Last week I wrote about transmedia in the context of our present day relating to historical ventures. This week, after listening to Hugh speak about the ethical issues of transmedia in our lecture, I wanted to touch upon both the good and bad aspects of the way content is presented across media in a complimentary way.
Transmedia offers a positive, deeper engagement and connection to the texts for the audience. For example, the most downloaded television series in the world, Game of Thrones, was adapted from the original novels by George R. R. Martin and has also exploded into other media forms such as comic books, interactive games and is speculated to end with a feature film. This extensive distribution of Game of Thrones, along with other, similar franchises such as The Lord of the Rings and The Walking Dead, offers positivity in its entertainment of the audience – the audience is accepted as a contributor to the work of the authors.
On the other hand, however, transmedia allows the audience to become very immersed and very involved, which can cause trauma within the community. For example, the masked gunman who opened fire after hurling tear-gas into a Denver, Colorado cinema in 2012 was so deeply immersed in the plot of Batman, he claimed he was the Joker. 71 people were shot and a further 12 were killed because this man had been too deeply involved in the plot of a film, television series, comic book and a character. Furthermore, those in the cinema were unsure whether or not the shooting was apart of the entertainment of the Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises as they too were immersed in the feature film before them.
Whilst transmedia proves to be positive in helping the audience to contribute to their favourite source of entertainment, stories can get under our skin in very powerful ways and can result in horrendous circumstances.
taylahcramp 