Media Ethnography
For this week's activity I watched my fiancee Melissa watch the Style channel's televsion program called, "Whose Wedding is it Anyway." When she was done watching the program I asked her a series of questions getting at why she liked the show, when and where she typically watched it, and her preferrences for watching the program. Her responses were very intriguing, and they revealed a certain type of transaction that takes place between Melissa and the program. In essence, meaning has been created for Melissa within this show as a result of her position within a social context.
When I asked Melissa why she liked the show she said, "Because it is about weddings, getting married, and it provides ideas for planning weddings, and since we are getting married the show is very interesting." She then went on to name some of the various ideas that the show has provided her with in her own planning. After hearing all of this I asked Melissa if she watched the show before she got engaged and if she knew much about the show prior to our engagement. Her answers were very interesting. Melissa said that she was not interested in this show at all before her engagement saying that it was not relevant, and "I had no use for it." She continued on by saying that she would probably now continue to watch the show long after she got married as she would be able to forever relate to the emotions experienced by the individuals being followed through the entire wedding process. In fact, Melissa has become so engrossed with the show that she says, "It is one of the few shows where I say close to the T.V. during commercial breaks, and I don't tend to multitask when I'm watching it." The very last thing that I asked Melissa was why she liked this particular wedding show over the dozens of others that one is able to find on T.V. She then told me that this was a very educational show in comparison to others, and that "I learn from it." She added that other shows tend to be consumed by drama and conflict, where this show focuses more on the wedding as a process and it shows you how to get from the beginning of the process to the end successfully.
From this short interview it is easy to see that the meaning of this show is contructed socially for Melissa. She is able to relate to is as she is going through the same process as the brides being shown, and after getting engaged she all of a sudden has the social knowledge required to really enjoy the show. Also, she felt very strongly about how this was an educational program. In this way, Melissa is walking away with social capital, in the form of knowlege, that she did not have before. Her habits of focusing solely on the program while it is on and staying close to the T.V. during commercial breaks illustrate the importance that she places on gaining this new found knowledge. Melissa is then able to transfer this knowledge across texts as she looks critically at bridal magazines, retail outfits, and print from other hirable services in the process of planning her own wedding. As the primary planner of her wedding Melissa prefers to watch the show alone, or with those immediately involved in helping her plan the wedding. Therefore, the social environment in which she watches the show excludes her acquantences that have not gone through this process before.
In short, Melissa matches viewing "Whose wedding is it Anyway" with her own process of planning a wedding. In this way, this television text becomes incorporated into her social schema for brides, grooms, and everything in between. Much of the time, what she sees on the show helps her to make decisions and to evaluate how she would like her own wedding to take shape. As a result, the show takes on an intimate meaning for Melissa, and this meaning can only be experience by people within Melissa's same social context. It is for these reasons that the transaction between the text and the viewer has become so powerful in Melissa's case.
For this week's activity I watched my fiancee Melissa watch the Style channel's televsion program called, "Whose Wedding is it Anyway." When she was done watching the program I asked her a series of questions getting at why she liked the show, when and where she typically watched it, and her preferrences for watching the program. Her responses were very intriguing, and they revealed a certain type of transaction that takes place between Melissa and the program. In essence, meaning has been created for Melissa within this show as a result of her position within a social context.
When I asked Melissa why she liked the show she said, "Because it is about weddings, getting married, and it provides ideas for planning weddings, and since we are getting married the show is very interesting." She then went on to name some of the various ideas that the show has provided her with in her own planning. After hearing all of this I asked Melissa if she watched the show before she got engaged and if she knew much about the show prior to our engagement. Her answers were very interesting. Melissa said that she was not interested in this show at all before her engagement saying that it was not relevant, and "I had no use for it." She continued on by saying that she would probably now continue to watch the show long after she got married as she would be able to forever relate to the emotions experienced by the individuals being followed through the entire wedding process. In fact, Melissa has become so engrossed with the show that she says, "It is one of the few shows where I say close to the T.V. during commercial breaks, and I don't tend to multitask when I'm watching it." The very last thing that I asked Melissa was why she liked this particular wedding show over the dozens of others that one is able to find on T.V. She then told me that this was a very educational show in comparison to others, and that "I learn from it." She added that other shows tend to be consumed by drama and conflict, where this show focuses more on the wedding as a process and it shows you how to get from the beginning of the process to the end successfully.
From this short interview it is easy to see that the meaning of this show is contructed socially for Melissa. She is able to relate to is as she is going through the same process as the brides being shown, and after getting engaged she all of a sudden has the social knowledge required to really enjoy the show. Also, she felt very strongly about how this was an educational program. In this way, Melissa is walking away with social capital, in the form of knowlege, that she did not have before. Her habits of focusing solely on the program while it is on and staying close to the T.V. during commercial breaks illustrate the importance that she places on gaining this new found knowledge. Melissa is then able to transfer this knowledge across texts as she looks critically at bridal magazines, retail outfits, and print from other hirable services in the process of planning her own wedding. As the primary planner of her wedding Melissa prefers to watch the show alone, or with those immediately involved in helping her plan the wedding. Therefore, the social environment in which she watches the show excludes her acquantences that have not gone through this process before.
In short, Melissa matches viewing "Whose wedding is it Anyway" with her own process of planning a wedding. In this way, this television text becomes incorporated into her social schema for brides, grooms, and everything in between. Much of the time, what she sees on the show helps her to make decisions and to evaluate how she would like her own wedding to take shape. As a result, the show takes on an intimate meaning for Melissa, and this meaning can only be experience by people within Melissa's same social context. It is for these reasons that the transaction between the text and the viewer has become so powerful in Melissa's case.
posted by nbuck at 4:22 PM
1 Comments:
It's really interesting that a change such as getting engaged can make such a difference in television viewing. I wonder if the show specifically aims at this type of audience. Would it aim at people who want to get married or who need ideas on how to plan one? Also, I wonder if engaged men tend to watch it (my guess would be no). It's also interesting that Melissa said a big part of it was learning something. Usefulness is not typically associated with television. Usually TV is a sort of escape from reality, not a tool for it.
Post a Comment
<< Home