Audience Theories- Slasher

Films

By Shivani Surti

Uses & Gratification theory

One theory is the ‘Uses and gratification’ theory. This theory describes how the public actively seek out specific media content for gratification purposes. The knowledge enhances as well as fulfils certain needs.

The audience that are associated with this theory are know as an ‘active’ audience. Audiences watch ‘Slasher’ films at the cinema or at home, for their own enjoyment. The audience prefer to watch ‘Slasher’ films as they can get an adrenaline rush and they use media texts to gratify themselves, for example for pleasure or escapism. The audience that come under this model are free to reject, use or play with the media in a way that suits them. One example is, if someone is to watch a ‘Slasher’ film and the psycho killer is killing the girls within the film, the ‘active’ audience know that this isn’t moral thing to do in reality so they wouldn’t be encouraged to imitate any of the behaviour, they would use this for entertainment purposes only.

Two-step flow Theory

Another audience theory is, ‘Two step two’. This theory suggests that the public form their opinions under the influence of opinion leaders, which are influenced by the mass media. Ideas are passed from mass media to opinion leaders to the wider population. An example of this is people go to watch films based on reviews and ratings from popular magazines and websites. The better the reviews and ratings the more likely people will consider watching the film. Based on this theory, people who normally don’t watch ‘Slasher’ films may consider, due to the opinions formed about the film. This audience is seen as ‘passive’ as their actions are reliant on others opinions. The magazine total film is a well respected film magazine, if they were to advertise a ‘Slasher’ film poster with considerably high ratings, the audiences will be influenced into watching the film as they trust the opinions of people who are confident within the film industry.

Cultivation Theory

A final theory, is the cultivation theory. The cultivation

theory could suggests that the film industry distorts and

cultivates reality. The audience of this theory are known

as ‘passive’. Heavy exposure to films can lead the viewers

to believe that what happens in the film ‘world’ is

consistent to what is happening in the real world. For

example, people have been watching films for so many

years and in that time the effect a ‘dark alley’ has on

people is negative. This is because people have seen how

‘dark alleys’ are presented on films such as ‘Slasher’ films

in an negative way, so audiences think that this applies in

the ‘real world’ and this helped cultivate the way society

thinks.