On the interaction with media characters within the framework of the theory of parasocial interaction

Most mass media presentations, whether visual or printed, are presented as leisure alternatives or intellectual gains under the name of entertainment. The development of television, still the prominent mass media, as a means of entertainment and communication has surely been influential on cultural and social life. A show on television is aimed to affect the audience and thereby increasing the continuity of viewing. Bringing the outdoor performance to the indoors, television carries the entertainment to a position where it is produced for the audience and sold to the audience again. This makes television the setting of the media character (persona) in a way. Personas not only have a good time with the audience, but also instill behavior patterns and roles in them. Therefore, the fact that parasocial interaction, which is effective on entertainment, television, series and the audience, is related to each other, has provided evaluation of practices that change both individually and socially. The aim of this study is to discuss the presentation of television series as entertainment to the audience, who are consumers in almost all mass media, through the lens of parasocial interaction. For this purpose, a descriptive analysis is carried out in the study to explain the parasocial relationship processes within the framework of parasocial interaction theory. The character Polat Alemdar in Kurtlar Vadisi (Valley of the Wolves), a Turkish TV show, is included in the study and it is evaluated within the theory.