Mad Men - audience responses

        'Explore the different ways in which audiences and/or users respond to your chosen texts'


Representation of gender

There is a lot of binary opposition that occurs in Mad Men, and this represents the changing in the roles of women as the era of the show enters into the 60's.
Peggy is the representation of the contemporary women, her intelligence, intellect and independence portrays her as less dependent on males and the idea that women have finally broken free of the oppression they had under males. In a review by the 'Orange Couch', when talking about Peggy moving onto her new job, it mentions "...this is the future for women, your gender is finally not the only thing you're evaluated by." This review demonstrates the idea that the gratifications that people,  most likely women, will gain from it - a sense of power and the fact that women were finally stepping up.

Furthermore, Joan represents the complete opposite to Peggy, and this is where we see binary opposition. Joan works her way up by using her sexuality as her advantage, rather than intelligence. She is meant to represent a women of the 50's, like Marilyn Monroe for example, she is an illustration of beauty, this is evident in the way she dresses and speaks, as well as her body structure.
'Mad Men wiki' explains the role of Joan and her character in the show.

LOST ENIGMA CODES

LOST is a television series that came on air in 2004. It was created by JJ Abrams, and the score was composed by Michael Giacchino. It tells the misfortunes of an ensemble cast who get stranded on a mysterious island due to a plane crash. It's intended audience is wide, mainstream, and the text contains conventions that would gratify an active and passive audience.

The series contains many enigma codes, to draw the audience into watching the further episodes, providing gratifications for an active audience who are eager to discover what will happen next. This is evident in my chosen episode when Walt, a young, black boy is out searching for his dog, when he comes across a set of handcuffs. When he sees them the pace of the score begins to increase, and his expression demonstrates the curiosity he feels, as well as the build up of the pace of the score and the volume of it, which can help the audience feel the way he does: curious. This also creates the narrative theme of paranoia, suggesting a sense of mistrust. Straight after this happens the screen goes black. This has been constructed in such a way that causes the audience (both passive and active) to ask questions, and feel the need to watch the next one for answers.

LOST

Identify who the intended audience is

LOST - a drama, a TV series based around an ensemble cast of people whose plane crashes on a mysterious island. The series contains many different conventions that are typical to the mainstream television show.

Active:

active audiences will watch the show and