Determined to have fun Leo and Dash sneak out of the hospital to attend a high school party. At first Leo and Dash seemly meet their goal and were having fun, but their fun was short lived as Leo continued to drink allowing the alcohol to control him gets in a fight with Dash. Dash then made the responsible decision to leave Leo and sneak back into the hospital to get help. Dash returned to the party with a nurse who finds Leo passed out on the bedroom floor, luckily Leo and Dash were both able to return to safely to the hospital. Due to Leo and Dash putting their lives on the line to consume alcohol. Audience members are receiving the message that this behavior is acceptable. .
Ultimately, when considering these scenes through the magic bullet theorist viewpoint, it is without a doubt that magic bullet theorist would fear for the Red Band Society's audience members. Magic Bullet scholars certainly would fear that audience members would mimic the behaviors of Red Band Society's characters. Believing that every audience member interprets each message the same way magic bullet theorist would predict that every audience member that is craving respect will start acting just as Nurse Jackson and Kara. Same is so with Leo and Dash, every audience member that wants to have fun will follow in Leo and Dash's footsteps and sacrifice everything to consume alcohol thinking that consumption of alcohol equals fun. Contradictory to the magic bullet theory, Sparks argues the theoretical perspective of the limited-effect theory as "the effects of mass media range from small to negligible" and "do not serve as the primary determinant" of the "basic attitudes orbehavior patterns [in] either children or adults." (Sparks, 2012, p.63). In brief, limited-effect theorist believes that the media has limited effect to no effect on audience members. .
Limited-effects theorist are certain that the messages and content of Red Band Society were not designed to shape the audience members' actions, thoughts, or opinions.