Situation of Discourse

Recently in class, we have been discussing the situation of discourse and the fact that from either reading a text or watching a show or movie, you gain insight into the implied author and can grasp certain things that the show is presenting. Since my last few blogs have focused mainly on the courtship presented by Dawson's Creek, I figured I would apply the situation of discourse to see what it will tell me about the show itself.

The Author: Right away from watching a single episode of the show, it is clear that the author/writer(s) of this show is a very emotional, sensitive person. Every character presented in the series has a clear emotional side to them, whether it is sensitivity, humor, wit, or anything else, they all have something unique to their character. The author clearly is intelligent, because though the characters are only in high school, their vocabulary seems far above the level of a typical teenager and the depth to which they examine their own and each other's lives is far beyond the stereotype for that age. The extent to which the characters present themselves as intelligent, thoughtful friends gives the author ethos because it is apparent that the writing is coming from the heart instead of mere entertainment purposes. In actuality, the Executive Producer, Kevin Williamson, is much like Dawson Leery, the main character in the series, and many of the events that take place in the show are pertanent to his own experiences growing up, so that fact alone grants credibility. Also, the main writer, Greg Berlanti, is an openly gay, very successful writer in the television and film world, and his personal experiences are evident in later episodes when Jack, a key character, realizes he is gay and faces so many struggles in accepting himself. Knowing the history and background of both the producer and the writer definitely gives the show ethos and makes a viewer respect the issues being presented on the show, because they are so personal to the authors themselves. Without knowing this information, a viewer could gain insight at least into the emotional side of the authors through the implied author process, because it is evident in each episode that the writers are looking to pull a viewer into the lives of the characters as well as put a point across about whatever issue is being dealt with.


The Audience: Since this show features teenagers as the main characters and deals with teenage issues, I would say that it is directed towards the same age audience. The actors and actresses in the show are the heartthrobs that viewers will be drawn to, but also the issues discussed in each episode are those which a high school and college audience can relate to. Personally, when I watched the show, it was not during the time in which it first aired, as I was in about 6th grade then, but I was just out of high school, and could easily connect with most every issue. The characters deal with falling for a best friend, with breaking up and trying to maintain the friendship that was present before, with hating someone but realizing they may actually be right for you, basically every issue that comes along with the drama that is high school. Given, the show is a little overdone with some of the topics, as the characters seem to overanalyze most every issue, but all the same, they are issues common to everyone. My reaction to the show was comfortable and relative, since I could personally connect with most things that were being discussed. This said, I definitely would include myself in the implied audience since I fall into the age group that I believe the show is directed towards. Though this implied audience is directed mostly towards the high school to college young adult sector, I think that even adults will gain insight from a show like this, not only from their own experiences as young students, but also from the experience of raising kids and dealing with the issues from a different perspective. So, although the implied audience pertains only to a small audience, those even far outside the audience can easily relate to the issues.


The Message: In a show such as Dawson's Creek, there is not one clear message that comes out of the episodes. Instead, there is a smaller message in each episode that relates to the struggles of courtship and friendship and deals with issues that come along with high school. Each episode takes the relationship of the characters into consideration and deals with problems that commonly come about in those relationships. Consider, for instance, an episode in which Dawson and Joey have tried dating, as they have always been "soulmates" but the trial was a failure. Their relationship was not as functional as imagined, and they essentially ended up in an awkward situation. The message of this would be that relationships are hard, especially when they involve moving from a strong friendship to courting, and that even if you trust someone with everything, things may still be rocky. It would be cliche to say that the message has to do with love not being perfect, with the fact that life is not always a walk in the park and that things will come up that require working through, but those ultimately are messages that stem out of the episode. There is ethos granted in this episode through the emotional traumas experienced by the characters and the obvious thought put forth by the writers to make the episode seem realistic. There is logos shown through the language used by the characters and their ability to truly analyze the situation they are presented with and deal with it. The thought it very straightforward in its complexity, and the show has definite credibility in the issues it deals with.

The Assumptions: In this show, there are assumptions made that the viewers can relate to the struggles being dealt with and that the viewers will easily be able to relate. Dawson and his friends obviously overanalyze their situations, but the core of each issue in the episodes is relative to real life and real issues in youthful years. The purpose of a show such as Dawson's Creek is to provide insight into the troublesome years that a person experiences when going through both high school and the step into college after high school. It exists to provide both entertainment and thoughfulnes on the subjects and to be relevant to the viewer's life. Most every viewer will gain something from a show such as this, because almost everyone has dealt with an issue similar to the ones discussed in the episodes. The occasion of the show is to provide an example of a small-town community and a close group of friends that goes through changes and struggles together, and works hard to stay intact.

Overall, there are many outlets provided in a show such as Dawson's Creek, both insightful and overdramatic, but a show such as this provides a clear example of courtship and its struggles.

So I was thinking about my last post, and the discussion of friends versus more than friends, and I started looking around on Google for some insight as to what others thought about the subject. Google, because the massive empire that it is, gave me basically one of everything, but there was one blog in particular that gave me something to really think about. There was one specific part of the blog that caught my attention and it read as follows:

"I propose that it is much easier to be Platonic friends with a person when one or both of you is unattracted to the other in some fundamental way, and imagine that’s probably self-evident. When there’s a barrier to being “more than” friends, whether it’s your lack of attraction or the other’s, or some external circumstance, or some internal knowledge that something is or would be deeply wrong about it, it’s easier to be friends. It’s that in-between stage that’s the trouble, where there are no concrete barriers to being “more than” friends with someone."
(http://thinkblog.org/2006/05/16/platonic-friendships/)

This person has the assumption that when two people are friends, and it is clear that they will never make the jump to a deeper level for one reason or another, the friendship is easier and more solidified. It is only when there is the questionable halfway mark, the gray area that leaves room for change and possibility, that the relationship is jeopardized. The thought makes sense, as it seems legitimate that a friendship based solely on the intellectual and fun-loving level is one that will stay strong for a long period of time. But then you have to consider the other side of the argument- the story heard so many times about two people being best friends for their entire lives, only to realize over time that they were in love and couldn't stand to be away from each other.

Again, this goes back to the question of knowing when the relationship has taken a turn towards courtship, when the intense connection one has with another person that they know so well is no longer merely companionship-based. With Dawson's Creek, Joey and Dawson are constantly caught in the gray area of mystery, never knowing if the feelings they have for one another are platonic or romantic. They are in the awkward teenage period where they are unsure of what to do with the feelings they have and seem to try every route of releasing them. Their attempt at love falters and they are left in the same situation as the beginning, but without their unwaivering friendship. This poses yet again the question that seems to have so many answers, what is it about a relationship that causes people to take it up a notch? What brings one to realize that they have found the one person they are in love with? It seems to me that so often, love stems from a solid friendship, but it is knowing that they love is there that is the tough part.

Soulmates

So I've decided to change my focus more towards courtship on television, because my other one didn't seem to be leading anywhere. This new direction opens many doors concerning the possibilities of discussion, since most every show on tv these days has a different slant with dating and courtship. The one show that I want to focus on right now is Dawson's Creek, which yes, it a little bit older and may not be a familiar show to many of you, but is one that I have recently gotten pretty obsessed with. The thing about the show that I like most is the fact that the characters are portrayed as actual legitimate teenagers, so it is easy as the show progresses to not only relate to them but also see their growth and changes as characters.

Now how does this relate to courtship more so than another show? The aspect of soulmates versus passion-driven attraction. In Season 1 of Dawson's, we are introduced to Dawson, a guy so obsessed with the movie world that he relates every aspect of his life to a melodrama and thinks that in the end, everything should be perfect, which clearly is not true life. Alongside him, there is Joey, a shy, very smart girl who thinks of things in the opposite of Dawson, a girl who is not concerned with the way things should be, but only the struggles she has faced so far in her life. These two characters have been best friends since the youngest years they can remember, and both, mainly Dawson, however, are convinced that they are soulmates. Every memory they can remember, every life-changing moment they have had, has been with each other, and they have been the solid point in one another's life for years. This poses the question of a soulmate- what exactly does it mean to find the one person that you are seemingly destined to be with forever? In the case of Dawson and Joey, it is merely the historical connection between the two, the intense friendship that they have shared for so many years and feel makes them who they are. There is definitely sexual tension between the two, but it is far from passion, far from the intense connection one has with sometime they are strongly attracted to.

This brings me to wonder what is it that makes a relationship move from friendship to something more? How do you know that the intellectual connection you have with someone, the feeling that a person is your rock and will always be there for you, is something more than a functioning friendship? It seems like a lot of the time on television, there are characters who are together constantly, who love to be with each other, who are friends, but later decide to take that relationship to a new level. In the case of Dawson's Creek, that jump from friendship to a relationship seems like the best idea for the two characters, the two who are "destined" to be together, but once it is made, it unravels into disaster. There is tension and awkwardness and essentially a change in the relationship that prevents the two from going back to the comfortable level they started out on.

So what is it that makes two people feel the need to bring a new aspect into their relationship after functioning so well without the romantic connection? There is a fine line between soulmates, best friends, and lovers, which makes it hard to know when to move from merely friendship to courting.

Past and Present

So I'm pretty new to the whole blogging scene, but I guess I might as well start somewhere. I've never really seen the point of putting all of my thoughts onto the internet for everyone to read and consider, which makes this is an interesting concept for me. Not to put down blogs at all, I definitely think they're entertaining and can be insightful, but it's just never been my thing, so this will be a totally new experience for me.

That said, there is essentially nothing I would rather blog about than the broad topic of courtship and love. There are so many directions to take it, so many opinions to consider, and ultimately so much to say about it. Love- its the true connection with another person, the feeling that you never want to be without them, the physical attraction to another person, and the one thing that most every person in the world strives to find throughout their life. This huge concept, however, comes only along with its predecessor- courtship. The process of attraction, of playing hard to get, of dating, the process of falling for someone in a way you never thought possible, and essentially, the process of courting someone with thoughts of a future in mind. This process can be interpreted in countless ways depending on the outlook of the individual, which is what I want to focus on in this blog- the varying mindsets that not only shape one's view of courtship and love itself, but also the way that those mindsets affect the people around them.

I figure a good basis to this topic is to think about quotes from varying people throughout society on the topic of love and courting. I've always been one of those people that will sit and read quote upon quote just to give me something new to think about and I feel like each quote truly presents an individual mindset. Take a quote by Kimberly Adams for example, in which she says, "The more I study history, the more I realize people are the same. The same issues come up again and again. In terms of marriage, relationships and courtship, it's all basically the same." Now this presents a view that throughout history, in all the years and in every individual society, courtship has been based upon the same concept. What concept is that? What is it that makes each society have its own ritualistic way of courting? Whether that concept is based on religion, on the sexual desire, on the feeling of an intellectual connection with someone, or anything for that matter, what determines what a person is looking for? Adams' quote seems to present the question of what it is that causes people to get together through the act of courting, and in the end, if it really is all the same. That question is definitely something to think about.