Deconstructing Ally: Explaining Viewers' Interpretations of Popular Television

Two hundred fifty one Israeli students, viewers of the series Ally McBeal, were asked to choose among preformulated interpretations of the pro g r a m. Discriminant analysis was used to explore why some viewers endorsed an interpretation of the program as favorable to women, others as sexist, and others preferr d a humorous interpretation. Results show that relationship status, feminist attitudes, identification with the lead character and p e rceptions of her, as well as liking of the program, were import a n t determinants of the interpretation of the program adopted by viewers. The results are discussed in terms of contributions to reception theory and media psychology in general. In countering the view of television audiences as passive receivers, reception theory has demonstrated that the myriad different ways in which viewers articulate their interpretations of programs are related to viewers’lives and their background, but not in any simple or linear way. For example, resemblance between viewers’lives and those portrayed on the screen sometimes breeds critical appraisals (Press, 1989). At other times, relevance of the text to viewers’ lives is associated with positive interpretations (Cooper, 1999a). Sometimes, viewers respond to a televised conflict by choosing sides, and at others, they dissociate themselves from the conflict (Lewis, 1991). These seemingly conflicting results demonstrate how little we know about the anatomy of the interpretation process (Livingstone, 1998). How do viewers arrive at their interpretations? Is interpretation a cognitive process or one based primarily on emotional responses to television content? Is viewer interpretation dependent on general attitudes or specific responses to textual cues? This study attempts to go beyond identifying relevant sociological variables that explain differences in responses to television content by providing insights into how