Critical Investigation Proposal

How have the portrayal of male protagonists been represented within American institutions. How and why does this appeal to a 16-34 audience using Blumler &Katz theory of Uses and Gratifications?
Angle:
Why does the portrayal of male protagonists become significant to the attraction from a wide audience range? What kinds of factors do the audience take into account to decide if something is appealing to them or not?
Hypothesis:
The Americanisation of the world has allowed a wider range of audiences to recognise things such as glamorous actors and something that is unique to appeal to them and become something that is intriguing.
Linked production piece:
- Short clip of a TV series using the codes and conventions of comedy-drama.


MIGRAIN:
Media Language:
 Most shots that are used connote a sense of foreshadowing and tend to have a deeper significant meaning. For example, in The Mentalist, there is a shot where the main character lays on a mattress with the insignia of his family’s killer over his head which symbolises the control that the killer has over this character and how he is constantly always one step ahead of him.
 The costume of the main character Patrick Jane is a three piece suit which portrays a sense of professionalism about him, however, as each episode progresses; the audience is able to identify various aspects of his personality. For example, he appears humorous, proud and arrogant at times whereas sometimes when under a lot of pressure he becomes modest, shy and humble.
 Top lighting is mostly used to promote star appeal as Simon Baker is a highly recognised actor across the media. Additionally, top lighting is also used on the women in the Mentalist to promote their sexuality and to attract male audiences. Moreover, the identity of the antagonist in the show remains anonymous and there are hints of his identity however only his voice is heard which creates suspense for the audience and draws them in further.
 The setting constantly changes within each episode; however the office of the CBI (where the characters work) remains the same and is always shown in some form. For example, the team deals with cases that requires them to travel to different places such as a golf course, train stations or even adult clubs.

Institution:
 The Mentalist is produced by CBS which is second largest broadcaster in the world behind the BBC.
 Creator is Bruno Heller who has done the teleplay for The Expendables
 Various directors for each episode one of which includes Chris Long, and David Nutter.
 Watershed – 9-10pm
 Product placement including merchandise such as shirts, mugs, posters etc.
Genre:
 Belongs to the crime, police procedural, mystery, comedy and drama.
 Uses the typical conventions of the mystery genre such as the anonymity of the antagonist Red John.
 Comedy is bought out through some of the token character’s nervousness or the protagonist himself throughout every episode to keep the audience entertained.
 Drama is portrayed through the main arc of the plot involving Red John and the impact of this chase on the protagonist.
 The blend of genres appeal to a wide target audience
Representation:
 Patrick Jane is represented as lonely with an intellectual capacity that no other man has excluding Red John.
 He is represented as happy whereas the audience can clearly see that he battles with himself what he should do in a situation involving Red John
 He remains focused on catching and killing the murderer of his wife and child and this is represented each night
 The representation of loneliness is constantly portrayed as he sleeps in the office in which he works and this causes the audience to question whether he wants to go home or not, because of the bad memories that are triggered from seeing the killer’s signature above his ‘bed at home’.
 He is also represented as fun-loving and lazy because it is a rare occasion where the audience see him either on a computer or sitting at a desk at work filling out paperwork.
 He sometimes uses illegal methods of solving cases such as hypnosis and deceiving the media which represents him as careless and focused.
 Other characters including the women are often sexualised and objectified; not by the protagonist, but instead by others around them within the programme and they are represented as strong but not with the same intellectual ability.
 The protagonist’s costume involves a three-piece suit which connotes a sense of seriousness about him yet when watching the programme, audiences will be able to identify his immaturity at times and his childish ways.
 Top lighting is used to allow the audience to identify the actors and make them seem more glamorous however, the shots during the series are mostly dull which symbolises the mood that Patrick is in.


Audience:
 The target audience would fall into the age range of 16 and over
 The plot, characters or the actors are all factors which can appeal to various audiences
 The fact that there are many elements of a wide range of genres attracts a wide target audience and people that enjoy watching programmes with underpinned meanings will enjoy The Mentalist.
 There are lots of guest stars that appear in many episodes such as David Paymer, Malcolm McDowell, Michael Gaston and Leslie Hope which can attract wide audiences
 The actors are all well-known and bring an established fan-base to automatically watch The Mentalist and the plot will allow a wider audience to be drawn in and gain narrative pleasures from it.
 The audience is able to identify with the character of Patrick Jane as he is hurt inside but attempts to keep his feelings and thoughts to himself (U&G Blumer and Katz)
 Audience theories, Socio economic model, audience demographic- how you know this?

Ideologies:
 The Mentalist promotes heterosexual ideologies as there are various relationships with other characters but Patrick is not shown to be affectionate to anyone because of the loss of his wife and child
 Positive values are promoted throughout the programme which is to create sympathy and to want to support Patrick in the hunt for his family’s killer.
 The status quo is constantly challenged within the programme such as the formation of the relationship between Agent Rigsby and Agent Van Pelt which is strictly prohibited by the CBI’s policies.
Narrative:
 There is a constant narrative of the Red John plot which is portrayed throughout few episodes per season.
 This programme doesn’t follow Todorov’s theory as it is stuck at the disequilibrium of him never finding a solution to the problem of his life.
 This however contrasts to the new equilibrium which leaves Patrick smarter and believes in his abilities even more than before
 Each episode that does not involve Red John tend to find a new equilibrium at the ending whereby Patrick solves the cases and find the culprit for each
 The fact that the narrative is stuck at this disequilibrium appeals to audiences and draws in a wider target audience.
SHEP:
Social:
 More acceptable of women moving up in the world as they represented as strong and independent.
 At times, subverts patriarchal society but mostly you are able to see men in the higher positions in the CBI.
Historical:
 This challenges the history of society whereby women are normally seen as token characters or the femme fatale in a film or TV programme especially in the American industry.
 The storyline in comedy-dramas tend to be serialized and this applies to the Mentalist.
 Character development is continual and is more relevant than in traditional TV programmes.
Economic:
 The fact that Patrick does not do his job for money is quite a significant factor in attracting audiences as they begin to question his reasoning for conducting his role at the CBI.
 This could be intriguing for viewers as they are in a climate that has declined which makes them question his ulterior motive.

Political:
 The illegal methods that Jane often uses to prove a point or find something out - escapism


Issues/Debates:
Representation and Stereotyping:
The characters within the team excluding the protagonist follow the stereotype of serious members of a team that occasionally have fun when they have completed work. Furthermore, the portrayal of characters within the programme mainly focusing on Red John, are questionable by the viewer and subverts the representation of murderers as he is cunning and has outsmarted every person that has ever looked into his cases, and has also managed to keep his identity hidden.
Media effects:
The effect that media has on the portrayal of people is different to what the Mentalist portrays, especially focusing on the anonymous murderer Red John. The media portrays killers to be mostly men that have no sense and kill for gaining something which could be revenge or because they have psychological problems. For example, the man in America that thought he was the Joker from Batman began to shoot during cinema screenings and the media didn’t take into account the fact that he had psychological problems before publishing the story whereas Red John is a man that kills for satisfaction and for his own self-indulgence. Moreover, the fact that Red John, has outsmarted Patrick and authority to evade capture and thwarted every plan that people have put into action against him, shows a high level of intellectual ability and this is portrayed throughout the seasons.

Theories:
 Binary opposition – Patrick VS Red John (typical protagonist VS antagonist and good VS evil) – Levi-Strauss
 Additionally, Red John overcoming every move of Patrick’s shows that he is superior to him whereas Patrick is superior to others around him (due to his intellectual skill) and this is again is reinforced by binary opposition.
 Audience theories – Uses and Gratifications (Blumer and Katz) escapism and identification of characters
 By subverting stereotypes, this will then allow for audiences to become more interested in the show and are more likely to watch it.
 Barthes theory of enigma due to the suspense that occurs every episode and cliff-hangers from the end of each episode involving the main antagonist Red John.
Contemporary Media Landscape:
My study fits into this because it has various roles that subvert stereotypes and the protagonist is a unique character on his own and has many theories that can apply to him and the plot of the show.

Research Plan:
Media Text:
I will be focusing upon the TV programme The Mentalist.
Related Examples:
 Psych (TV Series 2006)
 Hawaii Five-O (TV Series 2010)
 Dexter (TV Series 2006)
 Nikita (TV Series 2010)
 The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes (Film – 1939)
TV Documentary:
 Evil, I (Investigation)
 Couples Who Kill (Crime)
 Snapped, Women Who Kill (Crime)
 Public Enemies (Film, 2009)
Academic Texts:
 The Dark Comedy - http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=w1DNaVCV2YgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=comedy-drama&hl=en&sa=X&ei=WiSkULbaGOSg0QXrlIGoBQ&ved=0CDMQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=comedy-drama&f=false
 Writing the TV Drama Series: How to Succeed As a Professional Writer in TV - http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=O5Gbyp9l-T4C&printsec=frontcover&dq=drama+on+tv&hl=en&sa=X&ei=sySkULTeIuax0AXZ7IHACA&ved=0CDkQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=drama%20on%20tv&f=false
 Quality TV: Contemporary American Television and Beyond - http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=y80zrdhZCn8C&printsec=frontcover&dq=drama+on+tv&hl=en&sa=X&ei=sySkULTeIuax0AXZ7IHACA&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=drama%20on%20tv&f=false
 TV Cops: The Contemporary American Television Police Drama - http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=hKWea_h2n4AC&printsec=frontcover&dq=drama+on+tv&hl=en&sa=X&ei=sySkULTeIuax0AXZ7IHACA&ved=0CEgQ6AEwBw

Internet Links:
 Simon Baker is terrific as Jane, the urbane, charming, yet ultimately tragic hero - http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2012/mar/05/tv-detectives-patrick-jane
 The Mentalist attracted 3.6 million viewers to Channel Five last night - http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/mar/27/mentalist-tv-ratings
 Whenever there is a tense and sullen scene, Jane seems to have a smile on his face - http://technorati.com/entertainment/tv/article/the-mentalist-why-is-it-better/

University Links:
 People can consume as much as they wish and what they wish - http://wwwmcc.murdoch.edu.au/ReadingRoom/1.2/Fiske.html
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