Stuart Hall’s audience reception theory is the idea that the media products are encoded by the producers and that they aim to have them decoded by an audience, the audience of a media text can interpretate it in three different ways: preferred reading, which means the text has been accepted, the audience align with the message of the product; the oppositional reading, when the audience rejects the dominant message and creates their own meaning. Often, the audience will adopt the oppositional position if they are of a different demographic or hold differing views to the producer of the media content, and the negotiated reading, a compromise between the dominant and oppositional messages. The reason the audience may take this position is if they are of the same background as the producer and/or understand some of the messages within it, but they may also feel the issue itself is more complex than the media shows and needs greater exploration.
Gilmore girls is an American comedy drama television series created by Amy Sherman- Palladino starring Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel. The pair play a mother and daughter duo in a small, tight knit town where everyone knows everyone.
The preferred/ dominant reading of Gilmore girls is that it is a feel good, entertaining comfort show, portraying an ideal mother daughter relationship where they have established a special bond that many look up to. The audience aspire to have a relationship like theirs as they are not only mother and daughter but more like best friends. The duo depends on each other and the closeness of their relationship is inspiring and heartwarming; they are open and honest with each other and can always overcome the obstacles life throws their way. The show is of their everyday lives and allows the audience to develop connections to the characters. It is referred to as a heartfelt, endearing, and hilarious show that has a cross generational appeal.
The negotiated reading would be that the audience accept and even like the relationship between Rory and Lorelai, they can see the intended message of the text and can understand where the encoder is coming from with their portrayal. However, they may dissagree with certain aspects, different plot lines for example such as when the two characters have a disagreement, the decoder may form their own thoughts and views that don’t align with the preferred reading. They still understand it, but their own opinions make it negotiated.
The oppositional reading of Rory and Lorelai's relationship is that it is actually unhealthy and toxic. Their relationship has been likened to emotional incest which, by definition, is when a parent does not have any healthy boundaries between themselves and their child. They will rely on their child for emotional support and treat them like a partner instead of a child, this consequently can be a huge burden on a child and people read Gilmore girls in this way and feel that their mother daughter relation dynamic matches this description and is co-dependent.
Lorelai was a teen mum and had her daughter (Rory) at just 16.
Some people feel that Lorelai projects her insecurities and missed opportunities on to her daughter and creates unrealistic standards for her to meet. However, people also understand that it comes from a place of love and wanting the absolute best for Rory; she doesn't want her to make the same mistakes she did and miss out as Rory has the upmost potential to thrive in life.
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