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Quote :The Role of the Reader: Explorations in the Semiotics of Texts
We might compare a novel by Fleming to a game of football in which we know beforehand the place, the numbers and personalities of the players, the rules of the game, and the fact that everything will take place within the area of the great pitch—except that in a game of football we do not know until the very end who will win. It would be more accurate to compare a novel by Fleming to a game of basketball played by the Harlem Globetrotters against a local team. We know with absolute confidence that the Globetrotters will win: the pleasure lies in watching the trained virtuosity with which they defer the final moment, with what ingenious deviations they reconfirm the foregone conclusion, with what trickeries they make rings round their opponents. The novels of Fleming exploit in exemplary measure that element of foregone play which is typical of the escape machine geared for the entertainment of the masses.
Unless you've been living under a rock, you probably know your fair share about James Bond novels and movies. It's not like they're a new trend, either—their success spans a pretty big time period, and they're as popular as ever today. So what's the secret of their success? Well, according to Eco, one of the main reasons is that they work based on a formula: when we watch a James Bond movie, we know what to expect.
People often throw around the word "formulaic" as an insult, but Eco says that predictability can actually be pretty appealing. That's not to say that we like to know every detail about what's going to happen: it's annoying when movie trailers give everything away, or when someone fills you in on everything that's going to happen, right? What Eco is saying is that, when we read a James Bond novel, it's more about the journey than the destination.
While his focus is on the Bond stories, Eco suggests that this sort of predictability applies to pop culture in general. For example, Eco compares the popularity of James Bond to that of basketball team the Harlem Globetrotters. People may know that the Globetrotters are a shoo-in to win, but they still enjoy watching them do their thing. After all, the Globetrotters are known for their epic skills on the court and for the whole razzmatazz of their performance.
And that's the whole point—people want to see a performance that provides plenty of excitement and thrills before the (inevitable) victory.
If we think about pop culture texts, then we can see that there's something to be said for Eco's theory. Things that defy our expections can be popular, too, but the whole "happily ever after" scenario will always be a crowd pleaser.