“It Just Kinda Hits Home”: Towards a Critical Consciousness Among Fans of Empire Concerning Mental Illness

• In Event: ICA Interactive paper/Poster Session I
  In Interactive Paper Session: Mass Communication Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

In the United States, individuals are most likely to develop understandings about mental illness through entertainment and news media. While scholars have focused on content as it pertains to depictions of mental illness and mass media, there has been little research to demonstrate the audience's reception of such messages. This study—which conducted seven focus groups with a total of 35 respondents—employed the critical analysis approach of Paulo Freire to understand how fans created meaning around Empire’s representation of an African American man diagnosed with bipolar disorder, how they applied these meanings to understandings of mental illness in the African American community at large, and what prescriptions for change they would recommend to the community. The employment of Freire’s critical analysis that allows for additional insights and action items to come to light—in a way that more traditional audience or reception approaches may have not invoked.

Authors

• Sarah Smith-Frigerio, U of Missouri - Columbia

• Melissa A. Click, Gonzaga U