In this blog post I wanted to continue our discussion on the subject of audience and how that contextualizes or informs media produced (from my preconceptions to my newfound thinking because of our in-class discussions). My concept of media was changed this week when we talked about how media is organized around the “imagined audience” and how cultural conceptions of what the “ideal audience” is demonstrates how power comes into play in what messages are reinforced through media (pulling from Ailee and Anna’s presentation on the differences between Bollywood and Hollywood film production). However, many of the ethnographies we focused on did not explicitly interact with the targeted audience of media, but rather discussed the audience through the imagined and constructed audience that producers utilize ahead of the production process.

What if film companies that produce media involved the actual audience of the film into its creation? I am thinking about when the “imagined audience” discussed in the context of the Bollywood films no longer is imaginary: would this not work/create the same problems because the individuals/audience members “chosen” to almost consult on the film would be what the producers “imagined” their audience to be anyway? On the other hand, could that change the power dynamics of media creation or change the end net result?

I was also wondering (in our discussion of the Balinese live vs televised theater) if an ethnography that investigated the questions that I listed above would further blur the line between the outside world and media.

Honestly, I have more questions than I do answers, so I would love to discuss this further and hear everyone’s thoughts in either the comments or in class.