That 70s Show - Applying Encoding/Decoding.

That 70's Show
'That 70s Show' is an American television period sitcom that ran from 1998-2006 but was set in the late 1970s. The show is targeted at teenagers who are in high school. The show is aimed at both boys and girls as 3 of the main characters are boys and 2 are girls.


Preferred Reading
The encoders of 'That 70s Show' want to inform people about the 70s era as well and entertaining them through comedy. The show addressed social issues of the 1970's such as sexism and sexual attitudes. In the show there are ideologies that women were supposed to be house wives while the man went out and worked to provide for his family. This is shown in the show as the mother of the main character 'Eric' is mostly seen in the kitchen and is often cooking. There are also ideologies that teenagers are rebellious which is shown in the show as the 5 main characters often smoke and drink alcohol and there is frequent references to drug use. The main way in which the characters rebel is when the characters, in most episodes, sit in Eric's basement and smoke marijuana, they call this 'The Circle'.  This is telling us that things where accepted more in the 70s and allows us to laugh at things that used to be really common. 'That 70s Show' subtlety sends anti-drug messages to its viewers. One of the main characters is a foreign exchange student called Fez. We never find out where he is from but we know he is not American because of his accent. The meaning behind his character is to show his place in American society in the 1970s. In the sixties groups that had previously been subordinate successfully emerged themselves into society in America and Fez helps to present this. Also, after season 5, all of the episodes were named after a song written by a rock band that was popular in the time which shows the audience what type of music was popular at the time it was set.

Oppositional Reading
The oppositional reading might be that the consumer understands that the text is trying to show Fez's place in society in 1970's America and that racist jokes did not seen as offensive in them days. The consumer may not agree with the preferred reading as they might come from a different background and find the racist jokes offensive and not needed to convey the meaning. Some people may not agree with the preferred reading as they may feel that the show doesn't accurately portray and represent the 70's. This may be someone who was raised in the 70's and thinks that some of the subjects are not correct or are in the from time. For example, the consumer may disagree with it because not everyone at the time smoked marijuana and that it wasn't as popular in the 70's as it was in the 60's. Also, the show didn't show the whole of the 70's, it is set in the last three years of the decade therefore the reader may feel like it doesn't correctly represent the time.  

Negotional Reading
The negotional reading of this might be that the reader doesn't fully understand the preferred reading and the fact that it is meant to educate and they just watch it for entertainment. The show has jokes and catchphrases that viewers will laugh at even if they do not understand the negotiated reading. The viewer may not think that the show represents the 70's era and what life was like then. This may be because that was the time they were raised and they didn't experience any of it. The viewer may think that the show is just another sit-com, regardless of the time it was set. The period it was set in does not matter if its still entertaining for the audience.If the reader was not raised in that time, they may feel like they do not learn anything about the time from the show but they still watch it because they enjoy it.