Uses and Gratifications Theory

The uses and gratifications theory suggests four ways in which audiences use films (and any other media texts). While the theory errs too much on the side of audience autonomy (it virtually denies the texts can affect individuals unless he or she wants it to) it remains a useful way of understanding how audiences may read a film.

entertainment the text provides pleasure for the audience, this is often characterised as being 'escapist'.
social interaction: films, the news or last night's television programmes are common topics of discussion; we use the media to feed this social interaction.
personal identity: we can get a sense of ourselves and our peer group from films. We may identify with particular film stars, who we may even use as role models.
information: the media are full of information which we are at liberty to use.

Most films are produced as entertainment for this is what audiences most want and therefore the film is most likely to make money. Any film that becomes much talked about (social interaction) can be considered an 'event movie'. If you have not seen the 'event movie' then you are likely to be left out of conversations. Hollywood's box office suffered in 2000 through the lack of an 'event movie'; in 1999 the Star Wars prequel, The Sixth Sense and The Blair Witch Project were all films that generated buzz.

Most films do not set out to provide information (documentaries aside), though they may do so as a 'side-effect', but films may help give us a sense of ourselves. In Britain we most often see North American society represented in films, which is physically distant to us. We see our own country represented less frequently; for Anglo-Asians the absence is much greater.

	Apply the uses and gratifications theory to East is East. In what ways is the film entertaining? Can you recall whether you talked about, or heard people talking about, the film? Did you get any understanding of your own life from the film (maybe in terms of the conflict between parents and children)? Did you learn anything from the film about the time and place and/or Anglo-Asians?