Media Diary - Week 2

   Media Diary - Week 2 (Bates Motel)

by

Luke Penny

 

Name of text: Bates Motel 
Date/Time: Thursday 19th September, 9pm - 10pm

Genre: Thriller/Horror Drama

Where did you find it?: Billboards/TV advertising

What is the purpose?: Bates Motel's primary purpose is to entertain its audience. 

Institution producing the text: A&E Television and Universal Television

Target audience: Primarily, audiences interested in thriller or horror genre texts. Secondary, audiences that enjoyed the original Psycho films. Its primary viewing audience is between 18 and 60 years old. 


Your reaction to the text: 
As a reworking of 'Psycho', Bates Motel represented in its basic premise a terrible mistake; a plunge into one of the most sacred horror/thriller fiction series on film or in books. Hitchcock's film adaptation of Robert Bloch's novel comes to mind, one of the single best horror films ever made and still inspiring to a new generation of film makers and audiences today. How could a small TV network possibly rework what is essentially a period piece into a modern thriller? Well, they pull it off quite well actually. Bates Motel is fantastic companion to either the original 1960 adaptation or Bloch's book, from its impeccably detailed set design to the two principle actors Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore. They have managed to nail the aesthetic choices made by actor Anthony Perkins in the original film and the famous Bates house - even nabbing set designs from the largely forgotten sequel Psycho II (1983). The two principles have an interesting chemistry on screen and the writing remains strong even into its second episode. Add to that, various references and homages to the lore of Psycho appear peppered around the first two episodes; from taxidermy to the state of Arizona. It made me incredibly happy that while adhering to the work done in the past and also modernising certain aspects, Bates Motel stands apart and transcends its own prejudice. 

Why would people consume the text?:

Some people may notice the similarities between the series American Horror Story and Bates Motel, prompting that audience to become interested in this new series; similarly dark, well-written and suspenseful while also very visually appealing. There are even similarities between this show and the David Lynch early 90s drama Twin Peaks. Admirers of the original Psycho film adaptation by Alfred Hitchcock may also consume this series because of their associations with the film and the character of Norman Bates, an iconic character in horror. Bates Motel may also represent a well-taken step for TV, managing to adapt another text successfully for long form narrative and may be watched to see how it may fare. 

Could some people react in different ways to the text? How?: 

Some audience may feel marginalised by Bates Motel: hardcore devotees of the original series. The actor Freddie Highmore had undergone some harsh criticism for his casting and that may still hold true for some people, the changing of setting and time period may also affect their enjoyment. The changes made to modernise some aspects may not sit well with this group, feeling that perhaps the changes were done to suit the audience age group and not to reflect any previous continuity set by the original four films. Yet, any adaptation of something Hitchcock may have directed would come under fire for simply not being Hitchcock.