Reception theory

Stuart Hall is a cultural theorist who looked at the relationship between the text and the audience. He suggested that meanings are fluid and open to interpretation depending on context and the consumer’s experiences as individuals as well as communities.

Negotiated reading:

Somewhere between the preferred and op positional reading. The message is modified (partly accepted and partly rejected) depending on the individual experiences of the audience (e.g their age, gender or social class).

1) What is the preferred reading of a media text?

The meaning the producers intend to communicate. This builds on the idea that producers can position the audience in a certain way and influence their reading so they accept the intended message by using recognised codes and conventions (such as stereotypes).

2) What is the op positional reading of a media text?

The op positional reading goes against the meaning the producers are trying to create. The audience reject the intended message and construct an opposite reading instead. This can be due to their own social, political or moral beliefs and values. 

3) How does the Harry Brown trailer position the audience to respond to the teenage characters in the film?

- This can make older audiences have a negative perspective on younger people, since its showing that younger people are troublesome withholding a bad reputation.

4) Why might young people reject this reading and construct an op positional reading of the trailer?

 -     Young people may take this as an op positional reading since this depicts young people as rebellious. It sets a bad reputation for although they already have a bad reputation.

5) Write a 150+ word analysis of the McDonald's advert using preferred, negotiated and op positional readings.

-Preferred reading : The burger is something new to people, exciting and interesting. It's introducing a new flavour and sauce, which is very intriguing to the audience.

Negotiated reading: The negotiated audience might think that although it's seems delicious and tasty, McDonald's should've introduced something a bit healthier for people, as its very unhealthy, people who are dieting might not find a suitable option for themselves, yet again it's a fast food company so they wouldn't prioritise that. 

Opposition reading: The op positional audience might point out that McDonald's doesn't have much vegan option or vegetarian options for people. They might feel excluded because McDonald's doesn't introduce many options for people who are vegan or vegetarian. It's also not much different to the other burgers, except from the fact it's being introduced as "bigger". This might lead to it not making as much sales as they would like it to make. - 150 words