Social Context Exam Question (The Avengers)

How do social contexts influence media texts? Refer to The Avengers from 1965 in your answer.

Social contexts are how media products reflect the society in which they are produced and that of their target audience.

One way social contexts has influenced media texts is how during the 1960s, there was a lot of tension between the USSR, and the USA and other democracies. This is because the 1960s were in the period of the Cold War, where there was a great distrust between the capitalist countries of the Western World (e.g. USA and UK) and the communist countries of Eastern Europe (USSR). This is influenced in media texts such as The Avengers, and the evil Russian spies in Little Bazeley against the British agents, Emma Peel and John Steed, which reflects the ongoing war between the British democracies and the communist country, the USSR at the time. This impacts the audience as they will be able to interpret the Russians as the enemy as it reflects the conflict between the different nationalities in society through the Cold War.

Another way social context has influenced media texts is through the rise in feminism in the 1960s. More women in the 1960s were entering the paid workforce, which increased the dissatisfaction among the women regarding huge gender differences in pay. This inspired the feminist movement throughout the 60s. This is reflected in The Avengers and how one of the main characters, Emma Peel, is a female who is not just an agent, but can also fight.  This is unconventional for a TV series released in the 1960s, as the female gender was disregarded and not usually represented as important characters on television. This impacts the audience as they wouldn’t expect a woman to be the protagonist of the series, given the era; this however reflects the rise in feminism, as Emma Peel’s role is strong, aggressive and powerful.

Finally, social contexts has influenced media texts through homosexuality. Throughout the 1960s, homosexuality was not only illegal but entirely disregarded and frowned upon by the general public. Gay men who were publicly gay, were either arrested or sent to mental institutions, therefore gay activists during the mid 60s became increasingly aware of the threat of prison. This is reflected in The Avengers as all characters are seen to be heterosexual because of how homosexuality was viewed in society. Due to the era that the show aired, it would be very unconventional if there was any regard of characters being a homosexual, and the show may get very little to no views and become completely disregarded as TV series if this was the case.