Narrative Theory in Relation to Halloween and The Crazies

The Classical Hollywood Narrative was identified by Tzvetan Todorov. He states that Hollywood films start with equilibrium, then there is a disruption that causes disequilibrium. The characters must come together to overcome this disruption and achieve what is called the new equilibrium; once this has been done, the world of the characters will never be the same again. By looking at Classic Hollywood Narrative, we can take apart the structure of media texts to gain a more in-depth understanding as to why its creator made the choices they did. Halloween starts with the death of Michael Myers’ sister which can straight away be identified as the exact opposite of equilibrium. The film also ends on disequilibrium whereas it should end with a new equilibrium. It is these two narrative characteristics that show us John Carpenters Halloween does not follow the Classic Hollywood Narrative. The Crazies is much the same concerning this matter; at the beginning, we start with disequilibrium, which comes in the form of Ogden Marsh up in flames. We also finish on disequilibrium with the satellite looking down on David and Judy, confirming that their ordeal with the military is not yet over. To summarise Both Halloween and The Crazies do not follow the Classic Hollywood Narrative due to the fact they both start and end in disequilibrium.

Having searched through 100’s of folk’s tales, Vladimir Propp identified 8 character roles and 31 narrative devices. These character roles include the villain, the hero, the donor, the helper, the princess, her father, the dispatcher and the false hero. In The Crazies, we can identify 5 different character roles:

·         The villain- The crazies

·         The hero- David

·         The helper- Judy/ Russell

·         The princess- Judy

·         The false hero- The military

Within Halloween we can identify just 3 of these roles:

·         The villain- Mike Myers

·         The hero- Laurie

·         The helper- doctor

In film, Binary Opposition is term we use to describe two characters with equal importance however completely opposite characteristics and ideologies. For example, Batman and joker are binary opposites due to them having equal importance in the plot and opposite characteristics. The theorist that we looked at for this was Levi Strauss and when it comes to deconstructing media texts, this theory can prove itself very useful; It enables us to take the text apart and recognize what makes it a member of its genre. In Halloween, we can identify multiple binary oppositions, for example:

·         Good/ Evil

·         Sane/ Insane

·         Normal/ Paranormal

·         Aware/ Unaware

·         Mortal/ Immortal

‘A chain of events in a cause-effect relationship, occurring in time and space’ This theory is the work of Bordwell and Thompson’s theory, and essentially means that whatever happens within that time and space will result in change for the future, whether this be saving somebodies life or simply locking them behind a door. This theory is important in understanding media texts due to its ability to allow the audience to dive deeper into what has happened beyond what we see on screen. Some events that have a cause and effect within The Crazies are:

·         Letting the soldier go while they were within the barn, thus allowing them to escape

·         Judy visiting the nursery for their unborn child which caused her to be captured.

Some events that happen off camera in the film are:

·         The plane crash which caused the water to become contaminated

·         Judy becoming pregnant which caused her to be taken away and quarantined. This then led to David coming back to rescue her which saved David’s life due to the other uninfected town members being exterminated.