PEMAKNAAN KHALAYAK TENTANG KONFLIK KELUARGA PADA FILM 1 KAKAK 7 PONAKAN KARYA YANDY LAURENS ( Studi resepsi pada mahasiswa komunikasi fisip Angkatan 2020 di Universitas Muhammadiyah Malang )

Film is a medium of mass communication that carries messages to be conveyed to its audience. Film is not a value-free piece of work, as it is a process of thought and audience construction that evolves into an artistic and cultural product. The film 1 Kakak 7 Ponakan, directed by Yandy Laurens, depicts a real-life issue: the dimension of family conflict. This film highlights the struggles of a main character who must bear the heavy responsibility of supporting his nieces and nephews, which encompasses issues of role conflict and moral burdens. The specific target of this research is to determine how the audience receives the representation of these conflicts. The purpose of this study is to understand the reception or meaning-making of the 2020 cohort of Communication Science students at the University of Muhammadiyah Malang toward the family conflict in the film 1 Kakak 7 Ponakan. This study utilizes a qualitative research method with Stuart Hall's encoding/decoding reception analysis approach, which maps the audience's positions into dominant-hegemonic, negotiated, and oppositional categories. Informants with a background as communication students provided diverse interpretations based on their frameworks of knowledge and personal experiences. The results of the study reveal that the informants do not merely receive the message passively; they also negotiate and even critically reject the narrative of personal sacrifice and the behavior of blood relatives that is perceived as exploitative in the film.