Comments on the transformation of ‘Catharsis’ and ‘Flow’ in digital television series.
The Jay Bolter article “The Aesthetics of flow and the Aesthetic of Catharsis” got me thinking about how I engage with and experience flow and catharsis. I think it is ambitious of Bolter to develop a generalization for these terms especially when catharsis and flow are quite an individual experience for people. Though, his article made me reflect on how these processes are constantly changing at a similar speed to the transformation of technology and entertainment.
“If television drama is, like Hollywood film, cathartic, today’s television as a whole is a complex mix of styles, and many programs (infomercials, music-video channels, the weather channel, and so on) want to flow. Csikszentmihalyi regards flow as an active state: a person is doing something that induces the feeling of flow. In this sense, channel surfing is still perhaps one of the most common flow activity in our culture. … We could argue that experience of watching television is a blend of the two aesthetics, because inside this flow of programs and commercials the viewer may be watching cathartic dramas. At any rate, the experience of television viewing is becoming more hybridized now, because viewers can choose among many different ways of consuming television programs: watching them live (or when broadcast), recording them on dvrs for later viewing, choosing programs on demand from services on the Internet, and so on. Each of these modes changes the flow of the viewing experience. Finally, nascent forms of interactive television often convert cathartic programs into flow experiences, as they divert the viewer’s concentration from the narrative and encourage her to develop her own rhythm in moving between the narrative and the additional materials (games, background information, product purchases) on the Internet.” (PG 9)
It was really interesting – the other day, a few of us were talking on the bus about the release of Kevin Spacey’s new television series called ‘House of Cards’. The idea behind this project is that they will be releasing the whole PREMIER series, PREMIER season on Netflix – all at once. There is no television broadcast outlet (only online through NETFLIX) and no weekly episode releases. Instead of making audiences wait every week, the television series is deciding to adopt a different type of consumption and allow its viewers to have the choice of A) being immersed in ‘House of Cards’ all at once or B) to prolong there own spectatorship. The traditional sense of building up the excitement, anticipation and suspense that continues the engagement, attachment and (almost) guarantee of weekly viewers, is left to the choices and thus control of the viewer. The traditional sense of “flow” that I understood Bolter was trying to affirm is taking new forms at the same rate as digital media. On the bus, we were commenting on how this release of ‘House of Cards’ will be a revolution for the future of television. We have seen different approaches that have changed the weekly episode releases to ones such as the daily episode releases, for instance Bolters reference to nightly talk-show hosts or even John Greyson’s ‘Murder in the Passing’. There are instances as back-to-back episode releases and then a few days in-between the next follow up episode to generate eagerness and desire such as American Idol or the X-Factor. Greyon’s series also engages its viewers in public spaces (the TTC platform) and similar to the contest television shows (American Idol), encourages their audiences active participation with connecting online. Kevin Spacey says “I think it’s partly to do with the way people are consuming entertainment now.” Which evokes the notion that our consumption with entertainment including cinema, television, games, music and new media is continually transforming. I am not saying that traditional methods of engaging in media are going extinct. Bolter’s article just made me think about this continuous evolution of catharsis and flow in arts and cultural. Do you think House of Cards is a smart progression? What are some of the challenges that this series may face? If it is a success – what could be some of the challenges that ‘traditional’ television series then face? How do you think this will change the ‘flow’ of viewer engagement within the television industry? Perhaps one of how questions will be how can we then control flow? Will we be able to control a flow? Do we even want to control a flow?
Just to end my post with some of the statements from the article: Flow becomes ‘the process of achieving happiness through control over one’s inner life.’ Csikszentmihaly’s flow culture is one in which individuals aim at nothing more than personal satisfaction (p16)… Flow is emotionally monochromatic, and there is no lack to be filled: all the user wants is for the current state of satisfaction to be prolonged. (pg10)
Here is a link to Kevin Spacey talking on BBC about ‘House of Cards’. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21065617
Here are a couple of articles about ‘House of Cards’ being released on Netflix
http://www.thewrap.com/movies/article/why-netflix-future-hinges-house-cards-arrested-development-not-disney-68391
http://www.thewrap.com/media/article/netflix-amazon-hulu-move-original-content-sparks-second-revolution-broadcasting-59526
From the Guardian (more about the 4 season release of Arrest Development on Netflix): http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2013/jan/10/arrested-development-returns-may-planned-film?INTCMP=SRCH
Maia :)
I believe that TV series on demand are something that was brought by new technologies and is a game changer, but not as much as one would think. I find interesting your questions and they made me question myself about the way I experience the flow in TV series on demand. This made me remember how now is also possible to buy a whole set of TV series and watch it at your own pace, one after the other, giving you that sense of control. However, I believe that we are not the ones who control flow, since this is an experience that takes us inside the current of consumption, depending on the effectiveness of the contents that we are watching, we only have some self-control to break the flow, or maybe lack of financial resources to continue the flow, depending on the circumstances. As a creator and as storyteller I would ask myself, giving a follow up to your proposed questions: Do I want to create flows that control people? or Do I aim for an aesthetic that engages at first but then releases people after a while? Maybe is a matter of creating meaning that resonates, or I guess it depends on personal motivations of each one of us (as creators of meaning).
This is an interesting observation about self-control and loosing self- control. It happens to me a lot. Especially when I am browsing the internet. I have to consciously pull myself away from what it is I am doing, because usually its not where I had intended to go and I have just spent the last 20 minutes aimlessly wondering the internet. These questions that you bring up about what do we the creators want to achieve – is something that I too, think is important