Powerless to escape audience members can be portrayed as sitting ducks, having no chance to avoid or resist the impact media messages may have. .
Magic Bullet theorist would anticipate that Red Band Society's audience members would be negatively affected. Audience members are being sent the message that in order to gain respect they must be mean. This message is portrayed clearly through two of the main characters; Nurse Jackson and Kara Sounders. Nurse Jackson, who is played by Octavia Spencer, can be described as being tough and brutally honest, but the truth is she is mean. Within the first five minutes of Red Band Society Nurse Jackson is seen rudely yelling at a stranger, purposely closing the elevator door after being asked to hold it, and proudly jokes about how a barista wrote "Scary Bitch" on her coffee cup in place of her name. Kara Sounders, played by Zoe Levin, was introduced to the Red Band Society's audience during cheerleading practice as she simultaneously insulted the cheerleaders on her squad and smoked a cigarette. Magic Bullet theorist would place their focus, not on Nurse Jackson and Kara's specific behaviors, but instead on how other characters respond to those specific behaviors. Despite Nurse Jackson and Kara's mean actions, they are both well respected. Nurse Jackson is the head nurse and what she says goes, the patients and other members on the hospital's staff not only listen to everything she says but they are all very nice to her. Kara is the same way, after insulting her squad she orders them to redo their routine and without a word from anyone on the squad they all obey her command. .
Another clearly portrayed message that magic bullet theorist would find in Red Band Society to negatively effect its audience members is the message that fun is only achieved through the consumption of alcohol. Characters Leo Ruth played by Charlie Rowe and Dash Hosney played by Astro send this message to audience members loud and clear.
