Stuart Hall's Theory

 Stuart Hall

Stuart Hall was a sociological thinker and cultural studies theorist in the late 20th century. He was also a media studies teacher in London. His main theory was that you could never find a texts true meaning, and that "different people who encounter the text will make different interpretations."

He also came up with three ways that people read media texts:

1) Preferred Reading

A preferred reading is when the audience will accept the film fully, and the viewer finds it more relatable.

2) Negotiated Reading

The Negotiated Reading is when the audience accept the film, but challenge and change their view.

3) Oppositional Reading

Oppositional Reading is when the audience don't accept the film, rejects all of the ideas. (This can be done on purpose by the producers/directors) 

Encoding & Decoding Theory:

Hall also found a theory for "Encoding and Decoding" This theory works on how media messages are produced and consumed by an audience. Hall also argued that the meaning is not fixed. Healso found that the meaning of a text or film could be found between the producer and audience.