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Should a script be changed to suit the audience?
Results so far:
| Yes | 41% | 307 votes | Total: 757 votes | |
| No | 59% | 450 votes |
Yes
by Akua Hinds
Created on: May 20, 2010
Scripts are written FOR the audience and should be adjusted to fulfill the desires of what the audience wants to see. The writer controls the plot, characters, and background history of the story but the audience is invested in the drama and has their own interpretation of what should be happening or what will happen to the story in the future. The writer needs to “get” the audience’s interest and keep it there. Some writers care about satisfying the desires of the viewers, but not enough writers check in with the fans to see if the fans are digging the storyline. Dramatic serials are a good example of shows that have huge fan followings and if the fans are not happy with the storylines, they watch the show less frequently and ratings fall. High ratings for television shows are the script writers’ way of receiving applause for their work. When ratings are low, that means that fewer people are watching and applauding. With the advent of technology, there are internet chat rooms and message boards where fans post their opinions of the show and this allows the writers to discover what the fans want to see take place in the storyline.
A television script goes through several hands before the characters are brought to life on screen. Producers, directors, and writers have meetings to discuss which direction the plot needs to take before the actors ever get wind of it. With so many people weighing in on the outcome of the story, it is sometimes difficult for the script writer to stay true to their own interpretation of the story and characters. A script is a product and just like any product on the shelf at your local pharmacy, it will need to be reviewed and updated by the company to ensure that it is meeting the needs of today’s public. Each television show is competing for ratings with their counterparts and production companies cannot afford to lose any viewers, especially in today’s economy. The actors, writers, lighting directors, makeup and hair artists and everyone else who works on the set would have no jobs at all if it were not for the audience. Therefore, the audience needs to stay happy. If the majority of the fans don’t like two characters paired up together in a romantic story, then the script writer needs to take that in to consideration and break up that relationship. If the majority of the audience is turned off from the way core characters are portrayed, then the script writer needs to change the direction of the characters back to the way they were when the audience first fell in love with them.
Script writers need to know the demographics of their viewers and figure out what they would enjoy viewing. Each script should have a variety of serious issues mixes in with humor, comedy, and education in order to be really good. The best stories are those that incorporate diversity, allowing the viewer to see realistic interactions between older and younger generations. The whole point of the show is to make the audience feel a connection with what is going on. When the connection is lost, the amount of viewers will decline, resulting in falling ratings and NO applause. If that happens, the show’s cancellation will be inevitable and many jobs will be lost. Viewers need to be heard and writers need to listen. That is the best formula that a script writer needs to consider during the writing of the script.
Learn more about this author, Akua Hinds.
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No
by Chris Allen
Created on: June 27, 2010 Last Updated: September 21, 2010
As a performer, I would be incredibly frustrated if the show we were doing had to be altered in any way to make it more audience friendly.
In production of a script, the script is written, obviously. If the director then turns around and says, "oh, well; I'll change this...and this...and this....oh, and by the way, that bit seems a bit too rude" then it changes the show. It makes it no longer the show that was written and it's original target audience, along with the performers themselves would dislike this.
A script is manufactured with an intended audience in mind. Often, it is the details that make a show specific to a certain audience that make the show a success or drivel. So if the details that appeal to one audience type have to change, then suddenly the whole outlook, mood, themes and that cutting edge is lost.
Take Grease. Grease is commonly performed, and sometimes a revised child friendly version is produced. Certain adult themes that are crucial to the original work cannot be put across in the same, effective way, making the details seem unimportant or irrelevant. The cutting edge and the closer that a show can get to the edge is what appeals to audience members.
West Side Story has a rape scene in it and three murders. Clearly, this is unsuitable to children. So rather than writing a revised version, which would lend such small time to these crucial elements of the musical, directors should just say that if you are of a certain age, you can't come. Simple. What do you think people watch Formula 1 for? The drivers bubbly, engaging personalities? The modest pay checks? The lovely droning noise for two hours? Of course not. People watch because there is always a chance that a big crash may happen. This is exciting and arguably should not be made available to public viewing and proves the point that pivotal ingredients in scripts are the moments that would repel a certain audience type. People like things that are on the edge, controversial and exciting.
If a script has to be changed so that a small minority of the audience - you know, the paranoid, thin-skinned, naive, fickle, gullible, band-wagon joining, cardigan wearing audience members - won't find it offensive or inappropriate, then somewhere along the line, the director of the show has given the go ahead to a show he cannot conceivably perform well.
If somebody came up to me and offered me the chance to perform Les Miserables, I would jump at the chance. However, if the person continued by saying "Valjean is no longer imprisoned, he is an old, frail man who is impeccably cared for in a comfortable, warm nursing home. The students no longer rebel against the government with force. Instead Marius writes a polite letter. Javert doesn't kill himself, he migrates to sunny Majorca", then I would defecate in their front garden. And not out of gratitude either.
The script should never be changed to suit an audience. The audience want to see a show because of an intangible element they cannot explain, but still gives the show general appeal. In many cases, this edge is lost to make the show more child-friendly or whatever. If someone wants to see a show, but it isn't suitable, don't watch it. Tough. You wouldn't say "well, I like bull fighting, I just wish that they didn't fight the bulls". That wouldn't happen, and changing a script to a picky audience member should never happen. Think the show isn't suitable? Don't come and watch it and make me make it worse for those who like it for what it is.
It really is that simple.
Learn more about this author, Chris Allen.
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