Uses and Gratification
Personal Identity - finding reinforcement for personal values, finding models of behaviour, identifying with another, gaining insight into ones self.
Information - finding out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings, society and the world, seeking advice on practical matters or opinion and decision choices, satisfying curiosity and general interest, learning, self-educating, gaining a sense of security via knowledge.
Entertainment - escapism, being diverted from problems, relaxing, emotional release, aesthetic/cultural/sexual pleasure.
Social Interaction and Integration - gaining insight into circumstances of others; social empathy, identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging, finding a basis for conversation and social interaction, having a substitute for real life companionship, helping carry out social roles, enabling one to connect with family, friends and society.
Why do people watch Thrillers?
From using the uses and gratifications theory we are able to recognise that Thrillers are watched for entertainment, information, social interaction, integration and personal values which is therefore why Thriller is such a popular genre. People watch Thrillers mostly for the thrill, twist and entertainment of the film, this links in with escapism and emotional release as people will watch the films and become so intrigued in the plot that they can escape from their own life and emotions and connect with the emotions portrayed in the film. Thrillers a generally not created to relax, the audience needs to be focused on what is happening in order to understand the storyline. Nevertheless, Thrillers are also watched to save time just like other films. For example, the thriller film 'Prisoners' holds the storyline of two little girls going missing. Every parents worst nightmare, however something so often identified in films, programmes and books. This allows the audience to recognise how people who experience such awful events really feel and the audience would get an insight to this and feel the same emotions as them.
Some audiences may watch Thrillers in order to gain an insight into a different circumstances in life. Some films may relate to real life stories they know so it gives a sense of realism to the audience. Thriller films are often watched in the company of people so it brings people together (trips to the cinema, all sitting in the living room etc.). Then once the film has finished it gives people a basis of conversation to talk about, this is because Thrillers are not only action-pact they are also twisted and can take a lot of thinking to understand what is going on. This gives the audience the 'Thrill' of the film, often leaving them intrigued. This then again enables conversation between people as people will tend to boast about who sussed out the ending before one another.
People also watch horrors to find a models of behaviour. This is because there is usually a clear comparison between between the protagonist and antagonist in the film, this would then influence people to act heroically like a character in the film. Alternatively, people could relate to certain characters and compare them to themselves.
Finally, people can also watch Thrillers for informative reasons. Although Thrillers purpose is not to inform, the audience may gain information from historical or social events which are demonstrated in the film which would give the audience an insight into this real life situation.
