Abstract
Including those among you who do not engage in media studies will
be familiar with today’s subject – the concept of play. Just open your
newspaper and see how this concept imposes itself, both in word
and image. Take for example the Dutch cabinet formation in 2010:
“Formation rules out of date” de Volkskrant
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announces. And NRC
Next points out that the “formation game is not played properly” and
that the process shows signs of “rough play.” Imagery in de Volkskrant
similarly uses the play metaphor to denote the political situation.
Wilders is depicted as a puppeteer pulling the strings at whim while
the political arena is reduced to his playground. Rules: No Muslims, no
leftist elite and no judges. Closing time - or how long will this cabinet
stay in power? – ask it to Mr. Wilders. A second example – this time from the field of media studies –
is offered by the film Slumdog Millionaire (Boyle 2008). It is remarkable
that this particular film was the big winner at the Academy Awards
– the Oscars – in 2009. Suspense in the film largely depends on the
format of a major television genre, the game show, and more specifically
the quiz show: the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? At
the beginning of the film we have an opening ritual that introduces
protagonist Jamal Malik, which is followed by the actual game, the quiz,
while the film ends with a closing ritual showing how the winner Jamal
is congratulated by the presenter and handed a check with the amount
of money he has won. Media scholar John Fiske calls this format of
“ritual-game-ritual” (1987a, 265) an enactment of capitalist ideology.
The suggestion is made that – no matter the differences – everyone
would have the same opportunities. That differences in the standard of
knowledge are often associated with differences in social backgrounds
would thus be hidden from view. This is indeed how the film could be
interpreted. The people in the film who in increasing numbers follow
the show watch in amazement as Jamal correctly answers each new
question yet again. But director Danny Boyle plays a double game.
Ingeniously he interweaves the storyline of the quiz with the narrative
of Jamal’s life. By thus addressing Jamal’s social background he manages
to show the film’s audiences how this ‘bum’ from the slums gleaned his
superb knowledge from the streets to win the quiz show. These two examples highlight most of the features of the play concept that I want to discuss today: the importance of rules, the
idea that rules can be changed, the playful nature of cultural domains
such as politics and media, the understanding that play is often less
open than it looks (it is Mr. Wilders’s playground), the international
popularity of game shows, the cultural significance of play, and so on.
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