LFTVD question 3 assessment PLAN

'Representations of social, cultural and historical events can vary within long form TV dramas from different countries.' Discuss how and why audiences might respond to and interpret these representations differently. (30)

In your answer you must:

• consider the contexts in which long form TV dramas are produced and consumed. 
• Explain how media contexts may have influenced different aspects of realism and audience response in The Killing and Stranger Things. 
• Make judgements and reach conclusions about the differences in realism of social, cultural and historical circumstances between the two set episodes. 

My interpretation of the question: Events in LFTVD are represented differently depending on the country and audiences react to them differently, why is this? 

MY PLAN

Intro: Micro. Industry as a whole. Differences in DR and Netflix ans how this affects the different audiences that they have. Mass vs niche audience. 

Social Context

 The Killing- social attitudes of gender with the male politicians wanting power vs an ambitious female protagonist (Lund). Lund is shown to be more powerful than Meyer and also to be more mature and professional (has a picture of family on the wall which is replaced by a basketball hoop from Meyer) therefore challenging patriarchal power which suggests that Denmark has a view of being more accepting of women in powerful roles. 

Stranger Things- representations shaped by the social nostalgia exploration of 1980s America showing what it meant to be a traditional 'perfect' family (The Wheelers) who had items such as sprinklers, TV. Counter-type representations to this 'perfect family' shown by the Byers- small house, no green area. This shows the contrast in people in America in the 1980s. Different gender roles shown- Joyce passionate single mother vs Ted Wheeler can't seem to do anything as a father. This shows the different gender perfomativity- Butler. Gender relations- Steve shown to be the typical popular boy who is liked by many girls and Nancy is shown to be different from a lot of girls as she likes Steve but is more focused on her studies. Why is it that girls are shown to be carrying books all the time- are they expected to have to work harder than men? There were more women gaining power in the 1980s but still a divide between men and women with thoughts of what it was like to be the perfect housewife still present from the 1950s. America in the 1980s was a big time for a lot of change and uncertainty, which is represented by Stranger Things being polygeneric- Steve Neal. 

Cultural Context 

The Killing- Tension between Denmark and Sweden shown through language used when Lund says that she is moving there. A racist term used which shows that Denmark has issues with race. The audience of The Killing will have to be educated and culturally aware to pick up on these issues mentioned which is why it was mainly an ABC1 audience. 

Stranger Things- Lucas called 'midnight' which is racist towards him showing that racism was very present in the 1980s- Stuart Hall 'othering'. The USA became more interested in space as space developments were being made- the use of another dimension in the show represents the more exploitative culture that America now had. 

Historical Context

The Killing- The election happening at the time and represented in The Killing as politicians being untrustworthy with the Mayor and Troels Hartmann being very shady. The culture of the tension between Denmark and Sweden is due to the history the countries have. 

Stranger Things- Hawkin's Lab based on experiments in the 1950s during MK Ultra where scientists were trying to discover if people could control other people- due to this history, Stranger Things has chosen to have Eleven which represents this event and people will have been scared of this character as it was a scary period of time. The use of racism from the still racist culture of 1980s America is due to the history in which it has- Slave Trade.