Rockler Analysis

Rockler interpreted Mercedes’ comment “I don’t think any of the species were supposed to represent any race. I think the actors were chosen for their talents,” as an example of a transmission paradigm analysis. More specifically, Rockler grouped her comment under the most commonly used type of transmission paradigm assumption; this type of paradigm revolves around the belief that the presence of a message is either in a film or not in a film (it is not hidden in the background) and that message cannot have multiple meanings (if the intended message, placed in the film by the director, is not interpreted as the director meant it to be, then the audience member is at fault for misunderstanding).

            I think that Rockler’s interpretation of this comment was fairly correct.  I think that Rockler has some validity to her point because the first part of the student’s statement shows that the student is not looking for a deeper meaning. The Lion King and its producers do not blatantly state anything about race, therefore the student does not think the issue exists. The second part of Mercedes’ statement also shows that she feels that the film could not have multiple meanings. She feels that the voices were chosen either for race representation or for talents, but not for both.

            While Rockler did an okay job at connecting the student’s statement to a transmission paradigm, I do not think that the interpretation is as good as it could have been. I think that this statement could have been included in the portion of the article where Rockler was focusing on the sender’s intent. Mercedes’ comment is more focused on the intent of the producers of the Lion King. When I read the comment, I get the feeling that Mercedes is assuming that the producers did not choose voices for race but for ability and skill level; she is not focusing on whether a message is present or not, she is focusing on the fact that producers of a child’s show would most likely not intentionally include racist material. It is for this reason that I think that Rockler did not do a great job of placement with this particular comment.