Uses and Gratifications Theory Essay: Doctor Who
The first time I saw Doctor Who, I was eighteen years old and searching for something to occupy myself during the summer vacations. I had just acquired Netflix and was exploring how the platform worked. Netflix offers you a survey that helps personalize your experience with the program, and it creates a profile that features all the possible TV shows or movies you might enjoy based on your answers and the ratings you have given to other movies or shows you have watched. In a way, Netflix applies the uses and gratifications theory. The uses and gratifications theory “…examines how people use the media and the gratification they seek and receive from their media …” and Netflix does this as well. The platform focuses on the genre you prefer, the length and how the stories are developed and the topics discussed on the shows or movies.
Like many, I favor science fiction TV shows but also comedy, action and maybe even a bit of romance. I enjoy movies like: Back to the Future, Star Trek, Star Wars, Time Traveler’s wife, to mention a few, but I could never find a show that would include all these themes in one. When I decided to watch the first season of Doctor Who, I was a bit skeptical about what to expect from it. It sounded way to good to be true. It had action, science fiction, time travel, romance and it was also a comedy. Later, after watching the first episode, I was utterly enthralled by it. The graphics and effects were not that good, but I did enjoy the storyline, and I felt identified with the show because it centered all the things I enjoyed and I could identify with the characters.
Consequently, I decided to keep watching the show. Most of my friends did not know about it, and I introduced a lot of them to it and later discovered that there was a whole different side to the show than the one I was seeing. Doctor Who not only was a show, it was a legacy. I was watching episodes from 2005 and up, but the show had started its first season in 1963. Moreover, I later, discovered that it was about to celebrate its 50th anniversary. With this, I realized that in order for a show to have lasted for that long there must have been something that appealed to the public in the same way it did to me or in other different ways. Also, then I found out that the show was sort of a tradition, something that was watched as a family. Because it is a family show: it has values, a good storyline and in a way connects with its audience because it also touches day-by-day themes.
Besides meeting my expectations and entertaining myself with Doctor Who, it serves as a therapy; helps me relax when I am stressed out, and I can think clearer afterward. It is a show that if I am feeling down or like I cannot do something at the end of an episode that way of thinking is gone. The Radio Times interviewed a few people about why they loved Doctor Who, and I can honestly say I agree with all of them. One of the interviewees, Martin Breslin, said that he loved Doctor Who, “…because of its never-ending ability to keep looking and moving forward. If The Doctor can move past hurt and negativity, continue seeing all the good and positivity there is, then it can give audiences the encouragement they need to love the world too.” I feel like this is one of the main reasons I watch the show when I am down or want to see something I enjoy. The show focuses on achieving something great, fighting for what you love. Doctor Who inspires me to be a better person and do what I love, enjoy and strive for greatness.
Furthermore, The Radio Times asked Chris Fone why he enjoyed the show, and he said, “…the Doctor himself is one form of the ultimate outsider; you felt he could understand what you felt and not judge you for being different.” I can honestly say that no matter if I were eight, fifteen or forty, I would still be watching the show. Growing up I did feel like I was an outsider and now more than ever I feel like that too. I live in a country an ocean away from my family, and all I used to loved and enjoyed. I am surrounded by a different culture, and in a way, I am the Doctor. I am the last time lord or in my case a Puerto-Rican living in the US trying to fit in.
In conclusion, many around the world watch Doctor Who and it appeals to different ages and races because it is a show anyone can relate to. It inspires, motivates and makes the viewer feel like they are part of the story because they can relate to it. It makes you see the world as it is: good and evil and how to learn from that. In Season 5, episode 10 the Doctor said, “the way I see it, every life is a pile of good things and bad things. The good things do not always soften the bad things, but vice versa, the bad things do not always spoil the good things and make them unimportant.” The uses and gratifications theory says society looks for something that appeals to them and can relate to. The show helps you grow as a human being. It lets the viewer see that even if it is an alien it still can make mistakes and learn from them and that is something society confronts every day; the fear of making a mistake or failing. Netflix and other platforms have given the world different options to enjoy a movie or a TV show. They have applied the uses and gratifications theories and helped improve the way society interacts with the programming they like. To me, Doctor Who is a program I will like to keep watching and in a future would watch with my own family. The show has made me an optimist even in the worst times of my life. “I am and always will be the optimist. The hoper of far-flung hopes and the dreamer of improbable dreams.” (The Doctor, season 6, episode 6), and that is something everyone that watches the show has learned.
References:
20 Great Doctor Who Quotes. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2015, from http://www.pastemagazine.com/b...
A Brief History of a Time Lord. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2015, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho...
Theories of Communication. (n.d.). Retrieved March 28, 2015, from http:// www.zeepedia.com/read.php? uses_and_gratifications_theory_methods_theories_of_communication&b=81&c=39
Why you love Doctor Who. (2014, September 25). Radio Times. Retrieved March 27, 2015.
