http://www.channel4.com/programmes/bodyshock/4od
Body shock:
I'm Turning into a Giant
The Twins Who Share a Brain
I Am the Elephant Man
Girl with Eight Limbs Grows Up
Age 8 and Wanting a Sex Change
Two Foot Tall Teen
Half Ton Son
World's Biggest Boy
Born with Two Heads
Half Ton Man
The Man Who Ate His Lover
Curse of the Mermaid
The Girl with Eight Limbs
The Man Who Slept for 19 Years
These are all titles of all the channel 4 broadcast episodes. I have noticed that the titles seem shocking. The institution uses specific techniques to attract its audience. In some titles the narrative of the documentary is shown, for example : 'I'm turning into a giant' and 'The man who ate his lover' connote what is going to happen throughout the documantary. Some viewers from the audience may find the titles shocking or frightening, titles like 'born with two heads', ' the girl with eight limbs' and 'the man who ate his lover', all sound like titles of horror movies. This notion of scary titles could be a tactic from the institution to draw more attention to its audience and capture attention.
Try to be more specific about how the titles are constructed - and why the shock factor is relevant.
ReplyDeleteHow far can you say that the titles are 'tabloid' and deliberately aimed at a society which is both fascinated and repelled by extremes of disability?
How far have we come from the 'freak shows' of the 19th century?