Research 2 intertexts
The Simpsons
The Simpsons is a animated cartoon text, first aired on the 17th December 1989 in America, with intertextuality relating to satire and sitcom, and also exists in different forms, such as, magazines, TV programmes, Merchandise and as a Film.
The Simpsons relates to Satire because in some episodes of the TV programmes, the themes of the episode often stem from problems that we face in the real world. This 'problem' can take on, most often, the form of a Moral Panic that we all would fear in the real world. The show can take on this 'problem' and turn it into something humorous which we can enjoy, whilst still offering a possible solution to this problem that we face, at the end of the episode. This can turn the programme into a form of view or opinion and the people who view this programme will possibly realise the potential consequences of a panic that we could face in reality and realise the programme's subtle solution to whatever the problem that is featured in the episode. This can make people who watch the show feel a lot more 'connected' with the programme, it can almost share their views on situations that may arise or have risen and share the same solution that the viewer might feel toward this particular event. This could possibly be a way of attracting more audiences to the series, as they might of felt that the episodes were fairly pointless and one-minded, concentrating on irrelevant issues within each episode, but if one of those people were to view an episode which had a 'Moral Panic' as a theme, it might begin to interest them as it concentrates more on issues that are important to them, rather then a pointless, unnecessary theme.
The Text can be linked with Sit-com because it often features characters involved with a 'odd' storyline. The episodes always are set in the same setting, in this case Springfield, with every new episode featuring a bizarre storyline that accompanies the setting, making for quite a vast array of characters, attitudes and appearances. As with every Sit-com, a typical group of people is used, usually ones that see a lot of each other but don't necessarily get on with each other, in this case it is a family that is used and not everyone gets along with each other for a majority of the time; Homer and Bart always fall out, ending up with Homer strangling Bart, asserting his dominance over the household, if he feels threatened then he'll react violently in order to gain the control which can be seen as being quite stereotypical of males; Bart and Lisa don't necessarily get along, sibling rivalry, this can be seen as being fairly typical of brothers and sisters; Homer and Marge tend to have arguments, which is quite typical of married couples to do from time to time. This 'relationship' between each of the characters, and the fact that they are a family, can be quite attractive to audiences, as they sum-up a fairly stereotypical family, families do have arguments, both with adults and between siblings and so is pretty typical and therefore could be an attraction to audiences, both passive audiences, active audiences, newer audiences and frequent audiences. This use could be another way of attracting audiences to the series, therefore increasing the popularity of the series and then possibly increasing profit for the company through purchase of merchandise.
The Simpsons is also a text that exists in different forms. It exists as Merchandise, a Film, as Magazines and even some Music has been released of it. The fact that the series has been made into different forms that people can buy can be used to represent the popularity of the series. This can help to attract new audiences through the amount of forms that 'The Simpsons' is available in, there is a chance that a potential new fan of the series will see a form that it is in, without seeing any of the other ways that it is 'viewed' by audiences. this then can attract them to the other depictions that it is available in and increase popularity of the series. Maybe through the 'Two Step Flow Theory' a person could hear information from somebody they trust, i.e. an 'Opinion Leader,' and people in contact, socially, with the 'Opinion Leader' will possibly view the texts that they talk about and might become interested in that particular text. From there the interest could spread to individuals that're in contact with an individual in contact with the 'Opinion Leader' that started the interest, and so on and so forth. This therefore helps to promote the series without the producers having to spend money on advertising campaigns to increase popularity of the text.
Goldmember
Austin Powers in Goldmember is a film, released in 2002 and is a Spy Comedy film that is, in general, a spoof of James Bond movies.
The fact that the film is a combination of Spy and Comedy is fairly strange as they contrast each other quite a lot, with the Spy genre, you'd expect the movie to be very serious, as the storylines and consequences of the genre are usually extremely severe. But with Comedy, you usually expect a lot of light-hearted humour and generally ridiculous approaches to the problems, usually the ones that have the most humourous response from the viewer are chosen. Therefore this combination of serious/ridiculous approach, which can be seen as a form of Binary Opposites in a way, is probably something that'll attract people to go and see the movie.
The general 'spoofing' of James Bond movies can also act as a means of attracting audiences to the movie, as people who're probably into James Bond films might be interested to see a more funny sided approach to the movies as the originals were quite serious and lacked a humourous approach, which is again fairly stereotypical of the Spy/Crime genre. An example of this spin is in the opening of Goldmember, we see the initial character, who we think to be Austin Powers, it is instead Tom Cruise, with a reference to the Mission Impossible movies, we see text saying 'AustinPussy' which is obviously a innuendo sided spin on the Bond film 'OctoPussy.' We also see other references to other texts in the opening as well, you can see an approach on 'Signing in the Rain' and also a take on 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,' along with other suitable references to some other titles and James Bond movies. This referencing of other texts and the other factors, again, can be used as a factor that can attract audiences to see the movie, and again working with the 'Two Step Flow Theory,' more and more people can be intrigued in seeing the movie as the 'Flow' 'branches' off to more and more parts.
Here is my Homework assignment, "Research 2 Intertexts and upload detailed research onto blog". The reason why it is highlighted in black is because the first paragraph was fine, it was white font against the grey background, but on the rest of the upload, it was all highlighted in white and so when i tried to change it, it wouldn't turn off the highlight and so I had to settle with a black highlight with white font colour which is not how I would've preferred it but it is the more suitable combination, depending on the circumstance
