A narrative is parts of a story and how it’s constructed to form a final product that is told in media (fictional and non fictional).
These are the four main theorists I have been studying for the past year.
The first is Vladimir Propp-
He was a Russian Critic and a literary theorist how analysed 100 fairytales in the early 20th century. He came up with a model that consisted of these following things:
The Hero – (someone who seeks something)
The Princess- (a reward for the hero/someone who needs rescuing)
The False Hero- (falsley assumes the role of the hero)
The Villain- (opposes the hero)
The Helper- (someone who gives support to the hero)
The Dispatcher- (sends the hero on their way)
The Donor- (helps the hero by providing a magic object of some kind)
The Father Figure- (rewards the hero when they finish the mission)
This model is useful as it highlights the similarities between different stories. Although many Hollywood/Disney stories still follow this model today, making the diversity between films very limited.
An example of this would be- CINDERELLA
The Hero- The Fairy Godmother helps Cinderella get to the ball
The Princess- Cinderella
The False hero- The Step-Sisters as they claim the shoe fits them – and that they are the female the Prince has been looking for
The Villain- The Step-Mother as she treat Cinderella with no respect and ban her from the ball
The Helper- The helpers are the Mice as they get Cinderella to where she needs to go then help her escape when she becomes trapped in her tiny attic room.
The Dispatcher- This is also the God-Mother as she sends Cinderella on her way
The Donor- The donor is also the mice as they change into horses / pumpkins etc
The Father Figure- Prince Charming’s father as he aids him on his mission to find the missing girl
Propp also came up with Character Conventions, here are a few below-
Departure- The hero leaves the home environment with a sense of purpose. An adventure begins.
Branding- The hero is marked in some way, such as receiving a scar or distinctive marking on their body, or given a cosmetic item such as a ring.
Recognition- The hero is given due recognition – usually by means of prior branding.
Wedding- The hero is rewarded by getting to marry the Princess or ascending a throne or being rewarded by the community.
There are 31 functions that usually appear within a narrative which Propp has come up with, these functions help us when making our trailer as we will know whether our film is stereotypical to these functions and whether we will follow the same linear narrative that applies to most generic Hollywood films today.
Another theorist I have been looking at in detail is Tzvetan Todorov. He was a Bulgarian theorist who suggested most narratives start with a state of equilibrium in which life is ‘normal’ and the protagonist is happy. This is then interrupted by an outside force and the rest of the narrative is then spent trying to restore the equilibrium by fighting against the outside force.
When applying this to a film of my choice I looked at one that challenged this stereotype, and one that reinforced his theory.
The film that challenges theory is ‘Safe Haven’ –
When referring to ‘Safe Haven’, the narrative doesn’t begin ‘normal’, as Katie begins running out of a door with a plastic bag, and in a state of panic. This leaves the question as to why she is running away crying, and the as the film begins with that questionable scene this challenges Todorov’s theory as the protagonist doesn’t appear happy and nothing is normal. Therefore, the Hollywood narrative is changed here, as is usually follows a natural linear course of events that eventually leads to a conclusion, a resolution, and a new equilibrium. However, this beginning scene is manipulated so the audience to cause an enigma that catches the audience’s attention. As Todorov mentions that a state of normality is interrupted, this is inaccurate as in ‘Safe Haven’, the state of normality isn’t achieved until the middle of the film- therefore the theory is challenged by this film.
A film that reinforces the theory is Were the Millers-
This is because the film starts in a state of normality for all characters in their own world. This is then interrupted by Dave’s mission to Mexico which then ends with them being chased by drug dealers in Mexico. This is the outside force which interrupts the narrative and the rest of the film is spent trying to fight the outside force. This then ends up to be a new equilibrium when the characters come to live together in a white picket fence house with a large garden and friendly neighbours. This reinforces the idea that once the disruption is fought against, a new equilibrium is introduced and the characters ultimately end up happy.
The third narrative theorist is Roland Barthes, a French Semiologist. He suggested that a narrative works with “five different codes which activate the reader to make sense of it”. The codes Barthes came up with was – Action (resolution is produced through action), Enigma (a puzzle/riddle delays the character), Symbolic (connotation that allows the audience to see whether a character symbolises something reflecting society), Semantic (denonation), and Cultural (device that allows the audience to recognise a part of a culture).
- The first code – Action – is used to resolve the villain’s tyranny, as he is eventually killed by the hero after he brings a gun to her house.
- An enigma is evident throughout the film, firstly the film begins with Katie running and crying which is followed by her change of hair and her escaping, leaving the audience to wonder where she is going and why she was crying, and what was in the bag? Furthermore the audience are confused again when they see Katie’s face printed on a poster spelling, “WANTED FOR MURDER” in a police station with a different name to ‘Katie’. Finally, the riddle is solved and Katie has escaped her abusive husband, who is a psycho police detective who wants to hunt Katie down so he produced posters claiming she was a murderer, in aims to receive publicity. This pieces the plot together and leaves the audience satisfied and they finally know what’s going on and can carry on following the film. However, this plot distracts the audience’s attention away from the biggest plot twist of the film, which is Jo (Katie’s friend) actually being a figment of Katie’s imagination as it is revealed she is Alex’s deceased wife who wants to supervise Katie and give her advice. Therefore, this confusing plot manages to have very unexpected twists and changes of narrative which allows the audience to be engaged thoroughly and continue watching eagerly. This is expected of a Hollywood narrative as twists capture the audience’s attention and makes it seem as though the plot isn’t generic at all. Although, when looking at other Hollywood films in detail, I can see that the narratives are all similar as they all include a love interest, a riddle, and the ‘hero’ always succeeding and given a reward.
- The symbolic character is Katie and how she represents the society reflecting the issues with domestic violence. Katie is see defending herself after being treated disgustingly by her own husband, everything she does is to please him yet it’s not enough so when he brings a knife into the fight she has to use it to defend herself. The message being highlighted is if your partner is becoming abusive or showing signs its okay to leave – and you should do it earlier on before it progresses.
- The semantic code is parts within a text that refer to additional meanings such as the voice of the narrator reading out the letter was the same voice as Jo (Katie’s friend who turned out to be the deceased wife), which the audience should have connected as we were fed additional information that held a meaning behind it.
- Finally, the culture in ‘Safe Haven’ is the clues the audience recognise to place this film in modern day America, such as the road signs that feature in Katie’s journey and the side of the road the coach drives on, furthermore the audience recognise it is modern day due to the fashion choice of the protagonists and the technology advances such as mobile phones as well as the type of cars they drive.
Another theorist I will be referring to is Claude Levi Strauss, who was a social Anthropologist and he examined how stories unconsciously relfect the values, beliefs and myths of a particular culture. He suggested the theory of binary opposites such as good Vs evil or something more complex such as social media Vs old-fashioned print.
Referring to ‘Safe Haven’, the obvious opposites are Good Vs Evil, which is evident with Katie and Kevin (the hero and villain) and through the Old and New which the audience can see in Jo and Katie (the deceased wife and the new love interest). This is conventional for any Hollywood film to have good Vs evil and old Vs new, as it reflects the plot of the hero overcoming the villain and the progression of old onto new.
Furthermore, there are many basic binary opposites through the film, but developing this theory onwards I have looked deeper into the films plot and discovered some complex binary opposites.
Also, the opposites of light Vs dark, as the genre is a thriller the darkness represents the fear Katie feels, and all the suspense and action occurs in the dark, whereas in the light it usually portrays happiness and life.
Strauss complies these opposites to see if stories unconsciously reflect the values, beliefs and myths of a culture, and due to this being a Nicholas Sparks’ Hollywood movie, which fits in with the system of Hollywood/mainstream films, it therefore does reflect the attitudes of this particular time, that the audience is being subjected into watching the same story no matter what genre as binary opposites occur in every film, usually in the form of good Vs evil or old Vs new.
Jess Stevens' A Level Media blog 