StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Audience Reading Popular Cultural Text - Research Paper Example

Cite this document
Summary
Audience reading of popular culture is a dynamic process between the audience and text where the identity of each is continuously remade (Shirato & Yell, 2000). The popular cultural text I have chosen for this paper is the Stargate SG1 series, produced by Universal Studios…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER98.1% of users find it useful
Audience Reading Popular Cultural Text
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Audience Reading Popular Cultural Text"

Download file to see previous pages

The team is comprised of two Air Force officers, an archaeologist and an alien that joined them on one of their travels. The US Air Force coordinates their travels, and that of other teams, to make friends with 'people' of other planets, and to procure technology that will aid in the defence of Earth from the threat of the alien race, the Goa'uld, who are a parasitic species who take human bodies as hosts, set themselves up as gods, and enslave the people of the planets they invade. Earth's Stargate was found within Egyptian ruins, and it took the Air Force 50 years to work out how to use it, drawing on the knowledge of our best archaeologists, physicist and engineers.

I will investigate an audience reading of this text by using a focus group. The aim of this paper is to present the results of an audience analysis of Stargate SG1. Firstly, I will present my own reading of the text. Secondly, my investigation method will be explained. Thirdly, I will provide the results of the focus group discussion in regards to humour; stereotypes; and the ideology of Stargate SG1. Fourthly, I will apply different theoretical approaches to the text in regards to the key themes.

Fourthly, I will highlight the implications of this text. Finally I shall present a conclusion that will synthesise the main points of the paper, and makes recommendations for future audience analysis of the Stargate series. I will now present my own reading of the text. . especially in the USA and other Western nations, such as defending ourselves, interactions with those who are 'other' than ourselves, and the moral dilemmas involved in intervening or not intervening when another group of 'people' are at war or oppressed on their own planets.

The show is very reliant on hard science to provide explanations for how the Stargate works, as well as the workings of extra-terrestrial weaponry, healing devices, and other cultural artefacts. This provides a clear mediation of the text with our present knowledge in quantum physics and human psychology, making the show more believable as I am not disengaged from my viewing through incongruent information. The series also delves into spirituality, particularly Buddhism, to provide an overall meaning to the universe, and a purpose to the lives of all who dwell within it.

I find this interesting and of value to myself as a viewer, as Buddhism is a philosophy that provides many answers to me in my life. Especially, the humour within the series is salient. One of the lead actors, and he is also one of the producers, being Richard Dean Anderson from the 1970s series Amcgyver. His flip attitude is particularly amusing, given his character's role as a colonel in theAir Force, I expected the stereotypical behaviour of discipline, restraint, and authoritarianism.

I admire that the series attempts to break down stereotypes, as the physicist/engineer on the team is a woman, who spends her leave time working on her motorbike, and is an excellent lock-picker, although she remains feminine. The ideology of the series is 'respect for others, and what's potentially out there'. A primary mission of SG1 is to peacefully seek out other life-forms to establish diplomatic ties. This engages me to

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Audience Reading Popular Cultural Text Research Paper”, n.d.)
Audience Reading Popular Cultural Text Research Paper. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/performing-arts/1500075-audience-reading-popular-cultural-text
(Audience Reading Popular Cultural Text Research Paper)
Audience Reading Popular Cultural Text Research Paper. https://studentshare.org/performing-arts/1500075-audience-reading-popular-cultural-text.
“Audience Reading Popular Cultural Text Research Paper”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/performing-arts/1500075-audience-reading-popular-cultural-text.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Audience Reading Popular Cultural Text

Cultural Studies

Scholars within the cultural studies tradition often describe media audiences as being active.... it is still, at all times, up to the individual audience or reader to interpret and respond.... nbsp; This unavoidable process in the communication between the media and the audience keeps the audience active, because each individual involved in a never ending cycle of interpretation....
8 Pages (2000 words) Assignment

Culture and Translation

Translation is a challenge because it entails far more than the rendering of a text from a source to a target language; translation requires that the translator move the culture from the source text to the target text but in such a way as would allow the target audience to understand that culture and to appreciate it on its own terms (Bassnet, 1990; Baker, 1992, pp.... Not only is the Arabic to English translator, for example, required to transfer an Arabic language text into the English language but he/she is expected to also preserve the Arabic culture from which the text emerged and transfer it to the source text, the translated one....
12 Pages (3000 words) Essay

Twin Peaks - Fan Culture and Social Identities

In current times we have seen how television has morphed from simply a provider of entertainment and a means of recreation, into a god-creator of a proxy-community – where people are drawn to the images and to the text and use them to form social identities and forge cultural distinctions.... When these individuals come together, a whole community is created, a whole subculture is forged, and the fans cease to be peripheral observers and become active agents and manipulators of the text itself....
12 Pages (3000 words) Essay

Semiotics and the Construction of Meaning' by Christine Geraghty

She considers how semiotics has allowed comprehensive analyses of mass media texts by focusing on a text in relation to the meanings, concepts, or set of ideas that it communicates.... The photograph of Charles and Diana is revealed as a specifically constructed text.... In this case, the picture is accompanied by written text and gives those responsible (the newspaper or journalist) the opportunity to lead the reader into the meaning that they want to communicate....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Issues in Researching and Developing Media Projects

The world in recent times has been witness to large scale assimilation and amalgamation of various cultures leading to a phenomenon called ‘cultural pluralism' where communities belonging to socially and ethnically diverse backgrounds have integrated into the mainstream and… Such cultural pluralism alternatively referred to as multiculturalism has been driven by advertising in the mass media – be it films, television adverts or books. The European media has always shown a well balanced approach towards depiction of The portrayal of multicultural aspect of European society commenced during the 1960s in Britain and France with the key motive of creating awareness among the migrant populations regarding the host society's customs and policies....
8 Pages (2000 words) Research Paper

Perspectives in Global Media Cultures

The following essay considers the example of a media house with a huge employability attraction with an example of a media text.... The media text will be analysed with reference to the following questions: the different cultures represented in the particular media text; the global, local, institutional, professional and/or media cultures that have informed the creation of that particular media text; and finally, the forms of media literacy and/or the ethical norms observed....
9 Pages (2250 words) Essay

Music and Eroticism in Late Ming Texts

Thus, while the Ming music is no longer existing to project such erotic-musical expressions, the late Ming texts have made it their business to represent the musical culture, through both less descriptive historical/factual accounts, as well as through the more revealing and detailed fictional and informal text accounts (Lam, 2010).... The late Ming authors were able to experience the eroticism of music sensationally, making these late Ming musical-erotic texts very informative of the Ming cultural society....
5 Pages (1250 words) Assignment

The Concept of Media Technologies

… Audiences are not passiveIntroductionCommunication technologies have given easy access to audience so that a common can represent himself in news or talk shows.... Everything that was previously private, through media and mobile technologies has become Audiences are not passiveIntroductionCommunication technologies have given easy access to audience so that a common can represent himself in news or talk shows.... Everything that was previously private, through media and mobile technologies has become external and audience....
11 Pages (2750 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us