Timed Essay 3
Why do long form television dramas from different countries offer different representations?
In this essay, I will be exploring how long form television dramas from different countries, such as ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Deutschland 83’, offer different representations due to their production and target audience.
The Duffer Brother’s 2016 ‘Stranger Things’ was produced for Netflix, an American streaming service. Netflix is entertainment driven, and appeals to a mass audience, meaning that consumers do not have to be American to buy into Netflix and their products. Users must pay a subscription fee to access the content, so Netflix must produce products that are entertaining and safe to maintain their audience engagement. Theorist Hesmondhalgh argues in his Cultural Industries theory that large conglomerates and companies, such as Netflix, will use big Hollywood names (such as Winona Ryder in ‘Stranger Things’), genres, franchises and established narratives to ensure a safe and comfortable audience, and therefore secure their profit. Due to their global reach, Netflix must target both their primary and secondary audience to create a successfully engaging product. ‘Stranger Things’ is set in the 1980s, and whilst the primary audience of the long form television drama is 13-21-year-olds, the Duffer Brothers engage an older, secondary audience through intertextual references to 1980s pop culture, such as ‘E.T.’, ‘The Goonies’, ‘Jaws’ and ‘Alien’. Due to the audience of the show being a wide age bracket, and Netflix itself having a global reach, the producers of the show must ensure they offer a wide range of global representations to engage and represent their audience. ‘Stranger Things’ represents domestic, maternal roles and offers the idea of a corrupt government – these representations are not complex, and the audience does not have to be American to understand.
Anna and Jörg Winger’s ‘Deutschland 83’ is a historical long form television drama, based on the real events of the Cold War in 1983. Whilst an audience could possibly watch the series without having contextual knowledge, the primary audience targets individuals that either lived through, or have knowledge of, the war, and therefore have an understanding of the binary opposition of the east vs west ideologies presented throughout the series. Due to ‘Deutschland 83’ being based on real events, the representations within the series must be more accurate of the ideologies of the time. Martin, the protagonist of the series, represents the eastern, socialist ideology. The series is available in the UK through Walter Presents on Channel 4 – a channel that specializes in foreign language drama – and it became the highest rated foreign-language drama. However, the long form television drama was not so successful in Germany, as the viewers argued that the show was “overly sympathetic of [the] East German agents”. This is arguably due to the producers being American, and therefore not in full understanding of the ideology and representations of their German audience and history.
Both long form television dramas are set during the 1980s, yet due to being produced, and set, in different countries, they offer different representations and ideologies. ‘Stranger Things’ presents a traditional, conservative ideology to its audience, using characters such as the Wheeler family to promote their western values. This western ideology fits with Tunstall’s 1983 theory of gender, in which women in the media can be categorized into four roles. The stereotypical mother Karen Wheeler fits within both the marital and domestic roles, whilst single mother Joyce Byers fits into the domestic category. However, Nancy Wheeler’s character breaks these norms – she studies the sciences, which were stereotypically masculine subjects - challenging this theory of gender and therefore the western ideology presented in ‘Stranger Things’. Liezbet Van Zoonen and bell hook’s theory of feminism is also applicable in this regard, as Nancy’s actions support the feminist movement, campaigning for equal rights, and the end of the patriarchy. Arguably, her boyfriend Steve Harrington replaces her role within these four categories, fitting into the ‘sexual’ role. On the other hand, ‘Deutschland 83’ offers a different ideology in its representations, positioning a western audience with an eastern ideology of socialism, challenging their audience’s values. ‘Stranger Things’ does not offer us this ideological challenge, perhaps due to having a wider audience.
In conclusion, long form television dramas from different countries offer different representations because they have different audiences, who have different attitudes and beliefs. It also depends on the genre and purpose of the series, and if all long form television dramas offered the same representations, they would lack originality.
In this essay, I will be exploring how long form television dramas from different countries, such as ‘Stranger Things’ and ‘Deutschland 83’, offer different representations due to their production and target audience.
The Duffer Brother’s 2016 ‘Stranger Things’ was produced for Netflix, an American streaming service. Netflix is entertainment driven, and appeals to a mass audience, meaning that consumers do not have to be American to buy into Netflix and their products. Users must pay a subscription fee to access the content, so Netflix must produce products that are entertaining and safe to maintain their audience engagement. Theorist Hesmondhalgh argues in his Cultural Industries theory that large conglomerates and companies, such as Netflix, will use big Hollywood names (such as Winona Ryder in ‘Stranger Things’), genres, franchises and established narratives to ensure a safe and comfortable audience, and therefore secure their profit. Due to their global reach, Netflix must target both their primary and secondary audience to create a successfully engaging product. ‘Stranger Things’ is set in the 1980s, and whilst the primary audience of the long form television drama is 13-21-year-olds, the Duffer Brothers engage an older, secondary audience through intertextual references to 1980s pop culture, such as ‘E.T.’, ‘The Goonies’, ‘Jaws’ and ‘Alien’. Due to the audience of the show being a wide age bracket, and Netflix itself having a global reach, the producers of the show must ensure they offer a wide range of global representations to engage and represent their audience. ‘Stranger Things’ represents domestic, maternal roles and offers the idea of a corrupt government – these representations are not complex, and the audience does not have to be American to understand.
Anna and Jörg Winger’s ‘Deutschland 83’ is a historical long form television drama, based on the real events of the Cold War in 1983. Whilst an audience could possibly watch the series without having contextual knowledge, the primary audience targets individuals that either lived through, or have knowledge of, the war, and therefore have an understanding of the binary opposition of the east vs west ideologies presented throughout the series. Due to ‘Deutschland 83’ being based on real events, the representations within the series must be more accurate of the ideologies of the time. Martin, the protagonist of the series, represents the eastern, socialist ideology. The series is available in the UK through Walter Presents on Channel 4 – a channel that specializes in foreign language drama – and it became the highest rated foreign-language drama. However, the long form television drama was not so successful in Germany, as the viewers argued that the show was “overly sympathetic of [the] East German agents”. This is arguably due to the producers being American, and therefore not in full understanding of the ideology and representations of their German audience and history.
Both long form television dramas are set during the 1980s, yet due to being produced, and set, in different countries, they offer different representations and ideologies. ‘Stranger Things’ presents a traditional, conservative ideology to its audience, using characters such as the Wheeler family to promote their western values. This western ideology fits with Tunstall’s 1983 theory of gender, in which women in the media can be categorized into four roles. The stereotypical mother Karen Wheeler fits within both the marital and domestic roles, whilst single mother Joyce Byers fits into the domestic category. However, Nancy Wheeler’s character breaks these norms – she studies the sciences, which were stereotypically masculine subjects - challenging this theory of gender and therefore the western ideology presented in ‘Stranger Things’. Liezbet Van Zoonen and bell hook’s theory of feminism is also applicable in this regard, as Nancy’s actions support the feminist movement, campaigning for equal rights, and the end of the patriarchy. Arguably, her boyfriend Steve Harrington replaces her role within these four categories, fitting into the ‘sexual’ role. On the other hand, ‘Deutschland 83’ offers a different ideology in its representations, positioning a western audience with an eastern ideology of socialism, challenging their audience’s values. ‘Stranger Things’ does not offer us this ideological challenge, perhaps due to having a wider audience.
In conclusion, long form television dramas from different countries offer different representations because they have different audiences, who have different attitudes and beliefs. It also depends on the genre and purpose of the series, and if all long form television dramas offered the same representations, they would lack originality.
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