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Whilst drawing comparison between Lee and Marek, one may again be reminded of Lee’s insinuation that lowbrow humor and crude artistic style exists mainly due to continually male-targeted content. Marek, a female viewer, seems to be drawn most to programs which revolve around an emotionally-driven narrative, a phenomenon which has been well documented as a preference among female moviegoers (BFI Research and Statistics, 2015), citing Bojack Horseman and Rick and Morty as her favorites. A 2021 study found that in an audience of 20,162,180 Rick and Morty viewers, men accounted for an audience of 73.1%, while women accounted for only 26.9% (AdTargeting, 2021). Comparatively, in the case of Bojack Horseman, 40.3% of the audience is female, while 59.7% are male (StarnGage, n.d.). It may be noted that Bojack Horseman features a multifaceted female deuteragonist, who struggles onscreen with contemporary issues related to gendered politics. Historically, adult animated shows such as Family Guy set women on the back burner, incorporated only to fill the category of “love interest” or “annoying wife”. In addition to the easy conclusion that women are more likely to enjoy content which features other women in a positive light, one may also note that the inclusion of poignant and interpersonal themes in work, without necessarily sacrificing that which has proven successful among male audiences, may open up the gap in gendered audiences of adult animation.
Addendum: Results from the survey are inconclusive as to these remarks, written months before data analysis. As mentioned, this survey focuses on age, rather than gender, and more specific research would be required to draw conclusions in regards to this. That being said, in the video pair in which both characters were female, audience members seemed to have the strongest opinions, citing negative feelings towards one or the other. In the video pair in which one character was female and one was male, audience members preferred the video with a male character.
The purpose of this study was to analyze preference of realism or cartoon stylization with respect to age. Conclusions drawn about how gender of characters and viewers may play into this should, for now, be regarded as coincidential.