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 2nd
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.
