Audience studies

[rivkat]

So, I've got a colleague writing about images of lawyers in popular culture, only she wants to get beyond "images of" and into how various groups perceive lawyers in TV shows/movies. Is anyone aware of any work on this? Reception studies involving Ally McBeal or LA Law? Even if there's only a mention of reaction to a legal storyline in a larger study of a non-legal show or movie, that would be a huge addition to the project -- because right now she's got theory and no practice. No pun intended.

Also, if anyone knew of a good place to go for a recent reception studies bibliography, that would be great.

Comments

[cathexys.livejournal.com]

reception studies in respect to what discipline? audience studies in regard to fan studies or more reception aesthetics as in reader response or??? i'm about to get back in the latter and have a few references on the former (though you probably have all of them...)

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

Frankly, anything would be a useful addition to what she's got, which is basically what she thinks the texts mean. I want empirical stuff, qualitative or quantitative, about viewer reaction to legal shows/movies or legal storylines. I haven't read the old stuff on Dallas, but it's even possible there's something there.

[cathexys.livejournal.com]

i'll get you sth with the more classic approaches and will also ask a couple of folks i know who work on law-related shows. for now, here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/just_temporary/1549.html)'s the fanstuff bib...not that heavy on reception (e.g., watching dallas isn't even there...though it should be)

give me a few days, and i'll do better (i want to really get that down for myself!)

[rivkat.livejournal.com]

That would be great -- the fan bibliography looks really interesting, though I'd like to give her some studies of "we just watch and chat about it over the water cooler" types, not just heavily involved fans. Part of the problem is that the work I want her to use may not really exist, and she's not going to do it. I suggested she could do some primary research in the TWOP forums, looking for discussions of the legal aspects of various shows they recap.