This week in Mass Media, we discussed the U and G theory, or the Uses and Gratification theory. This theory is an approach to understand the reasons of how people seek out specific media for their consumption, satisfaction of their needs and why they do it. So basically, it is how we as people control media to our own advantage so we can integrate it into our everyday lives. We have all had a part in this one way or another. We come home from class or work and the house is empty, nothing going on. No noise, no people. Turn on the tv just because we need that extra background noise just to keep a ‘sane’ feeling. With that ‘sane’ feeling, we as consumers are satisfied with what’s happening. We all go through stressful days in some way. Hard days at school, work or just a hard day in general. So, we do the little things that will take away that feeling. Most people I know, as well as myself, binge watch certain tv shows whether we have seen it a million times or not at all. Consumers find the little things to achieve that satisfied feeling.

One of the examples that satisfies this theory was a movie we watched in class called, Galaxy Quest. If you have ever seen Star Trek or anything close to it, this movie falls into the same category, with a little bit of a twist. For starters, it is like a movie inside of movie since the actors in the movie are all actors on the show, Galaxy Quest, which is the tv series depicted in the movie. What starts as actors not enjoying the television series and getting sick of it, ultimately brings them to the real-life version of the show. As well, fans become part of the reality too.

Most fans and consumers who watch television shows, understand that it is show based on fiction of the universe. However, there are fans that search for the reality of the show on their own. In the movie, there were ‘superfans’ who basically study the show in their free time along with watching it. Why do they do that? Simply, for satisfaction as mentioned before. When the actors get caught in a bad situation when things get taken more serious outside of their show, they call upon the superfans, who pay attention to a little more detail than the actors themselves. With their knowledge, they can get the actors out of their problem to find success. Consumers focus strictly on their own satisfaction, for their gratification needs. Whether you’re a superfan or a casual binge-watcher, we all search for specific satisfaction through specific uses.

Jason Berardicurti