What do you think about this as an idea?
Can you think of anything that upset you the first time you watched it on television which you now take for granted? And what do you think about the idea that years and years of watching violence makes you less sensitive to violence and watching multiple episodes of women gettiing mistreated in soaps will make you less bothered about it in real life?
I think the cultivation theory is very true in what it is saying because I do feel that the more you watch something the more unfazed and less bothered you are about it in real life. For example, when watching shows such as 'The Ricki Lake Show', 'The Jerry Springer Show' and 'The Jeremy Kyle Show' etc. it doesn't, in my opinion, make the audience that bothered about what the persons problem is because it is so common and we see it all the time on these kind of shows. Therefore, the cultivation theory works because we are getting used to watching this kind of thing on the television and therefore we also feel that these are 'normal' situations and that this kind of thing happens all the time. I also, think that when we watch something that is near enough the same, we get less sympathetic about the people that go onto this kind of show because they have brought it onto themselves and therefore little or no sympathy is shown towards them.
On the other hand, in programmes such as 'Big Brother' and 'I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!' we get to see the people for who they really are and also learn about who they are. This kind of reality show makes us feel sympathetic towards the celebrities unlike the shows mentioned in the first paragraph. This is because they are who they really are and when we learn about someones personality we feel more engaged and, when necessary, sympathetic towards them. But, obviously, we do not know these people like if they were our friends. This then makes us take into consideration that they are showing us their lives because there is normally some sort of prize at the end.
When watching shows like 'CSI: Crime Scene Investigation' and 'CSI: Miami' right at the beginning, we would always watch them and make funny faces because something horrible has just happened and we would always be scared to watch any more gore, especially if you are the kind of person that hates the sight of blood. But, after a while the blood and murders seem to get 'normal' and therefore they do not have the same effect on us like they used to. Although, the do still keep us on the edge of our seats but they don't make us scared or want to scream and walk out the door when blood was present. So, the cultivation theory works because the audience is getting used to what they are watching, whether it is violence or blood. It is then considered the norm and we do not feel effected by what is shown on the television.
When young children watch soaps such as 'Coronation Street' and 'Eastenders' they feel that underage pregnancy, domestic violence, drinking excessively and drug taking etc. is of normal behaviour and therefore watching this kind of thing at a young age doesn't give an effect that any of the problems caused in soaps is at all bad because they are used to watching that kind of thing. This could, later in the young childs life, influence what they do and the could think that that kind of behaviour is normal and good.
Programmes such 'Skins' and 'Misfits' shows a lot of drugs, sex, alcohol, bad language and pretty much every adult theme that anyone could think of. This is because that is what teenagers are used to watching. This could have been caused by watching adult themed programmes when they were younger and therefore they are used to watching that. So, the cultivation theory works and it could prove that too. It could be proved by making a questionnaire and asking teenagers who are interested in these youth dramas what they used to watch when they were younger. Whe I watch 'Misfits' I'm not only hooked and left wanting to watch more, but I'm not affected by the themes that have been presented. I think this is because I have seen so much of these themes before that I am used to it and therefore I'm not affected in any way. If I'm being honest, if these youth dramas didn't have those adult themes in them, I probably wouldn't be that interested because these kinds of themes are what make it exciting to watch. Showing these kinds of themes in youth dramas hooks the target audience into watching it and also sets standard for other youth dramas.
Later on, I will find visual evidence and make mini interviews to see whether the opinions of audiences have been changed when watching programmes which have adult themes in them. These will be put onto videos and then uploaded to my blog as evidence for the cultivation theory.
The kind of questions I could ask are as follows:
1. Have you watched anything on the television which has shocked you? How badly did it affect you? Did it make you want to watch it again?
2. Would you be more interested to watch a programme with adult themes than a programme which hasn't got any adult themes?
3. After watching something which has a lot of adult themes, does it affect you in any way? If it does, how does it affect you?
4. Do you think that watching more and more of adult themes will make you used to it in real life? Does it make you feel that it is 'normal' behaviour?
The visual evidence of how it may change an audiences opinion and the mini interviews will be uploaded to my blog as soon as possible!
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