5 HW 5 | Stuart Hall Reading | Film
Stuart Hall’s reception theory of audience interpretation posits that audiences can decode media texts in three ways: dominant, negotiated, or oppositional:
Dominant readingThe audience accepts the producer’s preferred reading of the text. This can happen when the audience is the same age and culture as the producer, the messages are clear, and the narrative is easy to follow.What is the preferred reading?
Negotiated readingThe audience accepts some of the producer’s views, but also has their own views. This can happen when the audience likes the media, but the narrative is complex. What is the negotiated reading?
Oppositional readingThe audience rejects the producer’s preferred reading and creates their own meaning for the text. This can happen when the media contains controversial themes or has a complex narrative structure. What would you say is an oppositional reading of this film??
Hall’s theory is based on the idea that the media text is a vehicle of dominant ideology, and that the audience’s social situation can lead them to adopt different stances. Despite the fact that films have ideology, the audience always has their own reading.
Assignment: Watch this short film: Off the Rails (2021). Think about Stuart Hall’s reception theory of audience. Provide a dominant, negotiated, and oppositional reading of Off the Rails. This assignment will include well thought out opinion.
