Saudi Viewers’ Attitudes on American Drama and Its Values System

Raghad ALGHAMDI¹
Ayman BAJNAID²

ABSTRACT

This study raises concerns that threaten the value system of new generations in Arabic Islamic and conservative societies that have been eagerly raised with passion to view American drama. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to explore the values system and concepts which are presented through American drama, as well as to identify the Saudi viewer's attitudes and their perception of its effect. The study used sequential exploratory, mixed methods approach, and thematic analysis of the first four seasons of the American drama series (How to get away with murder), followed by a questionnaire for sampling 427 respondents. Twenty–seven responses of non-Saudis were excluded. The Results show that American and Spanish drama are the most popular and watched for the Saudi viewers. Values and concepts varied in terms of the level of acceptance from the viewpoint of Saudi viewer’s. The romantic relationship was the most acceptable, while infidelity was ranked by Saudi viewers as unacceptable. In addition, Saudi viewers are more aware and apprehensive of the media content and its effect on the viewer and others‎‎‎.

Keywords: American drama , mixed methods , Saudi viewer , value system

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