Unit 21: P1 - Existing Dramas and Audience Pleasures

Title: Suits

Genre: Drama, Comedy

Date: 2011 - present

Series: 8

Episodes: 124

Running Time: 44 minutes

Creator: Aaron Korsh
Production Company: Hypnotic
Distributor: USA Network
Broadcaster: USA Network, Netflix
Budget:

Diversion
Audiences can escape from their everyday life and worries through focusing on the drama of law suit or a court case that needs to be won within an episode of suits. This highlights the stress and pressure put on Mike's shoulders, along with having to hide his secret of not going to Harvard which could result in him going to jail for fraud if caught. In doing this, viewers' are likely to feel relief when returning to the real world, but also, pleasure is created through this distraction and ability to escape their own issues.
Similarly, the comedic aspect of the series allows viewers to have some enjoyment and getaway from the seriousness of life by laughing at Harvey being such a blunt and sarcastic character and the ridiculousness of some of the situations Mike gets himself into.

Surveillance
For a viewer, pleasure would be created through being able to experience the stress and process of being a top firm lawyer as it gives them insight and allows them to learn about a way of living they're not familiar with.
Additionally, Harvey Specter lives in a penthouse apartment in New York and is extremely wealthy. Audiences gain pleasure from gaining insight to the perks and extreme luxury lifestyle the character lives.

Personal Relationships
Pleasure is gained through the series reinforcing the viewers own relationships through watching the blossoming romance between Rachel and Mike. The rises and falls on their love is likely to allow a viewer to feel empowered by their relationship with a significant other.
Along with this, Suits episodes, being a drama, tend to end in a cliff hanger, leaving viewers with many questions and theories. This leads to pleasure as it reinforce audience members' relationships in real life through opening the discussion and debate of the drama in Suits.

Personal Identity
An audience member may gain pleasure from watching suits through being able to identity with one of the characters, such as Rachel who is scared to become a lawyer as she 'doesn't test well' despite being extremely intelligent and passionate about law. However, eventually, she takes the test and, after a few attempts, she passes and is able to become a lawyer. This make reinforce a viewers who has similar types of fears and empower them to work hard to achieve they're goals in spite of them.

You

Genre: Drama, Crime, Thriller, Romance

Date: 2018 - present

Series: 1

Episodes: 10

Running Time: 45 minutes

Director:
Production Company: A+E Studio
Distributor: Warner Bros
Broadcaster: Netflix
Budget:

Diversion
Pleasure is gained for viewers through this series as the romance between Joe and Beck and through the tension of unwanted knowledge of Joe's true intentions as they watch him stalking her. This allows the audience to escape from the worries of their everyday life.

Surveillance
A male viewer may gain pleasure from gaining insight to the struggles and vulnerability of women which they may not otherwise understand and experience. Through the series, they see how Hannah is oblivious and manipulated due to her beauty and due to a stereotype which presents her as weak and therefore an easy target to be taken advantage of.
Additionally, viewers will likely obtain pleasure through gaining insight to the obsessive nature of Joe's character and the mental heath issues associated with him. Through learning about his past, being neglected by his biological parents and abused by his foster parent, the audience is able to piece together why the character acts the way he does and gain insight to his possible motives.

Personal Relationships
Through watching You, viewers may acquire pleasure through the disrupted father daughter relationship between Beck and her Dad which is caused by a new step mum. Despite many attempts Hannah is unable to make her father proud and feels like an outcast to the family which may be relatable for viewers and reinforce their own family relationships.

Personal Identity
Hannah is a young girl so is a relatable character for younger girl viewers. Due to this, pleasure will be gained by these viewers through watching the drama and reinforcing their own personal values, such as the vulnerable position they are in and it may even prompt them to act more cautiously in the future.

13 Reasons Why

Genre: Drama, Mystery

Date: 2017 - present

Series: 2

Episodes: 26

Running Time: 60 minutes

Director: Selena Gomez

Production Company: July Moon Productions

Distributor: Netflix

Broadcaster: Netflix

Budget:

Diversion 

Audience members can become involved in the mystery on the series in finding out who's on each tape that Hannah left behind explaining the reason for her suicide. This allows viewers to escape the troubles of their everyday life through becoming enthralled in the series and the secrets it reveals. It may similarly, grant audiences relief when returning to their everyday life as they don't have to uncover the mystery or deal with the grief Clay has to go through.

Surveillance

13 Reasons Why gives viewers an insight into Hannah's life, a teenager who committed suicide, and how her mental heath was impacted through a series of events such as being raped, witnessing her friend being raped but being too scared to speak out, having her two best friends leave her as they fall into a blossoming relationship and being labelled a 'slut' based on lies a boy she liked made up. An audience member would take pleasure from gaining all this information and following the story of Hannah through the tapes she left behind.

Personal Relationships

Viewers may take pleasure from watching the series and having it reinforce their own personal relationships as they watch the bickering relationship between Hannah and her parents, which many teenagers could relate to. After seeing how the Mother suffers after her daughter's death, an audience member may feel a sense of relief that they can still pick up the phone and talk to their parents and may even cause them to appreciate their relationship. 

Similarly, by opening up the topic of mental heath and suicide, the drama may encourage viewers to have the conversation with friends and family, strengthening their relationships.

Personal Identity

An audience member may take pleasure from having their personal values reinforced if they can relate to the characters. For example, teenagers are likely to feel as if they can relate to the struggles and vulnerability of Hannah along with her fragile mental state, causing this reinforcement of their personal values and therefore, pleasure.