Reception Theory

The Originals

The Originals is a spin off series from The Vampire Diaries which airs on The CW TV network in America. It's target audience is mainly 14-21 year olds due to all of the supernatural creatures which are in the show, and also the complex storyline which it has. It's about the very first family of vampires who are trying to sort out mythical problems.

I believe that the preferred reading in this text is that "Family is everything". You should be able to rely on your family to be there for you in your dark times and also people should be willing to put themselves forward for their family. In the show the family have their falling outs due to them being the "Original Vampires", they think that they can take on any situation because they are very powerful creatures however it always results in them having to work together. This show also follows the "Karma" ideology. Mainly in the show, things that have happened in the past,what the family has caused, comes back to haunt them so this results in them having to sort out the problems as a family. Another ideology this show follows is "Power is key". The characters mainly think that power is everything and then at the end of the seasons they figure out that they have the most power when they work as a family.

People who are older (30+) may believe in the oppositional reading for this text. They might not believe in the ideology "Family is everything" because they may have had some bad experiences of falling outs with their family which results in them reacting negatively towards this ideology. People may disagree with this show due to all of the supernatural events which happen in this show as well, children may be given a false outlook on life.

I think that your upbringing can actually have an impact on this show due to the fact that 99% of it is gory. You may have grown up in a non violent environment and you may dislike this show because it is violent and it does have loads of blood in it.