The Uses and Gratifications theory

The Uses and Gratifications theory (1959) focuses on the fact that audiences use media to explore their own feelings, emotions and mind, E.Katz; one of theorists believed that this theory shows “what people do with media” as opposed to “what media does to people”.

The theory is split into five different sections, Identification, Catharsis, Surveillance, Escapism and Social.
Identification is using media to find parts of our identity by either exploring others identity shown in media or by exploring parts of our identity to make understanding of ourselves. For example some teenagers will watch The Only Way is Essex to explore other people’s way of life, however then this will become a part of their identity by using their words or dressing like them.
Catharsis is to feel strong emotions, this is often used with horror movies such as Saw, people watch it to experience extreme fear or adrenaline.
Surveillance is to “make sense of the world”; primarily think the news would help with this as it gives us fact about our surrounding world however reality television programmes' and documentaries help us understand people’s real lives.
Escapism is probably the most well known section of this theory, it is the idea of pure entertainment and to forget about things around you, most people agree that the best form of escapism is in a fantasy novel as it is completely different from the world and we can get lost in the story.
Social is the part of the theory that believes that people use media only to socialize and to feel a part of a group, an example of this at the moment would be Xfactor as people use it as a part of socializing.

Our trailer will show a rebelling teenager, this therefore there will be multiple reactions to it, the audience could identify with the wanting to rebel however some will use it as escapism as their life will be completely different.