Narrative essay

1.      M.I.A. – Born Free

This video doesn’t stick to Todorov’s theory as it doesn’t start or end in an Equilibrium the video goes straight into Disequilibriumand that is the only part of Todorov’s theory as there is no happy begging or happy end nothing is resolved it just gets worse. The M.I.A- Born free video doesn’t stick to Propps character types as there is no hero there is only a villain and the people in trouble; this is shown by the army men and ginger people, however the born free video does fit in to Levi-Strauss’s theory as there is a good versus evil theme as the audience is placed on the ginger people’s side.This music video is shown in real time this gives it a movie feels which makes the narrative more visible that the story is an intertexual reference of the Nazi’s and how they killed the Jews but in this case the army represents the Nazi’s and the Ginger people are the Jews. This music video goes with Bathes theory of the symbolic Code and the referential code; I believe that it goes with the referential code because it uses a historical event (Nazi’s and the Jews) to send a message this is also why I believe it can be connected to the symbolic code because it shows a meaning behind the video and sends a message to the audience. The message I believe it sends to the audience is that the Nazi’s judged people because they were different and that’s what the army people are doing in the music video they are attacking the Ginger people because they are different I think that they are trying to tell the audience that this didn’t stop with the Nazi’s this is still happening now even if it’s not happening in as noticeable as it did back in the day it can still have the same effect on someone the video also shows that this is not just normal civilians that do it but they are trying to show that the law/ police force are still giving stereotypes and arresting people because they see them as a threat.

2.      Biffy Clyro – Glitter and Trauma

This video sticks to Todorov’s theory to a certain extent as it shows us the Equilibrium which is where the band is in a mental hospital watching the TV, Disequilibrium which is where we see the nurse comes and switches of the TV the band get up and go in to a booth and finish the song they were watching on TV this makes the other mental patients go crazy,Recognition where the security come and try and control the patients, Reparation which is where the security goes into the booth and drags the band away. But no new equilibrium is shown this leaves it open for the viewers to imagine what happens next this can be connected to Barthes theory where he says that texts can be open. The music video can also be linked to Levi- Strauss’s theory as we see that there is a fight between the people who have authority and the people who don’t the nurse and security guards vs. The Mental Patients (the band). The music video uses the propp character theory as it has a villain which is clearly shown as the nurses and the security guards and it also has the hero’s which are the band this means that the audience are posited on the side of the band. The video is in real time and is only set in one place a mental hospital as it is in real time the story runs more smoothly and lets the audience focus on the song as well as the story of the music video.    

3.      Justin Timberlake – Cry Me a River

The Cry me a river video does not stick to Todorov’s structure as it does not start with an equilibrium instead this is left open for the audience to decide what happened between Justin and the girl however this song was made when it was announced that Britney Spears had cheated on Justin so the audience would probably imagine that the equilibrium was when they were together and in the song Justin is trying to get revenge. The disequilibrium could be the fact that he sees her leaving the house with someone else. The recognition would be him getting his revenge by breaking in the girls houses and breaking a photo of them he then leaves the front door open and makes his way to the bedroom a woman is then sent in and we see her kissing Justin on the girl’s bed while Justin films it. The reparation would be that the girl returns home and Justin is still in the house he then stalks her around the house and when she is in the shower and Justin is watching her we see by his facial expressions that he misses her but he could never be with her this would represent his final good bye, and finally the new equilibrium would be that when she is out of the shower and goes into her room on her TV is the video of Justin and another woman showing that he hurt her just like she did him, But this is left for the audience to decide what happens next or what it means.  I believe that this music video would go with Levi- Strauss’s theory as we see that he loves her but he hates what she did and so it would be Love vs. hate. The Cry me a river video uses some of the propp character theory as Justin would be seen as the false hero as he is getting revenge but the audience still sympathises with him, the woman that is kissing him would be seen as a helper as she helps him get revenge and the driver would be the dispatcher as he sends Justin on his quest, the girl would represent the villain as Justin would be against her. This music video would also go with Barthes theory where he says that texts can be open, as this music video allows the audience to fill the blanks in themselves.