Fences: Media Effects Illustrated

In my Media Literacy class in Spring 2025, I tried to honor the Black History Month by analyzing Black cultural products and their impact on the society and individuals. I'm sorry it took me forever to write this up, but I was teaching five courses and was barely keeping my head above the water.

I used August Wilson's "Fences" as a case study on how the same media content (in this case, a theater play) can be used to reach wider audiences by expanding the channels (from the play to a movie) and distribution networks (movie theatrical release and streaming platforms). This was also an opportunity to discuss the differences in audience involvement and how various media can produce different types of effects in audiences.

I introduced the case by telling the students basic facts about August Wilson's 1985 Pulitzer Prize winning play:

• a second installment in a 10-play Pittsburgh series highlighting African American experiences in the 1950s,
• staged by Lloyd Richards, then the Artistic Director of the Yale Repertory Theater first in 1985 at Yale Rep, with James Earl Jones and Mary Alice as lead actors;
• in 1986 taken by Richards to Broadway with the same cast, running for a total of 536 performances and winning four Tony Awards, including Best Play for August Wilson, Best Leading Actor for James Earl Jones, Best Featured Actress for Mary Alice, and Best Direction for Lloyd Richards;
• revived by Denzel Washington and director Kenny Leon at the Broadway's Cort Theater in 2010, with Washington and Viola Davis in lead roles, receiving three Tony Awards s for Best Revival, and Lead Actors to Washington and Davis;
• going international: produced in the United Kingdom as both the original play in 1990 and the revival in 2013;
• made into a movie (released in 2016) with the core Broadway cast and Denzel Washington directing; winning the Best Supporting Actress for Davis in both Oscars and Golden Globe and multiple nominations in both.

We watched several clips from the play and the movie, including Viola Davis’ eruptive scene where she confronts her husband about loyalty and staying by his side for over 20 years. I then asked students to register and reflect on all possible effects the play and movie could have produced on them. Below is the summary of their reflections.

1. Cognitive effects: What have you learned from this case study?

Here, most students communicated that they'd never heard about the play or the movie before (they are all Gen.Z, were too young even in 2016 when the movie came out) and were impressed with both the work and legacy of August Wilson and the cast of actors in the play and movie. We also discussed the peculiarities and characteristics of messages designed for theater and transformed for the silver screen.

2. Belief-type effects: What beliefs (ideas about norms and values) in the case are congruent with or opposite from yours?

Most students pointed out the generational and period differences about spousal relationships and loyalty, and specifics about African American life at the time (fewer job and advancement opportunities, the socio-economic realities as a result of structural policies creating de-facto segregation, and the way women were treated by their husbands). Students pointed out that a lot of progress has been made since then, but there are still areas, especially the "traditional" roles of men and women in the society, that a better social contract should be achieved.

3. Attitudinal-type effects: What evaluative judgements did the play/movie evoked in you?

I've had ten males and two females in the class, and not surprisingly the men pointed out that they could empathize with the main male character played by Denzel Washington, especially with his frustrations in giving up a sports career and trying to support his family. The female students' shock when someone said "She [the wife] should have given him more understanding and support" was something to behold. Where the agreement was universal is that the father should have treated his son better and shouldn't have hit him. We also talked about how differently the physical abuse was portrayed on stage (more dramatic, a loud slap for the hit, a theatrical reaction) and in the movie which allowed for a more realistic and longer scene.

4. Physiological-type effects: What automatic responses did the play/movie arouse in your body?

I have observed most students being shocked with their jaws dropping at the abusive scene. They also reported that they felt both angry and sad for the woman and could feel their heart rates increasing. I was pleased that they were able to formulate those effects clearly in their own words

5. Emotional-type effects: What strong or weak, positive or negative emotions did the play/movie cause in you?

While these types of effects are closely related to attitudinal effects, we did discuss emotions such as excitement/happiness from learning new content, sadness for the wife and the son, frustration and anger with the husband and wife, and that these emotions can be of different levels of intensity for different people. We of course did not watch the entire movie but even with the several clips the students were exposed to they went through a whole range of emotions and thought the story had a strong impact on them.

6. Behavioral effects: What type of action would you take based on this case?

I was pleased to hear that most students would want to watch the movie and learn more about August Wilson and his other plays. That was definitely the outcome I intended.

7. Macro-type effects: What does this case teach us about the larger society?

Here we all came to the conclusion that even though a lot of things have changed from the time the play was set in, we still as a society need to do a lot more to improve people's lives, irrespective of their skin color and gender. Some students pointed out that the setting of the play was eye-opening for them and they've learned a lot from even the limited clips they saw.

And of course from the media literacy perspective it was a good exercise as both the play and the movie have so many levels of content and effects and affect us in different ways.

Thank you for reading this long piece and hope you've learned something new from it.