TASK: Write/Rewrite the following essay...
'Producers of Long Form TV Drama, construct versions of reality that target the viewpoints and ideologies of their audiences." How far do you agree with this statement?
- consider the contexts in which long form television dramas are produced and consumed,
- explain how media contexts may have influenced representations in the set episodes of the two long form television dramas you have studied,
- refer to relevant academic theories,
- make judgements and reach conclusions about the reasons for the differences in representation between the two episodes.
Look carefully at the following introduction and conclusion:
- Think about whether you agree with them.
- Consider how you might bend them to fit other essays about LFTVDs.
- Consider how you might include or exclude elements to make your essay more manageable.
- Consider how you could use them to shape the essay you write.
Introduction
All successful Long Form T.V. drama, must, on some level, construct
versions of reality that appeal to their audience. However, in the case of ‘Stranger
Things’ and ‘D83’ we might ask whether the global impact of U.S. television on
cultural hegemony is more significant than the need to appeal to national
audiences. We might also wish to consider whether genre has a more significant
effect on representation than an attempt to appeal to the target audience on the basis of ideology.
Conclusion
While it is clear that both TV shows construct versions of
reality that appeal to the viewpoints of and ideologies of their audiences, we
can see that both ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Deutschland 83’ demonstrate U.S.
cultural and economic dominance over the TV industry, with international
audiences comfortable with accepting a hyperreal diegesis built around U.S. TV and Film, and foreign language
TV prioritising its U.S. audience over
its domestic audience. Furthermore, it seems more likely that appealing to a
shared understanding of genre conventions may be more influential over representation,
than a desire to appeal to the target audience at an ideological level.
CORE POINT 1:
U.S. LFTVDs want to reach an international audience, but hegemonic cultural dominance by U.S. Media means that they can do this by targeting the viewpoints and ideologies of their domestic audience, whereas foreign language LFTVDs may prioritise the U.S. market for financial reasons.
CORE POINT 2:
The decisions that producers make about representations of reality (from historical diegesis, to messages about gender) may be influenced by shared understanding of genre more than ideological reasons.
We can apply Neale as within both LFTVDs there are clear genre conventions of the 1980s. Signifiers in D83, such as the Puma tshirt, Adidas trainers and Levi’s 501’s connote ideological messages around the social context of the capitalist West Germany. When Martin attempts to escape, he runs through a brightly coloured supermarket soundtracked to the song ‘Sweet Dreams’ which puts down the consumer capitalist focus of choice, suggesting it is empty and unfulfilling. It is also a classic song from the 80s, which further shows recognisable genre conventions of the 1980s.
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