STUDENT EXAMPLE ESSAY

HERE IS A RESPONSE FROM ONE OF 2023's BEST STUDENTS. SHE IS TACKLING A REALLY TOUGH QUESTION IN A REALLY INTERESTING WAY. 

‘Representations of social, cultural and historical events can vary within long form television dramas from different countries.’ Discuss how and why audiences might respond to and interpret these representations differently.

In your answer you must:

·         consider the contexts in which long form television dramas are produced and consumed

·         explain how media contexts may have influenced different aspects of realism and audience response in the set episodes of the two long form television dramas you have studied

·         make judgements and reach conclusions about the differences in realism of social, cultural and historical circumstances between the two set episodes.

There is clear disparity between how Deutschland 83 and Stranger Things represent the social, cultural and historical events that occur, however arguably it's not dependent on the country that produced the show but more influenced by the producer's intention to accurately portray the events, with factors such as intertextuality and budget playing a SIGNIFICANT massive role in how accurate ACCURATELY the events are represented  - You could say something like – in whether the focus is on verisimilitude or realism. Hall theorises that meaning is constituted by what is present, what is absent and what is different, and therefore LFTVD’s may celebrate, countertype or simply attempt to represent social, cultural and historical events which may subvert or reflect dominant codes and conventions of long form TV drama, so with polysemic representations it is up to the audience to decode the representation differently.

Baudrillard argues that the contemporary world is a simulacrum, where reality has been replaced by false images, to such an extent that one cannot distinguish between the real and the unreal. If we apply this to ‘Stranger Things,’ we can argue that it makes no attempt to accurately portray its historical time period, but instead their vision of 1980s America is built upon simulations (from horror films like A Nightmare on Elm Street, to Speilberg classics). This contributes to the state of hyperreality that pervades modern western culture and shapes the viewpoints and ideologies of US audiences. The pleasure of watching ‘Stranger Things’ is more about nostalgia than a realistic depiction of the social, cultural and historical events in 1983 Indiana. An audience will interpret the media discourse differently if they recognise the nostalgic intertextual relay or not.

EXCELLENT PARAGRAPH

Both shows make extensive use of signifiers (mise en scene, music etc.) to construct their historical diegesis. In one scene from D83, Lenora passes a Puma T-Shirt, Adidas Trainers and Levi Jeans to Martin (a close up highlights the brands). According to Baudrillard this would highlight the directors attempt to simulate the fashions of the 80’s and embody the zeitgeist of capitalist west Germany at that time. However, Deutschland 83 attempts to ground oneself ITSELF firmly in real life events, as a result I perceive a conflict within the production of D83 whether to risk historical accuracy with the use of intertextuality. Intertextuality requires knowledge and understanding of the historical context, a British audience may lack this and as a result find it hard to connect with the narrative. I believe that the show was not popular in Germany because Sundance created a palatable show for an American/English mainstream audience with a hyperreal representation of 1980s Germany, perhaps German audiences found the show unrealistic due to the choices of intertextuality and instead the British audience are “historically deaf” to the reality of the cold war and other social, cultural and historical events. EXCELLENT AGAIN

 Furthermore, economic context greatly influences the realism of the social, cultural and historical events LFTVDs depict. Netflix is one of the most successful streaming services, who need to maintain their brand with innovative and original programming and therefore integrate high end production values to support their ideological business model in favour of simply reflecting reality/normality. Thus, appealing to a range of audiences with different cultural capital. However, when comparing the budget of D83 (€8.5 million) and stranger things ($48 million) it is clear that D83 does not have the same budget for high production values that Netflix can afford. Hesmondhalgh would argue this is a “risk” as cultural industries rely on ‘big hits’ to cover the costs of failure. Without high production values the show risks the realism of the social, cultural and historical events that occur in the show and therefore constructs a polysemic responses for the audience. A German audience may be offended by the historical depiction, an English audience may digest the discourse as truth.

However, one may argue that D83 are targeting a much more niche audience with the cultural capital to desire watching foreign language shows with subtitles. The effect of targeting sophisticated audiences versus mainstream mass audiences, like ‘Stranger Things,’ allows a range of social, cultural and historical events to be read and understood by active audiences with regards to contextual events like the cold war and thus increase’s accuracy and diversification of representations. Curran and Seaton state that with the pursuit of profit comes a lack of quality and therefore the representation of social and cultural events in ‘Stranger Things’ are not accurate or of a good “quality”. However, it is hard to argue this, as the Duffle (DUFFER – CAREFUL) brothers avoid any attempt of realism is Stranger Things.

With LFTVD’s that portray a historical diegesis, it is important to question whether the producers intend to cater representation for audiences with modern viewpoints or remain truthful to the historical time.  If we apply Hall to D83, he may encourage us to see Lenora as a countertype that reinforces the patriarchal hegemony (reinforced by Van Zoonen feminist theory), but again, Hall allows us to consider the socio-cultural attitudes of the modern audience in relation to the preferred reading of the text. In this context, we might see Lenora as an empowered woman ahead of her time (wearing not sexualised clothing). However, the narrative implies that Lenora’s authority is not unusual in Marxist East Germany; however, this information may only be known by a German audience, where an American/international audience probably wouldn’t. This may lead to contrast between how different audiences decode the representations in LFTVD’s. Do the producers use Lenora to stay true the historical diegesis of 1980’s Germany, or do they use her empowering authoritarian figure, as a countertype of a spy genre, to align with the values and ideologies of a modern audience?

In conclusion, representations of social, cultural and historical events can vary within long form television dramas from different countries due to factors such as budget and intertextuality. There is no intention of realism is Stranger Things, so the representation of historical events is very different to how Deutschland depict theirs. There is more “risk” however for foreign language LFTVD’s to emulate realism to the audience with a lack of high production values and as a result different audience will respond differently whether they know the historical context already.

 27 – When this is good it is really good. I don’t think that it is wholly coherent, by which I mean that there is not a singular train of thought that runs throughout. Now, while this is something upon which you will need to focus when writing essays at university, I think that what you have constructed here works perfectly well for the Media Exam. I’d probably give it 100% if I saw it written in timed conditions.