Audience's Purpose

**The purpose and characterisation of the audience in Goncharov** **(a continuous community essay)**

The audience in films and a majority of media is typically considered passively by producers and writers. Whilst we experience what they have created, we are not intended to play a role in it's development, or indeed stand in as a character. Goncharov, on the other hand, carefully manipulates some typical patterns to give individual audience members the role of sections of society at the time, and the audience overall the role of wider society in Goncharov's setting.

## Subverting propaganda

This begins with the Cold War propaganda, and the way the audience at the time would have been fed it (even to a certain level a contemporary audience) so a viewer would already have preconceived notions about Russians when entering the film. The way it gently subverts these tropes is by playing into them, to make the audience subconsciously aware that they are playing the role of society, when a common theme is shared. Whether Goncharov exists in a society where the Cold War will happen does not matter as such- the audience already accepts that it will. As the film progresses and we see different layers of these characters, the audience may begin to realise what views they hold, as they continue to be proved wrong. Despite the surface brutality of the characters, they have depths and moments of vulnerability. By gradually humanising the characters to the audience, they are able to slowly grow to accept a different view, rather than having a sudden epiphany. This provides a microcosm for larger society, in which the preconceived notions shifted and began to dissipate over the years- this film achieves it in approximately three hours.

## Katya

Katya is one character affected by how the audience perceives her, but it is largely what the audience are not permitted to see that builds her character. A mimic for society, the audience is given the role of only seeing her at surface level, Goncharov's reputation preceding her. However, some members may notice details that give them a wider glimpse into her character before more of it is blown open towards the end. Right from the beginning of the film, it is hinted that Katya has a larger role behind the scenes, often subtly outwitting her partner in ways that initially only the most astute of audience members will notice. By the audience underestimating her, Katya can make use of this to conduct her affairs without having to worry so much about attention being drawn to the truth of what she is orchestrating alongside Sofia. In this way, the audience is given the role of society in the period, so often underestimating women, always to their disadvantage. By the end of the film, the audience are challenged to rethink, to view more life more critically and with a more open mind- they are taught through this film that nobody should be disregarded, despite initial impressions. Katya is a brilliant way of allowing the audience to understand that everyone has their own motives, and they are still working towards these even when we are not focused on them. Blink, and you could miss several transformative moments for her that often occur in the background of scenes, which would mean the shift of her character towards the end would come as a surprise, which is exactly how Katya intends it to be, if not the writers.

## Kayfabe off

Whilst Goncharov may not exist in our reality, many of the points made here remain valid, just in a different way, for social media and how we have created this film. Some of us are active in it's creation, some are watching it unfold. Both of these roles are key. Creators and audience must exist in harmony, and this has never been more true than for a constantly evolving piece of media which relies on a continuously captivated audience. Rather than being a mimic, this audience is a portion of society, a portion clearly open to accepting ideas such as a 1973 mafia movie that never existed. Whilst not a perfect microcosm of contemporary society, the audience can be drawn into some ideas and themes that they would previously not have been open to. Other ideas remain undiscovered- instead of them not seeing the subtleties of these ideas all in one place, we have instead a piece of mass media that nobody has one clear picture of. We gradually discover more ideas, and this in fact is a microcosm of wider society, a picture gradually unravelling, many additions lost in a crowd of others. By creating Goncharov, we have stumbled into an actively audience influenced piece of media in real time, something we should appreciate for what it is whilst we have it. As a community, we have created and empowered this phenomenon.