Публиките като субект във филмовата комуникация
Audiences as the subject of film communication

Summary/Abstract: Various empirical historical studies on audiences have a significant contribution to the understanding of contemporary audiences. A major find achieved in such a way, is the realisation that spectators, unlike critics, do not approach a film work statically, but through play, taking what they like and ignoring what fails to intrigue them. A radical line in re-thinking film stems from cultural theory’s interest in everyday life. These processes are closely related to Pierre Bourdieu’s idea that contemporary film is a field of cultural production, where the division between classes shows itself. According to the French sociologist, ‘popular taste… performs a systematic reduction of the things of art to the things of life’. In this sense, film audience’s choices could hardly be understood without referring to contemporary consumerism theories. A typical conclusion of the latter is the shaping of a new culture of consumption which relates not only to the emergence of a new world of consumer goods, but also to launching a whole new series of popular entertainment. The problems is further complicated by the inadequate view of the activities related to watching TV or movies. Film and TV critics, searching to classify these activities negatively, would more often than not define them as a form of consumerism. This comes from the fundamental confusion between two moments: that of purchase and the one of appropriation. The distinction between them suggests that it is hardly possible to achieve direct, absolute and unambiguous control over consummation. Or to put it briefly, even encouraging people to buy a ticket for a certain movie does not necessarily mean making them like it or perceive it in this or that way.

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