Exam Response

Why are media products that represented outsiders, such as vampire films, so popular?
You may also refer to other media products to support your answer.

I would say that these films that represent outsiders are very popular due to the fact that they allow the audience to gain a sense of escapism from their own lives (which links to blumber and catz - uses and gratification theory), people look for these type of films in order to escape from their own lives. On the other hand it could be argued that a small minority of people who would consider themselves to be outcasts would find these type of films to be more attracting to them as it would provide them with a sense of identity, allowing them to relate to the media product, stereotypically this could apply to goths as they are seen as outcasts from society and subvert from what is considered to be the norm. In addition to this many people have been or felt like outsiders during some point in their life, fanons theory of the white mask is one that looks into how black people act a certain way in order to fit in with society and so people who feel as though they are outsiders may find a sense of identity and relate to films that have the protagonist as an outsider.

Props theory of charecter roles suggests that films are structered in a certain way, one reason why these media products that portray outsiders could be so popular is due to the protagonist being what is considered to be not the norm and ultimately helps to raise enigma and attract the audience into watching the film.

Binory oppositions are strongly present throughout the trailer and so it could be established that the audience are attracted to watch the film to gain the pleasure and satisfaction of seeing good triumph over evil and see the equilibrium restored once again.

it could also be mentioned that the film trailer contained many different types of scenes, for example some scenes had fast paced shots whilst others were more slow and grabbed the audience attentions in other ways which suggests that the film does not belong to one particular genre and is instead a hybrid genre which appeals to a much wider audience which could be one reason as to why these films see such success and popularity