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Poster Session 2, 11:30 AM - 12:15 PM: Room 165 [D5]

Presenter: Alexander Thomas McLean

Faculty Sponsor: Rachelle A. Dermer

School: Fitchburg State University

Research Area: Film Studies

ABSTRACT

Television has been used for nearly a hundred years to spread messages that positively impact the viewer's lives. The benefits of television vary from show to show. Some shows' benefits are purely entertaining and distracting the audience from the harsh reality of the world around them such as during The Great Depression, educational purposes to make learning in the classroom easier with shows like Schoolhouse Rock!, or spreading awareness on issues of race, LGBTQ+ rights, mental health, addiction, etc. with shows like Shameless. The goal of my project, Vows, is to write a one-season, ten-episode show to spread awareness on topics such as the importance of mental health, suicide, addiction, and the hardships of overcoming. The show follows the main character who wakes up one day with no memory of who he is or the life he's lived, yet every new thing he learns about himself doesn't fit the idea of who he believes he should be. At the root of it all he needs to figure out what led him to be who he was, what happened the night he stopped being able to remember, and use this newfound, eye-opening opportunity to become the person he believes himself to be deep down.