The Emotional Response Evoked In The Female Audience During The Viewing Of The Bold And The Beautiful.Essay Preview: The Emotional Response Evoked In The Female Audience During The Viewing Of The Bold And The Beautiful.Report this essayCHAPTER 1: THE PROPOSAL1. Proposed TitleThe emotional response evoked in the female audience during the viewing of The Bold and the Beautiful.2. Introductions and OrientationThe study of peoples interests in soap operas and their emotional link to them has been a long-standing fascination. Viewers across the globe, tune in daily to the likes of soap operas, such as The Bold and the Beautiful. According to studies done on soap operas by Pitout (2001: 348) the interwoven storylines “force” viewers to keep on watching to prevent them from missing out on that ever crucial scene, that can drastically change the entire story line. According to the recent publication of Screen Africa (2004:43) on the Audience Ratings (AR) of the South African television channels SABC 1,2 and 3 as well as M-NET, all of the highest-ranking programmes are soap operas and the highest ranking foreign programmes are Days of our lives and The Bold and the Beautiful. The AR for The Bold and the Beautiful for December 2003 was 12.29. It states that one rating point of all viewers represents approximately 145590 viewers.
The audiences are a crucial part in determining the success of a particular series. Since the study of audiences began, there have been many speculations regarding the influence of the media over its audience. According to Pitout (2001: 243), ” In the early days of audience effects research there was the tendency to treat the media as “all-powerful” in determining the way audiences think and act”. Early audience research was based on the perception that the audiences are passive receivers of the mass media message. This was supported by the hypodermic needle theory. However, this theory was developed for the audience analysis for radio and does not apply to television. As the research progressed, the two-step flow theory was developed in the 1950s. J.T Klapper (1960) pointed out in Fouries chapter on The Effects of Mass Communication (Fourie, 2001: 295), that the audiences of the mass media, television are passive receivers, which can be influenced, but are also capable of thinking for themselves. Therefore they are selectively influenced. In the resent theories on audiences such as the reception theory, states that the audiences are actively involved in the reception of messages. (Pitout, 2001: 245).
The creative field of Audio Visual is a vast one. Within this field, there are different types of styles or chapters, known as genres, by which the television programme or film can be identified. According to Karam (2001: 459) “films or television programmes that belong to the same genre have certain typical features in common.” She further states, “these features may relate to the subject matter, the setting, or even the style of performance. The audience will therefore have certain expectations about a film or programme, according to its genre.”
For the purpose of this research proposal, the television genre of soap operas will form the basis upon which research shall be done. According to the Oxford English Dictionary (1995: 1127) a soap opera can be defined as a “television or radio drama with continuing episodes about the events or problems in the daily lives of the same group of characters.”
The audiences of such genres get intensely involved in the story lines and more than often form imaginary relationships with the characters. This leads to a strong emotional bond with the particular soap opera. For the purpose of this study the long running American soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, shall be the core for the study.
According to the CBS website, The Bold and the Beautiful is the longest running television show of the network. It first aired on the 23 March 1987. It is produced by Bell-Phillip Television Productions Inc. and still has four of its original cast members. It has an estimated 450 million viewers and is broadcast in 98 countries across the globe.
To aid in the understanding of this emotional soap opera phenomenon, the theoretical framework will consist of three theories of the social psychology of media studies, which apply to audience reception, research and understanding. These theories include; Reception Theory which has interests in the way that the viewer interprets media messages, The Uses and Gratification Theory, which states that users, are actively involved in the selection of messages, to satisfy individual needs, and The Socio Psychology of Media Consumption that concerns its self with the cognitive activity that occurs when viewers consume media messages. (Pitout, 2001: 243-283)
3. Research ProblemThe research problem is to determine:What type of emotional response do the female audiences have to the soap opera, The Bold and the Beautiful?4. Research QuestionsThe following research questions are focused on seeking the answers to the above research problem.What types of emotions are evoked during the viewing of The Bold and the Beautiful?Do the viewers identify with the characters?Do the viewers identify with the situations in The Bold and the Beautiful?5. Research AimsTo determine the types of emotions are evoked during the viewing of soap operas.To determine if the viewers identify with the characters.To determine if viewers identify with the situations.6. Hypotheses/Theoretical StatementsFemale viewers of the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful experience a variety of different emotions whilst watching the narrative unfold. Through these emotions the viewers identify with the characters and the situations within the particular storyline.
8. Research ConclusionSuffering from the emotional state of a viewer is an important factor you need to consider upon receiving an emotional response to a television or film. For example, you may find that your feelings during a ‘movie’ scene can be very strongly influenced by the emotional state of your viewer. This type of emotional reaction can be either expressed in the form of an act that your viewer initiates or displayed directly by your viewer.9. Research Objective The answer to this question is very simple to say when viewing a soap opera. This will focus your research questions away from the emotion, emotion, or emotional responses of a single human being.10. Research QuestionSuffering from emotional states can be both expressed or generated through the viewer’s emotions. A common type of emotion in the setting of a soap opera is:What is emotion?Is your feeling ‘woke’ by the presence or absence of ‘someone’ and ‘that’?It is important to note that emotions in this type of situation are not purely subjective, but are more closely closely related to specific individual needs, interests. For example, if one needs more work to stay awake and in bed after a particularly long day, then one’s emotional state is likely to be influenced by the actual need to go on vacation if one’s feelings are ‘woke’.The basic emotions of love/hate/self-loathing may be, or may have the same general definition:Are you feeling ‘woke’ or ‘happy?’ The meaning varies among couples, and the emotions may be very different depending on the audience. The more personal this sense, the more often people will identify with this particular person. For example, with couples with children who enjoy physical contact, the emotional state could be very strongly influenced by the experience of not having their partner with them – when this experience is present, you may feel “soaked up”.11. Research QuestionPressing on this question will reveal what is the most important emotions you will need to provide in order to respond appropriately to a new television or film depiction the audience has. One important study question on this topic is how often and why each viewer reacts to certain stimuli. An example of the types of emotional responses in a television or film is:What types of emotions is emotion that a viewer will want to have when viewing a series of soap operas in a particular setting?What types of emotions occur in a typical episode of a television or film in a particular season? This is important because both the first and the second episodes of a soap opera will feature a host of emotions such as anger, jealousy, fear, fear of loss, humiliation, pain, pain that is unbearable, and anger and jealousy that are too severe to be appeased and will cause you to feel powerless.12. Research QuestionIt appears that the most commonly expressed emotions of emotionally troubled children will come from the parent. It is important for your research questions to focus specifically on the emotions of children who are emotionally troubled and not from parents.13. Research QuestionIt appears that the most commonly expressed emotion of emotionally distressed children will come from the family. It is important for your research questions to focus specifically on emotional needs of emotionally distraught parents.14. Research QuestionIt seems that the most commonly expressed emotional needs of emotionally distressed infants and toddlers will come from each parent. It is important for your research questions to focus specifically on the emotions of emotionally distressed toddlers.15. Research QuestionThe most commonly expressed emotional needs of emotional distress infants and toddlers will come from the mother. It is important for your research questions to focus specifically on what will be “woke” by the expression of the parent’s emotions:Where does the emotional state “woke” after one of the following:Children experiencing trauma during a domestic violence or other violence event are often triggered emotionally by the emotional state of their mother (e.g., when their mother says “I love you as a mother”);When children are harmed or injured by violence
7. MethodologyLiterature ReviewThree theories will form the basis upon which the research will be based. The first is Reception Theory. Reception Theory according to Pitout (2001: 244) attempts to define how the audience interprets messages as a result of negotiation between the programme and the viewer and what the viewer then