Page 57 - Battleground The Media Volume 1 and 2

| Aud ence Power to Res st

consumers. Researchers Elihu Katz and Tamar Liebes, for instance, found that
Arab viewers of Dallas enjoyed the television program, yet rejected outright its
glorification of American capitalism, seeing the program instead as an illustra-
tion of all that is wrong with American capitalism, and seeing its characters
as immoral. Sometimes, then, messages can “boomerang,” swinging back on
themselves. The ultrapatriotic film Independence Day remains one of the global
box office’s all-time champions, but viewers from Vancouver to Hong Kong re-
ported audiences cheering the scene in which aliens destroy the White House,
suggesting the degree to which audiences can empathize with various figures in
a media narrative, and can actively read against the narrative’s interests.

LimiTaTions oF ThE aCTivE auDiEnCE aPProaCh
However, the example of American media overseas also highlights the lim-
itations of active audience theory. First of all, while international viewers may
have rejected Dallas and Independence Day, they were still stuck with the shows.
We might be able to read against a media message, but that gives us no power in
and of itself to create a new or better message. Thus, we should never romanti-
cize reading against the grain as an “answer” to problematic messages. Nation-
ally chauvinist, racist, sexist, or other detrimental messages are best challenged
by messages that are not detrimental, and as powerful an act as the deflection of
detrimental messages can be, such an act does not create better messages. With
the news, for instance, we might sense that coverage is biased, but in the absence
of alternative coverage, we are left with only the biased account.
Second, reading against the grain can prove tiring. Many of us turn on the
television or our CD player, go to a movie, or buy a book or magazine in order
to relax. In such situations, it is often easier to read with the grain. While all of
us are capable of “active” viewing, and while all of us are active viewers at some
point, the experience of being a passive viewer is often sought out and relished.
At certain times, we might “forget” to be active, or might go along with a media
message merely because we are not in the mood to fight it.
Ultimately, it is helpful to view media effects as akin to the sowing of seeds.
Seeds—or messages—are scattered liberally on the ground—or audience. Many
seeds will fail to grow, but others will flourish. What makes the media powerful
is not that they regularly convince all viewers to follow their messages, for this is
rarely if ever the case. Rather, the media are powerful because occasional seeds
do grow. To become confused and believe that all seeds grow is foolish, but we
would be equally foolish to assume that simply because many seeds die on the
ground, therefore all seeds perish. For example, many listeners may dismiss a
racist song as vile, but its power lies with the few listeners who take it to heart.

auDiEnCE rEBELLion
Beyond simply fighting a media message in the act of consumption, audi-
ences can also mobilize themselves in ways that speak back to media creators.
Peggy Charren’s successful initiative to start a parents advocacy group, Action
for Children’s Television, ended in pushing Congress to introduce legislation