Transmedia and the Consumer

It seems difficult, as a consumer, to argue against transmedia. I think of my own guilty pleasures such as Sex and the City, True Blood, and, on the other spectrum, my intense love for independent films such as Lars Von Trier's Dancer in the Dark. When I see real, developed characters, I want to know their pasts, their motivations, and their thoughts. When the acting is there, and the writing is right, one becomes completely consumed by the text. The characters become real people who pop out of the screen, who are relatable and sympathetic. When you follow characters around like that (especially in a melodramatic television series), as a consumer, I cannot help but want for these transmedia texts to exist; I want a plot beyond the screen, I want director to make the text real in all dimensions.

Jenkins argues that transmedia cannot be entirely effective in all texts because most films rely on the consumer's anticipation, caused by the gaps in the plot. Although I do agree with this, I don't see how a later text would disrupt this. If another film or say, "Behind the Scenes Featurette," explained these gaps, would our anticipation truly be destroyed? If nothing else, would it not greater our understanding of the film? I feel as thoguh it would only motivate me to re-watch the film (perhaps even buy the DVD for numerous screenings!) in order to capitalize on my new esoteric knowledge of the plot.

Another note in which Jenkins mentions, is the overdesign of certain films, particularly, Scorsese's Gangs of New York and the work of Tim Burton. He claims that the intricately detailed background of Tim Burton's films take away from the story that he is telling. Is Jenkins naive to think that this was not the director's intent? Films can be looked at in different realms, perhaps Burton is attempting to cross the realm of commercial and art film? By looking at films strictly in terms of the story it is telling, takes away from the artistic impact of a film. Perhaps the emphasis of some films is to create an alternative world, complete in every aspect, with incomplete stories. Is that not parallel to what we do in real life? Are the "extras" in our lives not at least as interesting (perhaps even more interesting) as the main characters in our lives? Do we not wonder about them as they pass? Although commercially releasing a slightly subversive film as I've described may not be wildly successful, that is not to say that it is not an interesting, worthwhile look into another realm.