Week 6: Reception Analysis Summary

The members in my group were Jade Merrit and Michael Bierhup.

Our group video is an episode of American Pickers called Pint-Sized Picker.

 

Link: Pint-Sized Picker

Normally, I enjoy these kinds of shows because sometimes they teach their audience a little about the items they are broadcasting. The items usually have an interesting history behind it and it is interesting seeing what people see as valuable. While watching this show, I said that it focused heavily on American culture and a small bit of family values. I said this because the show teaches us about American Culture by showing us interesting items and sometimes, while Mike and Frank are on their "picks", they bring along or meet children that are interested in what they do. In turn, Mike and Frank try to teach the kids.

Initially, Michael began our discussion by saying how the people that our hosts interact with are all hoarders of merchandise. Although hoarding items is a negative quality, Michael explained the show as if they were justifying hoarding as a want to preserve some of the most nostalgic pieces of Americana.

Jade's view about this show is very interesting. I agree that these shows are cheap and quick to produce, I usually watch these kinds of shows to pass time. I guess I am someone who buys into these kinds of shows! Jade also stated that it seems that many of the people that Mike and Frank deal with are Appalachian or lower-middle class. This brought the idea that perhaps the reason why Mike and Frank often visited these characters was because they often offered the richer qualities of American History.

Of course, we all had our separate polysemic interpretations of this show, but after some negotiation and discussion, in the end, we all agreed that the majority of the people that Mike and Frank deal with are hoarders. However, even though most of the people on American Pickers are hoarders and Mike and Frank do express their love for Americana, they are still simply trying to make a profit.