or to give them an insight into social issues, others just enjoy watching them for the relaxation
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ReplyDeleteLeah you have correctly identified your uses and gratifications for your chosen text. You make a good point the Hollyoaks mainly targets teenagers, but go back and describe how you know that?Whats their mode of address? but actually just because its main audience is teenagers do they not have other types of audiences view the text, I would say it is mainstream because of scheduling and placement. Can you discuss this?
ReplyDeleteWhenever we speak about texts and make statements about them, for example, you view the text for "emotional release" you must justify your statement. Describe a scene and justify why the emotional release occurred