Encoding/Decoding (theory)

This theory extends the idea that we, as an audience, view texts in different ways.

Everybody brings a different experience to the text, this may alter how the text is 'decoded'

Someone who watches the same film as someone else, may believe it has a different meaning and perceive it in a completely different way. This is because the film is 'encoded' in a certain way and every individual person decodes in differently.

Even though this theory takes everything into consideration, it cannot think about the context for the everyday.

So for example, you may like a film for one day. but then not the next (may remind you of a bad memory etc)