In the most traditional sense, the concept of an ‘audience’ has a very physical and locational connotation. Recently, it seems as if this traditional notion of the audience has begun to dissolve out of necessity (with a certain pandemic to blame).
Although I’m somewhat of a content recluse, the advent of social distancing and self isolation did briefly lay waste to something which I hold close to my heart – the cinema. Perhaps it’s weird given my usually isolated habits, but there’s something about the atmosphere and commonality of the theatre that makes it my favourite way to experience a new film.
One of the best ways to express this relationship is through a brief discussion of one of my favourite films, Edgar Wright’s ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. The World.’ It’s not the most profound movie, but the adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s seminal teen comic, ‘Scott Pilgrim’ is a unique action movie that fittingly ruminates a lot on what it means to be part of an audience in the 21st century.
The film came out in 2010 and thanks to some shoddy marketing from Universal Studios, the movie failed to break even at the box office. Unfortunately, this severely limited the movie’s initial audience, meaning a 9 year-old-me never saw the film on the coveted big-screen.
Thankfully, after the movie gained a considerable cult following, and I fell in love with Wright’s directorial style in 2017’s ‘Baby Driver,’ I finally got around to watching ‘Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World’ at home.
Under its flashy editing and visual style, Scott Pilgrim is a love letter to the canadian hipster scene, and the heavy influence that circulating media played on its formation. The film is rife with video game references, homages to popular indie bands and pop-cultured nods. Not because they serve as cheap fan service, but rather because they exist as essential aspects of the text’s conception, and a strong reflection on the audience’s own experience.
Even though it was written about the comic, I still think The Globe and Mail’s, Ian Dafferns touches upon it well;
“At it’s finest, Scott Pilgrim is much, much more than it appears to be. It’s an ambitious
meditation on what growing up means to a generation for whom comic and video games
are not just cultural touchstones, but the dominant iconography.” (Dafferns, 2010)
Scott Pilgrim’s myriad of references aren’t just a fun way to connect with the audience, but rather a complete understanding of the effect media has on building our identities. It thoroughly understands that our role as an audience extends beyond the initial viewing, and into our role as active participants of an ongoing conversation.
In this, Scott Pilgrim ascribes itself to Turnbull’s examination upon Burn’s notion of the ‘produser’ outlined in Imagining the Audience (Turnbull, 2010, p. 66). As an audience we extend the meaning of a text through analysis, discussion and the construction of our own works, and in turn O’Malley, and later on Wright constructed a vision of Toronto built under these practices.
Even though I did eventually get to see Scott Pilgrim vs. The World at a local theatre celebrating its 10th anniversary, my role as a member of its audience has extended far beyond. In many ways I’m extending my audience role now in a self perpetuating cycle of pop-cultural influence.
Daffern, I 2010, How Scott Pilgrim conquered the world, The Globe And Mail.
Turnbull, Sue 2010, ‘Imagining the audience’, in Cunningham, Stuart Media & communications in Australia, 3rd ed, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, N.S.W, pp. 65-78
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