The common consensus regarding 'the media' and how audiences are affected through media, is that media 'brainwashes' us. This idea is what we refer to as a passive model of audience interaction. When someone is passive, they go with the flow, and agree with whatever they are shown. However, in media studies, we generally argue that things are a lot more complicated than this. Stuart Hall's reception theory helps us to explore this idea.
Stuart hall - reception theory
Reception theory refers to the many different ways that audiences can decode, or make sense of a message within a media product.
Every media product has an ideology, message of belief encoded in it by the producer. However, audiences can decode this meaning in many different ways. This process can be referred to as audience negotiation. In other words, a compromise is reached.
There are three broad ways to interpret a media product:
- The preferred reading - where the audience agrees with the ideology of the producer, and decodes the product in the way they 'should do'
- The oppositional reading - where the audience disagrees with the ideology of the producer
- The negotiated reading -where the audience agree to some extent, but disagree with other elements of the producer's ideologies
Audiences can negotiate a media product in almost infinite ways. This can be mediated through the audience's
- Morals
- Personality
- Social groups
- Social class (working class, middle class)
- Upbringing
- Influence of others
- Body type
- Age
- Gender identity
- Sexual preference
- Ethnicity
- Race
- Religion
- Level of education
Applying reception theory to the final montage sequence of Humans
The ending montage of humans constructs a highly inviting and highly polysemic mode of address to it's many target audiences, encouraging a range of wildly different negotiations
- East Asian audiences may have a complicated reaction to the character of Anita. these audieces may take exception to Anita's stereotypical representation as an emotionless sex slave, which frankly reinforces racist stereotypes that exist regarding East Asian women. However, Anita is the protagonist, and East Asian audiences may simultaniously take pleasure from seeing an East Asian Brit in the main role, as she increases visibility.
- Themes of remembering may be both compelling and deeply stressful to older audiences, as it will bring up themes of dementia and aging
- Audiences who have grown in non-traditional household, for example without a mo0ther figure, may find the character Anita as compelling. Additionally, families who are unable to have children may find Anita's desire to have a child compelling and relatable
- Leo has lost Mia/Anita, and is desperate to find her, which calso could be a relatable situation for the audience
- Exclusive representation of heterosexal relationships may of course appeal to heterosexual audiences, but may also alioenbce gay audiences
- Gemma Chan's casting as Anita is clearly becuase she is a hegemonically attractive woman, and many audience memebers, will find her attractive
- The character of Mattie is encoded as hegemonically attractive, and may appeal to teenage audiences in particular. This idea of Mattie being a relatable character is anchored through the MES of her staring into her device in bed, which may connote inteleigence, seriousness, but also ecodes her as a stereotypical teenager. She represents teenage girls, and may appeal to a teenage secondary audience who would not engage with this show otherwise
- The man who visits the brothel is represented as a stereotypical working class man. His appearance is highly stereotypical, being a bald, hegemonically unattractive white man in a tracksuit, all of which reinforce a highly leading and stereotypical representation of working class men. His costume has connotations of blue collar manual work. Working class people may react negatively to this scene, and be angry at the use of stereotyping. However the middle class target audience may simply have their worldview reinforced
- The representation of the scientist is also potentially problematic. He is a stereotypically nerdy east Asian man, who is presented in this context to be as easily identifiable to audiences as possible. East Asian audiences may take offense at this straightforward and lazy stereotype. Even positive stereotypes can be problematic, and arguably even this apparently straightforward scene can be decoded as racist and highly alienating