Teens’ screens: the places, values, and roles of film consumption and cinema-going for young audiences

Blagrove, Anna (2020) Teens’ screens: the places, values, and roles of film consumption and cinema-going for young audiences. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

This thesis is an investigation into the practices, values, and roles of cinemagoing and film-watching for contemporary British teenagers using qualitative research methods. My key concern is with how 13-18 year olds from different backgrounds define and discuss their film consumption, and visits to different cinemas, in the wider contexts of their leisure, cultural, and media practices. This focus stems from the scholarly appeal for a social contextualization of audiences and the structures that inform peoples’ consumption practice.

Many groups experience barriers to participation with particular cinemas that are not simply a consequence of economic deprivation or a lack of media literacy. These are barriers that are felt at the level of what Bourdieu calls the habitus, the system of cultural tastes and dispositions that are lived at the physical or bodily level. To this end, I conducted focus groups, interviews, and participant observation encounters with 42 teenagers in different settings within Norwich and Norfolk. Data analysis is undertaken via the application of a coding system, formulated through a Bourdieusian conceptual lens. I consider participants’ film and media consumption practices in relation to area of residence, sociocultural preferences and friendship formations, whilst also considering issues of identity, education, and parental practices. As part of the process I present the case of specialised film and cinema-going as a case-study in order to address a concern about the dearth of young audiences engaging with specialised cinema.

The rich, deep qualitative data collected has enabled me to argue that generally young people’s socio-economic, geographic, familial, peer-grouping, and educational contexts remained a significant influence on film viewing practices, tastes, and gratifications, although some anomalies were present. My research therefore presents new findings on how different groups of young people attach diverse meanings and roles to film viewing practices, texts and locations in cinemas and beyond.

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Arts and Humanities > School of Art, Media and American Studies
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	21 Oct 2020 08:43
Last Modified:	21 Oct 2020 08:43
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/77381
DOI:

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