Flicks on the Big Screen or Clicks on the Stream: Exploring Contemporary Film Taste and Consumption Practices

This thesis contributes to the long tradition of cultural consumption research by examining the concepts of Bourdieusian homology and omnivorousness in the context of film. It probes the interplay between contemporary societal patterns, capital distribution, film taste, and engagement in film consumption practices within Germany. Utilising data from the large-scale survey KuBiPaD I, this research investigates the associations between socio-demographic factors and aesthetic dispositions towards film genres, as well as contemporary consumption patterns, including the yet young phenomenon of online streaming services. By means of Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA), two structuring dimensions are found. Axis one ranges from engagement to disengagement and is further interpreted as a continuum of private-public film consumption. The axis two reflects a traditional-contemporary divide in film consumption modes and encompasses a range of film genre preferences, spanning from entertainment to intellectually-oriented dispositions. The findings reveal that cultural and economic capital are primarily distributed along the first dimension, while age is associated to the second dimension. An examination of film consumption practices has revealed that social stratification mechanisms remain highly relevant in structuring both private and public participation. Notably, a digital divide rooted in class and age has emerged, impacting the level of engagement in online film consumption. The findings indicate associations between individuals with greater capital volume and higher levels of cinema attendance. By examining different interpretations of cultural omnivorousness, particularly the symbolic exclusion of certain film genres, the research raises questions about the concept's applicability to the German context and younger audiences. However, the findings provide compelling evidence of social stratification in aesthetic dispositions towards film genres in the German context. Notably, individuals with the highest levels of institutionalised cultural and economic capital as well as preference for highbrow genres such as auteur and classic films tend to symbolically exclude mainstream genres like action and fantasy.