Audience Theory Essay

Audience Theory Essay

The film I studied to complete this essay was Memento (2000), directed by Christopher Nolan. Memento is a physiological film that works from front to back; this grasps viewer attention and keeps them focused. Lenard Shelby, the main character and narrative of the movie he has no memory except for he can remember things about his face and he can also remember his dead wife; to remember important information he either tattoos it on his body or takes Polaroid photographs and writes on them.

The first scene in the movie gave a significant sense of what this movie would include through-out. The first camera shot that is shown is of Lenard holding the Polaroid of a crime scene, as the titles role in the slow classical music gets louder as the Polaroid fades. The main character Lenard narratives the film however, it only happens when scenes switch to black and white. Memento is difficult to understand if the consumer doesn’t watch it from the first scene to the last; most viewer may find the colour of the scenes switching confusing however it makes it clearer for the reader to follow because black and white allows the Lenard (main character) to explain where he is in the story and the coloured scenes are working backwards (retracing steps) to the murder and rape of his wife.

There were violent/disturbing scenes in the movie such as, physical fighting, gun shots and crime scenes. There’s a particular scene in the movie where Lenard is have a gun is confused and he doesn’t know weather he being chased or chasing someone else although he continues for shot his gun as if it a normal thing. I don’t believe that send the right message out the people. In my opinion these scenes didn’t affect me because I personally know that behaviour isn’t acceptable in daily life. In the parts of the film where is get violent it’s clear to the consumer the film is dark and an unhappy place because of the characters reactions. A theory that could represent this to other people could be the ‘Copy Cat Theory’ which simply shows that bad behaviour is imitated by others. The Desensitisation Theory suggests that the audience’s attitudes could change because of the types of media consumed. Therefore if any viewer has been in a similar situation as Lenard they may believe it’s normal to kill some-one or have random gun fights in the street. This theory doesn’t just affect victims (widowed Lenard) but I may show criminal new crimes and the different ways of life, this would not benefit our society.

There are many different reasons why people may consume Memento this could be because the movie trailer attracted them or they were effected by the Hypodermics Syringe Theory where other people tell them what to watch because of recommendation and the audience watch it without realising what the film may entail. The Hypodermic Syringe Theory is often used in media as it’s an effective way of getting different audiences to consumer the media. Characters can be identified with issues in some people’s lives they are people that may have lost loved ones and people that care for people that have lost their memory. 

Memento has a large sum of movie reviews on the internet and may of them with similar content this maybe because of the ‘Hypodermic Syringe Theory’. So many people may see the reviews that have been posted on the internet by reading them they made believe other people opinions instead of making there own opinion. The vague ending leaves more for discussion and puts importance on the two step flow theory as this film could have very different interpretations.

When I first watched the film I was completely confused and had to watch it again, after my second viewing of the film it was very clear that the film was working backwards. I believe that other peoples interpretation varied some people understood the film immediately and others got confused, once again I believe the ‘Copy-Cat Theory’ is why some people reacted in that way to the different ways to the film.  

In this film there are different types of denotations, some consumers may talk about there opinions and what they understood and don’t understand about Memento, this is known as ‘The Two-Step Flow’. Consumers of Memento will talk to others about this film as they can find the ability to understand the film where it’s quite confusing for some viewers and then afterwards it would be discussed among the viewers of the film.

The theories I believe were most useful to the analysis in this text were the ‘Hypodermic Syringe Theory’ and ‘Two Step Flow. I believe this because of the internet reviews, the movie trailer and the film. The ‘Hypodermic Syringe Theory’ is used a lot because it influences the viewer to that it’s normal to have the same behaviour as Lenard. Also there is a scene in the film where Lenard hit Natile that may sub-consciously tell male viewer that when they have a bad temper is acceptable to hurt a woman. I also believe the. ‘Two Step Flow’ influences bad behaviour as it is shown through the media

In my conclusion I believe audience theories such as the’ Hypodermic Syringe ‘, Copy-Cat’, ‘Two Step Flow’ are always included in all types of media.