Disney – one of the most recognized symbols
When one thinks of Disney, it is hard not to be reminded of a positive childhood memory, or a favourite Disney character. Whether it was the fantasy of being a princess falling in love with a prince, or a certain melody that ignited the senses – there’s always a warm heart feeling that takes over.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eVaQ-jkNnY&feature=related
Disney’s main message or meaning revolves around the universally accepted themes of family, magic, happiness, and fun. It gave families meaning, dreams, and hope; and for that matter it still does. However, Disney’s audience doesn’t always interpret Disney’s message the way it was intended. The article, Disney and the World, by Janet Wasko works to define the Disney audience, discusses the ways in which Disney audiences have been studied, and explores the different audience archetypes. All of which point out the variations of audience’ interpretations and what we the audience does with the media.
Disney’s audience has always targeted the “family” in general, but have also targeted audiences of every age. From children to seniors, and from theme parks to sports events.
The ways in which the audience’s are studied are through media corporations such as ARI (Audience Research Institute) and through Academic Research. All of which helped to predict responses from the audience.
What was established were a variety of audience categories. This ranged from the Disney fanatic to the Disney cynics.
The focus is what the audience does with the media. To put this into perspective, we have the Transmission Model. This model infers that Disney (the source) sends a message through a medium whether it be a movie or a book, to the audience (the receiver), and produces some sort of effect. The effect is the way in which the audience reacts and deals with the message being received.
This brings in the encoding and decoding theme of Stuart Hall. Here, Disney encodes their message to the audience who has to decode the message. It is in the decoding process where people’s understanding may be misinterpreted (in the way that Disney wants it to be), and thus exposes the different “audiences” based on their reactions to the message.
Disney fanatics for example, fall in love with Disney and its meanings and show this love by getting 1 000 tattoos imprinted on their body - crazy I know but true. Others get so caught up in their own fantasies that they get married in Cinderella’s castle! On a more down to earth level, some audience’s engage in fan clubs, fan magazines, or on-line sites which contribute to the effects media has on the audience.
On the other end of the spectrum, there are those that see Disney as a business corporation which tends to mean they are in it solely for the money. Thus, there are those audiences who don’t give in to consuming products. Disney antagonists go to the extreme trying to get people to go against Disney’s company and its products. Some even try reinterpreting Disney by creating characters like Mickey Mouse that do the opposite of what Disney deems to be moral. This includes Mickey smoking dope and such.
Here we see that Disney tried to create a positive message that promoted good values. They were successful in the sense that Disney has a universal awareness of its intended meanings. However, there is still a percentage of the audience that disagree but are still aware of these messages.
It is refreshing to look at the audience instead of always focusing on the media and whether they are doing right or wrong. It is one thing to voice an opinion, but here we see the extremes of what audiences do with the media they consume. Whether it was embracing a way of life, or reshaping characters in a negative light. Audiences play an important role and contribute to the cycle of the media.
Stephanie P.
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