Active Audience Question 2

2. For me, social context definitely influences my experience of movie and television viewing. When considering how I interpret what I watch and how that’s influenced by those around me, the first thing I thought about was my role as a parent. It makes a big difference in the way I think about movies or television if I’m watching something with my boys, or if I’m watching it with them in mind. If I’m thinking about if something is appropriate for them to watch, I’m much more sensitive to cursing, violence, and underlying themes. My boys will occasionally ask if they can watch a movie that I have already seen, and I have to go back and look up what is in the movie because I wasn’t watching it with my “parent eyes” the first time I saw it. Watching with “parent eyes” is a very different experience for me than watching things for my own pleasure. When watching television or movies with my boys, I’m constantly thinking about how they are interpreting what is on the screen. (When I’m focused on being a good parent anyway haha). This article https://storify.com/Mike_OD42/active-audience-reception-theory talks about movies like Toy Story that have different messages particularly for kids and parents. These types of movies are some of my favorite movies to watch with my kids, because we can all enjoy them.

When I’m watching something away from my boys, I don’t try to analyze it as much, I just enjoy it. I have found that watching Netflix on my iPad with headphones is very immersive, and sometimes when I really want to just turn my brain off and enter a story for a few minutes, I’ll watch tv that way. When I’m watching something completely alone like that and I’m just focused on what I’m watching and not doing housework or anything else, that’s when I’m most able to enjoy a storyline and not focus on being critical.

Hypodermic Model

In researching what the hypodermic model is, I found this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-toj0weAEM, which used advertisements as an example of how the hypodermic model can work. It made me think of how cereal advertisements have changed. In the past sugary cereals (like Lucky Charms) had commercials aimed right at children and they were shown during children's programming. Here's an example from the 90's:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=foghWSflbIA. Now, people are more concerned about children's health and commercials like these are seen as irresponsible. Now, more Lucky Charms commercials are aimed at adults. To watch one example, click here. This is because many people firmly believe that if children see a commercial for a sugary cereal, they will have no choice but to beg for the cereal until their parents buy it for them. Here's an article about that: http://domain.me/kids-and-advertising.

I'm torn about how I feel about marketing sugary cereals to kids. We know that the hypodermic model has been proven incorrect, but we also know that advertising does have an affect on people, especially impressionable children. As a parent, I monitor how much screen time my boys have and I have taught them to fast-forward through commercials whenever possible.

What do you think about the relationship between advertisements and the hypodermic model?