Week Six – Audiences and Matters of Taste

Standing in the cereal aisle at the supermarket it’s easy to get overwhelmed by the shelves and the abundance of breakfast items to choose from, everything down to the minuscule details of toasted without fruit or non-toasted with fruit muesli. We live in a world governed by taste and the ideal that we as an audience think we have the ability to choose, however what we should never forget is in the end it’s all just muesli.

The idea of taste is a natural thing that we create and develop as humans throughout our lives and pop culture plays into this in terms of forming identities. Therefore, identities can be defined and reinvented through what you buy and what you associate with. By associating yourself with watching certain shows you build an identity that, “distinguishes [you] in an essential way,” to be an individual, but also, “whereby one classifies oneself and is classified by others” (Bourdieu, P; 1984).Through this taste becomes about the lines of cultural knowledge, with television determining desirable and undesirable forms of culture through the types of shows being watched. For example there are the high-end HBO productions compared to the low-end reality television shows, this division continually becoming more blurred within today’s contemporary television landscape.

Bourdieu notes that as taste is a product of conditionings associated with a particular class of condition of existence, “it unites all those who are the product of similar conditions while distinguishing them from all others” (Bourdieu, P; 1984). Audiences display their taste through the cultural formation of fandoms, providing cultural place for those who have the same taste in television. Vampire and horror genres of television have culminated the formation of fandoms since the gothic-soap Dark Shadows (1966) and their cult following allows for associative audiences. However, the vampire and gothic genre, “is not generally associated within popular culture with notions of quality, but rather with cult film, trash culture and juvenile audiences,” and this was the calculated risk  well-known quality television network HBO took when it released its flagship programme for 2008 True Blood (Abbott, S cited in Cherry, B; 2012).

True Blood contest genre conception by taking the undesirable forms of culture and presenting them in a HBO tasteful way, seen in, “a number of factors in production of the series,” which has developed the shows, “status as cult TV” (Cherry, B; 2012). It is seen as one of HBOs most controversial shows; “free from the constraints normally imposed on mainstream television” the show employs, “liberal amounts of sex, violence and swearing as well as serious or adult themes in an artful and stylised package” (Cherry, B; 2012). The most fitting example of this “artful and stylised” package can be understood through the opening credit sequence where the show is overviewed through a broader and more abstract context. The sequences not only conceptualises the show at the beginning of each episode, it also acts to encode certain ideals applicable to the show to demonstrates the type of decoding audience the show is appealing to.

The opening credits work so that the initiation of the sequence is not at the beginning of the show, but after an introductory plot development so that the episode can be re-contextualised to the reality the credits ensue. The images are eerie and dark, with the juxtaposition of life and death, and a mix between the historical world it references and the story world the show is about remains depicted and contested. Southern subject matter such as images of forests, swamps, crocodiles and desolate landscapes are prevalent within the sequence, conveying the genre of Southern Gothic layered in the shows episodes and the importance of place within the show as a way for the audience to understand the setting and people. This idea of the south is further achieved through Jace Everett’s “Bad Things” (2005) interpretation of country music with a Southern soul music base. The aesthetic style uses grainy shots, time lapse delays and documentary footage giving the shots a scientific and naturalistic enquiry as a way to relate the viewer. The piece also juxtaposes life and death in a way to pull the two together to illustrate how they’re not that different, for example the red fox decomposing, a link to the undead being an eminent trait of vampires. There is also a sprout of sexuality and death, with the show being driven by exploring what and how things happen when violence and sexuality collide as a contrast between natural processes and their unnatural ramifications.

The opening credit sequence doesn’t outwardly connect the following show to the subject matter of vampires, but instead offers a general emotion and feeling to symbolise the show itself. Therefore by solely analysing this reoccurring sequence we can further understand how taste culture influences audiences to be active in decoding their choices in television, with True Blood being an example of a show that deliberately encodes overt social issues.

References

Bourdieu, P 1984. Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste, Harvard University Press, United States of America, pp. 1-63.

Cherry, B 2012. True Blood: Investigating Vampires and Southern Gothic, I.B. Tauris, London & New York, pp. 1-38.

Week Five – Geographies: From the National to Transnational

Television is a major presence in most national cultures, even in most affluent to developing countries, and the rise of transnational television is central to current regional and global reshaping of media industries and cultures. Consequently we can view television as a cultural technology pivotal to the production of real-imagined spaces for producers and audiences, with the myriad of forms of transnational television that have emerged more recently performing related cultural work in producing global imaginary and our sense of a place with it.

In identifying these television shows it’s important to not just focus on American or western media, because media globalisation is not just, “the spread of the same products of Western… origin all over the world through media conglomerates. Non-Western players also actively collaborate in the productions and circulation of global media products” (Iwabuchi, I; 2005). The Scandinavian television series Bron/Boren (2011), or The Bridge, is a part of the Scandinoir, also called Nordic noir, genre of dark and violent thrillers set in Scandinavia. The series adheres to this phenomenon in the unfolding narrative to create suspense, which is a common characteristic of thrillers; however it displays darkness and complex mood through alternative outlets such as the characters. The series is an example of transnational television as it’s produced in Sweden and Denmark and broadcasted to 174 countries worldwide. The concept has also been readapted for an American audience in the form of The Bridge (2013) which sees the plot take place between the United States and Mexican border, and The Tunnel (2013) which takes place between France and Britain appealing to their audiences.

Ingrid Stigsdotter argues that vital to the international success of Bron/Boren and its remakes is, “the simple yet glorious idea of a crime scene being divided by a national border,” with this notion of a transnational police investigation taking place over national borders an important feature of the series (Stigsdotter, I; 2014). Though this idea of transnational borders is not something we are fully familiar with in Australia, as we are an island and cultural differences don’t vary too profoundly across state borders; the border lines of our states do help provide a predetermined knowledge and understanding of the situation. The fact that it’s a passport-free Swedish-Danish bridge crossing is something we can also relate to, while it may intrigue other international viewers for its lack of political presence in comparison with many other national boundaries. The borders cultural differences and people is something we learn through the show as gaining an international understanding of Europe where there are so many countries and cultures right next to each other.

Stigsdotter also notes how the interaction between Saga and Martin plays a significant part in the series where, “the characters’ diverging personalities can be interpreted – at least by Scandinavian viewers – as a humorous take on Nordic national stereotypes, according to which Swedes are reserved, cold and obedient subjects of the Nanny state, while Danes are… friendlier… more life-affirming, but with slightly anarchistic politics” (Stigsdotter, I; 2014). These cultural differences can be seen through the contrast of the main characters – Saga being, “efficient, intelligent, hardworking and follow[ing] the law by the book, but is servery lacking in social skills;” while Martin is, “jovial and likeable libertarian, but his tendency to follow his instincts… rather than professional rules end up having serious consequences” (Stigsdotter, I; 2014). These traits are expressed in the first episode of the series through character developments; for example Saga does not let the ambulance pass on the bridge despite there being a heart transplant patient in desperate need of an operation, it is evident she lives through her work and is never shown away from her job or in a social setting and she has quite a masculine way of approaching things for example when she gets changed in the office. While Martin allows the ambulance to pass despite Saga’s orders therefore disobeying her authority, he is shown away from work when he goes home to his son and wife and he brings Danish bread to the Swedish police station when he visits.

Perhaps part of the reason why the series has been able to be adapted for so many different audiences is because of the underlying characteristics that make the show familiar to many western viewers. The show is a familiar cop show genre and proves to have a relatable narrative arc with there being a murder and as the case unfolds we learn the victim is of importance as she is a politician, therefore the stakes escalate. The opening credit sequence is also similar in the sense that the city plays a central role to the story, a familiarity to a Western Law and Order (1990) viewership, with night shots of the city lit up. There is also a male and female lead that has a love/hate relationship which they have to put aside for the case.

However, the show’s differences can be seen in the lack of emotional breadth in scenes, such as when the victim’s body is moved and the audience sees the whole cross section of the cut depicting human organs. There is also no pleasant banter between the two leads or limited between characters in general, discussion is always around the case itself and the characters are far from heroic as possible. More obviously the setting is visually different with the clean infrastructure a current reminder of the foreignness.

Through the television series Bron/Broen we can see how national identity can be represented through such things as characters, place and cultural values. There are some parts of the show that prove relatable to a Western audience, however it’s through the elements we displace that we are able to further understand the country where the series was produced, building an imagined space of that place in our minds.

References

Iwabuchi, K 2005. ‘Discrepant Intimacy: Popular Culture Flows in East Asia,’ Asian Media Studies: Politics of Subjectivities, Blackwell Publishers, Massachusetts, pp. 19-36.

Stigsdotter, I 2014. ‘Explaining the success of Bron/Broen (The Bridge),’ MeCETES UK: Mediating Cultural Encounters through European Screens: http://mecetes.co.uk/explaining-success-bronbroen-bridge/, August 2014.

Week Four: Live Television: The Extraordinary and the Everyday

Television is characterised by the notion and quality of live-ness, an important and powerful aspect in the integration of television with our lives organised around the technology. By dividing televisions ‘live’ content into ordinary and extraordinary programming, we can see the kind of work these types of television do in constituting times and spaces of collective experience for viewers, joining private and public life.

Everyday television can be seen as an example of how live-ness can simulate the existence of a close community, with shows being, “domesticated by television as if to attune the medium as a whole to the nuclear family, television’s original viewing group” (Dayan, D and Katz, E; 1994). In the morning audiences are vulnerable, tired and wishing we could get back to the bed we just left, the television therefore creates a type of comfort even though we might not be actively listening. The breakfast show Sunrise (2002) tries to fit seamlessly into our morning lives, as it does our private space. The studio is a familiar living room setting, with the news table used for important and more formal events, while the couch more informal discussion. The set design is made up of warm colours and the use of ornaments, such as drinks on the table, making the environment as unsterile and relatable as possible.

Though you don’t know them the hosts are the representation of people you’ve known your whole life, the occasionally rampage Kochie with his Dad jokes and laid back Australian attitude, who is kept in place by the motherly Mel who will steer the show back on course in times of astray, and the sub-hosts of the sports presenter and news reader, the children who really only speak when spoken to. The hosts constantly remind us of current events, and update those who’ve, “just joined us,” to capture any stray remote clickers that pass by. There is an element of intimacy as the hosts address you in a close way across time and space, but also remain distant to uphold authority. The show is run by their conversation, expressed in a colloquial tone and the content is presented in numerous mini-events as they transition between news and media.

With all these characteristics Sunrise tries to disguise itself as normality to our everyday lives, when in fact it is a media event. Through the show we can see television connect to the family form of social organisation; also achieving this in national terms as a crucial category of social identity. According to Benedict Anderson’s understanding of a nation defined as, “an imagined… community,” it’s noted that, “communities are to be distinguished, not by their falsity/genuineness, but by the style in which they are imagined,” always conceived as a deep, horizontal comradeship (Anderson, B; 1991). Television is an important technology in ‘conceiving’ this comradeship; keeping alive the idea we are a certain culture, our sense of belonging and national identity.

The London Olympics Opening Ceremony (2012) is a representation of extraordinary television, a media spectacle that acts to displace itself from the everyday to gain viewers. The Opening Ceremony, like other media events can be seen as a, “high holiday of mass communication,” where routine and the normal flow of broadcasting is interrupted to, “transform daily life into something special” (Dayan, D and Katz, E; 1994). These types of “programs… demand and receive focused attention,” providing, “an invitation – even a command – to stop… daily routines and join in a holiday experience” (Dayan, D and Katz, E; 1994). Dayan and Katz note these programs are characterised by the norm of viewing in which people tell each other that it is mandatory to watch, therefore “integrat[ing] societies in a collective heartbeat and evok[ing] a renewal of loyalty to the society and its legitimate authority” (Dayan, D and Katz, E; 1994).

The London Opening Ceremony added appeal with the, “unpredictability” (Levin, G; 2014) of the live event and the fact these moments were occurring in real time had the ability to, “transfix a nation or the world” (Dayan, D and Katz, E; 1994). Danny Boyle, the ceremony’s creative director, brought performative aesthetics to the ceremony, with elaborate sets, costumes and spectacles. The viewer is able to visually tell what they are watching is live from cues such as extras helping out and the OH&S officers on the side lines of the performance. Throughout the show commentators narrate on what’s happening, therefore you watch the show through the eyes of someone else, which here is British commentators speaking about what they see from a British perspective. This makes the content mediated by the commentators, as they appeal to a sense of British Nationalism and try to appeal to their audience demographic by tying in relevant concepts relevant to their heritage. However, the show acts to associate the world audience by drawing on concepts of industrial revolution, multiculturalism, British music and technological advancements which was all tied together with the internet. At the end of the sequence the infamous words of Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the worldwide web, “This is for everyone!” is written across the audience, the word everyone ties in to all watching from across the world, promoting the fact that all this heritage has paved the path for the world we live in today.

The Opening Ceremony exhibits how audiences can immediately engage with an arrangement in a different country through the festivity of the media event we feel a part of something bigger, a broader society and collective, that at this moment sits around the television watching the spectacle.

References

Anderson, B 1991. Imagined communities: reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism, Verso, London & New York, pp. 1-9.

Dayan, D and Katz, E 1994. Media Events: The Live Broadcasting of History, Harvard University Press, United States of America.

Levin, G 2014. Live spectacles draw eyeballs to all screens, USA Today.

Broadcast news is defined by its ‘live-ness’ or sometimes simulation of being live with pre-recorded content. The show adheres to the ritualistic nature of society which is crucial to the ideological authority of the media itself as personification of television in your home. Where the show is positioned in the schedule is designed for the nuclear family audience, for example the five o’clock news affords the ideal of the imagined family, a time when the father gets home from work and the children from school therefore being home to hear the current events. The flow and segmentation work so that a complex number of events come to together to make the show, with a hierarchy in relation to what is seen as important or ‘breaking news’. And lastly there is a typical authoritative nature about the anchor as the voice of the nation, being the only person addressing you directly they work to achieve a simulation of conversation.

“At varying points… increasingly from the mid-1970s onwards, TV escaped the confines of domestic space: platforms of delivery proliferated, and TV screens began to appear everywhere,” and, “as TV mutated, it’s solid normativity… began to unravel” (Turner, G and Tay, J; 2009). A post-broadcast era saw changes in television institutions/major players, technologies of production distribution and consumption, audience practices and aesthetic sensibilities. Some of these changes can be seen in The Daily Show episode ‘Parliament Slight’ aired in the lecture.

It should be noted that when you turn on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart visually there’s not much difference to a typical broadcast news show as identified above. A smartly dressed, educated and well-spoken middle aged man sits behind a desk with geographical screens in the background – however, Stewart uses these ideals for a completely different agenda than to simply report to the public. Stewart “provid[es] a counterbalance to the staid traditional news reporter through his use of jokes and exaggerated faces,” (Painter, C and Hodges, L; 2010) and represents the voice of the people, conveyed in the conversational tone the people speak in. The content of The Daily Show is another aspect that is representational of post-broadcast as the topics aren’t the big stories but subjects that would be seen as a type of filler in a broadcast situation. The content also identifies the conflict between the American and British systems, as Stewart, “uses comedy to illustrate his anger,” over the censorship of his show in the UK and, “interrogates the content of the news media, the ‘real’ news that is arguably failing its democratic function” (Painter, C and Hodges, L; 2010). Through this we are able to identify a difference of broadcast systems over cultural backgrounds – US television system though driven by commercial market exhibits a fundamental freedom by trying to create a conversation, while the British television system, which was derived from the end of the war notion with an empire in pieces, was and arguably still is made to restore the confidence people once had.

The segments are also longer and sometimes rely on pre-determined knowledge of the show to understand the punch line. There is a live audience and emphasis on their presence through reactions, a significant factor to the comedic side of the show. By airing the show at 11/10 central along with similar television series like The Colbert Report (2005), the show displays an understanding of audience practices in scheduling to adapt to the modern viewer and therefore takes a later time slot to traditional news. Furthermore, the show demonstrates an acceptance towards personal news and online aggregation with the ability for viewers to watch clips online. However, there are also limits on distribution, for example in trying to obtain the clip from class I was met by the lovely message below on the Comedy Central website. The message in itself is a perfect example of how distribution has changed, as though there is more content than in a solely broadcast realm, that content isn’t always made readily available to the entire public as there are still television institutions and major players who have the ability to control what we watch and where.

Through this comparison  of broadcast and post-broadcast news we can see there are a broader body of codes and conventions ingrained in cultural characteristics, it’s how these things are changing in the environment and being reinvented that continues to evolve television to a post-broadcast environment.

References

Painter, C and Hodges, L, 2010. ‘Mocking the News: How The Daily Show with Jon Stewart Holds Traditional Broadcast News Accountable.’ Journal of Mass Media Ethics, vol.25, Taylor & Francis Group, pp.257-274.

Turner, G and Tay, J, 2009. ‘Television Studies After TV: Understanding Television in the Post-Broadcast Era.’ Taylor & Francis Group, pp. 1-6.