Narrative Structures and The Crazies

Does The Crazies follow the CHN? Why or why not?

Typically, the classic Hollywood narrative starts with equilibrium. In The Crazies, the first shot we see is the exact opposite of equilibrium; the entire town where the film is set is burning in flames. The banner that reads Ogden Marsh falls to the ground representing both the physical and symbolic destruction of the town. At the end of the film we see the characters walking toward another city in hope of refuge. it’s at this point you could say that a new equilibrium has been established therefore following Tzvetan Todorov’s classic Hollywood narrative, however just before the credits role we are shown a shot from a satellite that indicates that the horror the characters have been struggling through isn’t about to end.

To summarise, The Crazies does not follow the classic Hollywood narrative and this can be proved by the opening shots to the film which depict disequilibrium rather than equilibrium. The end shot to the film from the point of view of the satellite also disproves this by ending the film on disequilibrium rather than a new equilibrium.

How many of propp’s character types can be identified in the film?

Our hero and main protagonist is of course David, who has the most screen time out of the characters. David spends the entirety of the plot keeping as many people safe as he can, doing his job to the fullest as the town sheriff. David saves his wife (and princess) Judy multiple times who is David’s reward at the end of the film. These are all events that are conventional to the hero role proposed by Propp.

Both our false hero and villain is the Government military group that originally created the virus that claimed the lives of so many people. We are shown that the military are false heroes in the scene where David discovers trucks full of cremated Ogden Marsh town members who were deemed uninfected. We are also shown this in the scene at the farm where a teenager runs to save his mother and is shot and burnt. We see the soldiers splitting the town into two groups, those who are infected and those who are not, the infected are strapped to beds and left while the uninfected are misguidedly led to ‘safety’ which consists of being loaded into a truck and exterminated. Before the vicious military acts we see in the film, the soldiers start off as a force that could help the town. People are guided to a safe facility where gunmen watch for the crazies, however off-camera the soldiers are ordered to exterminate the entire town in fear that they will spread the disease.

A helper role can be seen in both Russel and Judy in the film. For example, after fighting for the keys to the truck near the end of the film, a final hand reaches for David, a hand we believe belongs to one of the crazies, however it is Julie helping David to his feet. We also see David about to be shot in the house where Julie is tied to a chair, however the infected gunman is killed by a mystery bullet that we find out belongs to Russel. We also see Russel sacrifice his life for David and Judy to get past the military boarder.

And of course, our Princess is Judy, who is seen being saved multiple times by David, like for example when she is tied up in the house. She is also David’s reward at the end of the film.

To summarise, 5 of Propp’s character types can be found in The Crazies. David as the hero, The military as both the villain and false hero, Russel as the helper and Judy as both a helper and princess.

List 5 examples of binary opposition in the film and explain them briefly.

The most conventional binary opposite in The Crazies is the hero and the villain. David is quite obviously our hero as the town sheriff. He is caring toward the people of Ogden Marsh and puts them quite often before himself. On the opposite hand our Villain is the government military who are behind the towns infection and extermination.

 The 2^nd notable binary opposite is the known and the unknown. This can be seen in the scene where David is trying to convince the town mayor to turn the water off, because he knows that the water supply is infecting the town, whereas the mayor does not. We can also see this same binary opposition in the scene where David is split from his wife at the outpost; the army know what is going on but David does not. Health and sickness are one of the films main binary oppositions, throughout we have those who have been effected by the illness and those who haven’t. We also have Innocence which comes in the form of the population of Ogden Marsh, and the corrupted which comes in the form of the government. The government are guilty for the infection yet they treat the town members like it is in fact their fault. Finally, we have power and the powerless. In The Crazies power comes in the form of either an infected individual or a non-infected individual with a firearm, for example, the infected try and kill uninfected people and the military while the military kill both the infected and the uninfected.

Identify the three ‘durations’ and give an estimate of the time each duration covers.

The overall plot time of the film is 4 consecutive days and we know this from the conversation that David has with federal officer after the group spike strip the car. During this conversation, David explains the he was still healthy after 3 days. From this point, we see them walk to the truck stop at night and walk through fields toward another town in what appears to be the next morning. The overall Screen time is 92 minutes due to that being how long the film roles. The duration of the whole story cannot be predicted because we the audience do not know when the government developed the virus, however the plane is predicted to have crashed around a week before the plot takes place.

Give two examples of events that cause later events in the film but which occur before the film ‘starts’

One example of an event that causes a later event in The Crazies is the plane crash. The farmer tells David and Russell that the plane crashed about a week ago, which tells us that it took a week for the infection to spread through the water and into the town, therefore leading to the pandemic. If the plane had not crashed, the water wouldn’t have been contaminated therefore the plot would not have taken place. Another example is Judy’s pregnancy. Because Judy is pregnant, her temperature is naturally higher, consequently she is quarantined at the outpost which then requires David to save her. This actually saves David’s life after he finds out that even the uninfected were killed.