N A R R A T I V E T H E O R Y : In relation to 'Halloween' (1978)
Tzvetan Todorov: Classic Hollywood Narrative The term classic Hollywood narrative refers to the idea that most films follow the basic narrative structure. It states that most films begin by being set up with an everyday life, the initial equilibrium. This is then disrupted in some way by whatever the disequilibrium may be, then causing the need for this disruption to be resolved which takes up the majority of the narrative. This usually ends with the new equilibrium, the closure. This is the new life after the disequilibrium is resolved. All of these ideas were based and originated from the Narrative theory by Tzvetan Todorov. Looking at the classic Hollywood narrative is helpful when looking at media texts because you can recognize the pattern and in some ways see how things are created to conform to expectations. You can also look at how times change and evolve and how films have strayed away from this conventional narrative for a variety of different reasons. The 1978 film Halloween is interesting when looking at it in comparison to the classic Hollywood narrative. Halloween really began with a disruption in the very start when Michael kills his sister. After a flash forward the film then goes into its equilibrium and then follows the classic narrative until it reaches the end of the film. Whilst there seems to be closure and a new equilibrium for the character Laurie, the audience donâ€&#x;t really get this as Michael is shown to have possibly survive. This leaves the ending open. Laurie however is unaware of this. So Halloween does follow the narrative slightly but it had adapted itself to form what has now become the conventional slasher narrative.
Vladimir Propp's: Character Types When you look at narratives you also have to look at Vladimir Proppâ€&#x;s character types. Propp theorised that a certain 8 characters seem to recur in all texts. He came to this theory whilst studying Russian folk-tales and recognizing that these characters were present in a majority of them. It seemed that the narrative structuring he discovered was present in several cultures. The eight characters consisted of the typical hero, villain, helper, donor, princess, father, dispatcher and the false hero. Each of these characters seemed to be common elements of media texts and even today they can still be recognized in some. Studying this theory and the idea of characters and film archetypes allow us to look at texts and recognize the characters easily. We know that the hero will, in most cases, save the day
and the villain will be defeated. It helps us when it comes to analysing texts as we can look at the character conventions and how well they conform to them. Halloween however, like before, does in some ways stray from this basic idea. One big thing that it‟s avoided is the idea of a hero and princess. Hero is, by definition, a male and princess a female. In Halloween we get Laurie who, despite having some more masculine traits and being slightly androgynous, is a female. There is no princess or love interest that Laurie needs to save from the villain. She needs to save herself and she does, because she‟s the „final girl‟. Looking at this film it becomes clear that whilst Propp‟s theory can still be recognized today different genres have developed their own character types. However one thing that can be compared is the villain. Michael Myers does seem to be the representation of pure evil, which is what people connote with a villain. This is the main idea carried over from Propp‟s theory.
Levi Strauss: Binary Opposition Another narrative structure theory is Binary Opposition. The idea of binary opposition is that media texts are structured around sets of highly contrasting elements such as good vs evil. This focuses more on the themes of film rather than the timeline and can be a very good insight into the context. The theorist that came up with this idea is Claude Levi-Strauss. In some ways I feel that looking at Strauss‟ theory can be the most beneficial when looking at media texts as it looking more into implicit meanings and deeper themes. You can understand texts more when you look at the forces driving it, in most films without the struggle of good vs evil there would be no plot, characters or story whatsoever. When thinking about this in terms of the film Halloween there are several sets of binary opposites that stand out. You have the obvious struggle of good vs evil looked at in terms of Michael and Laurie, the protagonist and antagonist of the film. Laurie is looked at as innocent as she‟s kind, intellectual and is virginal. Then we have Mike Myers who is described at one point as „born evil‟ by his former doctor. In Halloween we have a prime example of evil going after good, wanting to stop then. Laurie in the end has to get away from Michael and whilst she doesn‟t stop him, she does manage to survive the night, unlike her not so innocent friends. This is another opposition, Laurie and her friends. There is definitely a clear divide between the three girls as Laurie is a lot more conservative and her friends seem more promiscuous. The clear divide has a major impact on the narrative as Laurie‟s friends all end up being killed because they were distracted by their sexual desires. The film in a way paints a picture of innocence and purity being better for teenagers. From the start of the film because of this unbalanced divide the audience can almost predict that Laurie will survive. This opposition of innocence isn‟t just shown through the teenagers, I also noticed it in the children in the film. The film starts with the evil child, Mike, killing his sister. You can certainly compare Michael to Bobby, who Laurie babysits. Bobby is definitely more innocent than Michael was even being show to be bullied by the boys
in his class There is also opposition with the children in the film. The younger children Bobby and Lindsey are shown as naïve and easily frightened, but still rebellious. For example watching the horror movies all night. When you look at the older characters in this film, whilst some of the teenagers act foolish they are definitely wiser than the younger. It‟s Laurie that locks them in the closet for their safety and the doctor that saves them. Whilst Bobby and Lindsey are shown to be playing games, like scaring each other whilst all of the drama in the other house is going on. This in a way looks at the idea of innocence vs experience. Halloween shows a strong binary opposition between day and night. It‟s clear to notice in the film that whilst Michael is around all day, following Laurie. He only kills when it‟s night, even in the beginning as a child. The more sinister behaviour of this film takes place when the suns gone in and it‟s dark outside. Night is often looked as sinister in reality due to the darkness and eerie atmosphere, where as in the day it‟s bright and vibrant and all Michael does is follow Laurie. It presents the idea of darkness being more dangerous and light being safe.
Bordwell and Thompson: Cause and effect Bordwell and Thompson were theorists that looked at the idea of one major event causing a chain reaction. Their definition of narrative was “a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship, occurring in time and space.” They claim that one situation starts the narrative and the chain of events that follow and then the narrative is closed by another situation. It also claims that the narrative makes the audience aware of events they don‟t see, so they know everything that happens in the time and space of the film. They can use several techniques for this like flashbacks and reveal things in dialogue. There are lots of methods in which filmmakers reveal things that happen in the entire story but not during the narrative of the film. This is important to our understanding of a text as it relies on our natural instinct to piece things together. To get invested in a text we need to be able to follow it and understand the story. Sometimes directors can even manipulate this to make us think we understand things and make us feel certain ways. So this is important when it comes to the way we respond to texts and understand them. When we think about this is terms of the film Halloween we know that there are several examples of this. Cause and effect were important in this film especially in regards to Michael. The big on is his escape from the mental hospital, because his escape allowed him to commit all the murders. Then you have Laurie, if she hadn‟t have gone to put the key under the mat at Michaels house, he probably wouldn‟t have gone after Laurie at all. He went after her because he saw her and she became his target. Then there are the events that we don‟t see, but know they take place. One of these being Michael breaking into the shop to get his tools. We know that it‟s happened and we assumed its Michael because of the details and the fact that the doctor also suspects this. We also don‟t see him take his sisters grave, but once again we are aware of this because of the
Doctor and the fact it‟s later placed with Annie‟s body, who we know Michael killed. The doctor actually acted as an informant to the audience and without him we wouldn‟t know much about Michael.