responses essay textual analysis GoT Red wedding, The Sun 2016 Hillsborough (27/4/16)

the popular television fantasy drama by HBO 'A Game Of Thrones' has had several major plot twists that drastically alter the course of the narrative. One of these twists comes in the form of a scene called the Red Wedding. In this scene many main characters are killed in a gruesome fashion, including a pregnant woman.

the preferred reading of this text indicates an understanding and acceptance of this scene. A viewer who took away the preferred reading understand why the characters, such as Robb Stark, were killed in this scene and the underlying ideology that fantasy should not be impervious to logic and more realistic scenarios. In addition to this, the reading accepts the level of violence shown and the savageness it reflects in the characters committing the atrocities. They may not mind the level of violence because it creates a level of thrill and excitement and functions as a culmination of the building tension leading up to this scene. Furthermore they may be used to this level of violence as they have consumed other media such as violent video games or other violent films as they populate the mainstream landscape for a younger generation (18-25).

However one may easily pull away an oppositional reading from this scene and the show in general. This reading understands the intention of creating a huge dramatic pay off for the events of the last two seasons but they may reject it because they feel it was done for shock value instead of for the benefit of the narrative. This can be seen when the pregnant woman was killed she was stabbed repeatedly in the belly where the baby would have been. Alternatively they understand that this scene is a dramatic climax, but dislike it due to finding the extreme violence distasteful , as illustrated before with the stabbing of the pregnant woman. The latter view likely belongs to an older demographic (30-50) who are not used to this level of violence due to their situated culture of being from an older generation where it wasn't as common.

On a different note, some viewers may not fuly understand the intent behind the scene or the effect it was going for and draw a negotiated reading. They see the violent twist as completely unexpected and not understand the underlying message behind it or what it draws inspiration from. Perhaps they also find the violence more distasteful than if they took an oppositional reading as they do not fully understand the intent behind the scene.

The right-wing British publication 'The Sun' has had varied responses from audiences over the years. These responses are generally determined through location as The Sun is known for negatively stereotyping people from northern areas such as Liverpool. This bias in favour or against The Sun is further reinforced with its promotion of right wing political ideologies such as anti-immigration views. One particular issue to take into account was published 27/4/16, it covers the resolution of the Hillsborough case, a case in which The Sun had misinformed the public on back in 1996, furthering the negative bias in Liverpool.

A preferred reading would consider the coverage given on the inside of the issue as substantial enough to represent the event fairly. This reading doesn't feel that the coverage given by The Sun in 1996 is relevant to the coverage provided now as they were only going off partial information and feels that it was just a misunderstanding. Additionally it shows an approval of the tabloid/celebrity content it provides as a bonus to compliment the news provided and the politics discussed.

However an oppositional reading would reject this and instead suspect that the lack of coverage on the front page is an attempt to cover up what they perceived as Antagonism from The Sun of Liverpool fans back in 1996. They understand that The Sun features tabloid stories but criticises the publication for not putting a more significant news story (Hillsborough) anywhere on the front page. They may also reject the ideologies presented by The Sun in general, and believe they are a flawed and aggressive outlook on the nation.

Alternatively the viewer may not draw a full understanding of The Sun and its relation with the Hillsborough incident. They may question and not understand why The Sun promotes tabloid stories before actual news stories but does not think of anything suspicious about this. They may also be indifferent to the Hillsborough coverage because they don't have enough information about the publication or the event's history.