Narrative Theories in relation to Halloween and The Crazies

Todorov's theory 

Tzvetan Todorov is a Bulgarian cultural philosopher who published his extremely influential work on narrative theory and structure from the 1960’s. This narrative theory explained how a ‘typical’ story had 3 stages which relied on the classic structure/Hollywood structure of a beginning, middle and end which many films in the industry rely on to fit the normal structure so the audience can easily relate to it. The equilibrium at the start of the film fits in with normality to ease the audience into the action while a chain of events, referred to as the ‘disequilibrium’ cause disruption in the story which normal leads to the resolution that is referred to as the new equilibrium. Although the new equilibrium may not be what the audience expected or what they would have wanted, there is some closure within the plot to tie up the story. This theory relates to Halloween as unlike many films, it doesn't really fit the structure completely as it doesn't have a new equilibrium and is left open-ended to lead the way for the sequel. At the start of the film, Michael Myers is seen killing his sister and getting caught by his parents which also doesn't fit the typical initial equilibrium although the disequilibrium is clearly shown through the escape of Michael Myers as he stalks Laurie Strode.

Myers stalks Laurie at the beginning of the film.

Dr Loomis fits the role as the
 aider in Propp's theory.

Vladimir Propp had another theory relating to the characters rather than the actual narrative of the story. Propp was a Russian critic who studied hundreds of fold tales to compare structures and character types to which he came up with 8 main roles and 31 narrative functions. These 8 character roles are; the villain, the hero, the donor, the helper, the princess, the princess’s father, the dispatcher and the false hero to which can be compared to all kinds of different narratives. In Halloween, the main character Laurie would be the hero and Myers would be the villain. Dr Samuel Loomis is the aider as he helps Laurie fight off Myers at the end of the film although the other characters such as Annie and Lynda in the film are quite unclear as they don’t fit into one of the eight categories although the policeman could fit the false hero character loosely and the children could be seen as the princess role in some ways. The overall film doesn't tend to fit with the normal theories that would be used in classic Hollywood films as it doesn't have a start or ending that the audience would expect such as the villain escaping into the darkness at the end of the film.

The binary opposition theory by Claude Levi-Strauss refers to the sets of opposites in a narrative structure. One of the most well-known and used binary oppositions is good and evil as they are opposite values on the scale and is used in all horror films. Halloween fits with this theory as it is clearly demonstrated that Laurie and Dr Loomis is the good and Myers is the evil as well as Laurie fitting with the present, known and normal oppositions where Myers fitting the opposites of past, unknown and strange.

Laurie is portrayed as the good character
whereas Michael is seen as the evil side in relation
to Levi-Strauss' theory.

Bordwell and Thompson have a very clear and precise definition of narrative of it being “a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship, occurring in time and space”. This is quite similar to Todorov’s narrative theory by having one situation to which a series of events will occur and the pattern of cause and effect will finally create a new situation and the end. By using the phrase “time and space” means to not only demonstrate or at least suggest to the audience the time and location but also how quickly the events take place which can manipulated through flashbacks, replays, slow motion and jump cuts. In relation to Halloween, the film does fit the theory in some aspects by the use of manipulation of time and the chain of cause and effects through the deaths of the friends does lead to a new situation but on that the audience didn't anticipate. 

Michael Myers after he had killed his sister when he was a child

At the start of the film, there is a flashback to 1963 where Michael Myers killed his sister and then flashes forward 15 years on where he has later escaped from the metal institution as it gives the audience a more clear indication to what actually happened while keeping it interesting as they obviously couldn't use real time to portray the story. The whole story from Michael's escape only happens through Halloween night but it does feel a lot longer when watching the film as so much happens in the film and the progression from a longer period of time is given a jump cut to keep the main action in the film and leave out the things that don’t have reference to story or would bore the audience. For example, you don’t see the whole night of Laurie babysitting as it would bore the audience and isn't as relevant to the story as the death of one of the friends in the car so it cuts from one house with the friend to the other house with Laurie babysitting to keep the audience interested and tense as Laurie becomes more uncomfortable and uneasy.

·         Does The Crazies follow the ‘Classic Hollywood Narrative’?

The false 'happy ending' for David and Judy

Although ‘The Crazies’ doesn't conventionally fit the narrative type, it can be argued that the film does fit Todorvo’s theory of equilibriums.  At the start of the film, everything seems quite normal which is the clear equilibrium until the events at the baseball game where it starts to become a lot more dysfunctional. When the infection starts to come into full effect, this is the disequilibrium and at the end when David and Judy escape the truck and walk through the fields on the way to Cedar Rapids can be seen as the new equilibrium. During the credits however shows a news report of Ogden Marsh as well as a government radar preparing to unleash the infection on Cedar Rapids, creating a false happy ending.

·         How many of Propp’s character types are evident in the film?

In The Crazies there are 7 character types that are portrayed by the characters, the only one left out is the princesses father as all the characters are adults although it could be said that Davis loosely fits this type as he is protecting his unborn baby as well as Judy. Many of the other character types are a lot more obvious such as;

David and Judy

•    The Villain – The Crazies and the government who invented the virus.
•      The Hero – David and Judy (Also Becca when her and Judy are contained)
•   The Donor – Russell
•  The Helper – Judy
•     The Princess – Judy
•    The False Hero – Russell
•    The Dispatcher - Russell

 

Russell who fits the false hero, donor and dispatcher character types

       

List 5 examples of binary oppositions in The Crazies.

Here are many binary oppositions seen within the film, the most obvious being Infected vs. Healthy as well as Good vs. Evil through the good civilians and evil crazies as well as the evil government who plotted the infection. The Normal vs. Strange, Humans vs. Aliens and Known vs. Unknown are also apparent as David and Judy fit into normal, known humans whereas the crazies have transformed into strange, unknown aliens although it is unclear where the government would fit into the binary oppositions. Although they are villains, they are also human, known and normal just like the heroes except they’re on the side of the Crazies by turning normal people into them but also shooting them so they could be considered as a different category of evil.

·         Identify the three durations and give an idea of how long they are.

The first 10 to 15 minutes of the film are quite normal and you get to see the characters in their typical, suburban life although there are some strange occurrences that start to happen such as the shooting at the baseball game and the man setting his house on fire with his family still in. Although around 80 minutes of the film were devoted to the Crazies and the spread of the infection while the characters try to survive, this was about 2 days in real time which was the clear period of the infection. The last 2 minutes where David and Judy were safe after the explosion of Ogden Marsh did not have a indicated time although with the government planning to repeat the same process in the neighbouring town – the time when they were safe was probably around a few days.

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

The invention of the infection and the decision of the government to infect Odgen Marsh is not explained at any point of the film as it occurred before the start of the film which only shows the start of the infection spreading during the beginning. Another aspect of the film that was kept vague was the plane crash that happened before the film.  Although David and Russell go to investigate the plane which is underneath the lake, not much more is said after which suggests that this had something to do with the infection.

·         List two events from the 92 minute film that happened in another time or space from the ones we see.

The goverment SUV scene wheer Russell spikes the tyres

Russell’s actions are often indicated but never properly explained throughout the film as he makes several escape attempts that aren't seen on-screen. The first attempt is when the military have separated David, Judy and Russell. While Judy is sedated and taken to the infected area and David is evacuated but later escapes back to his office at Ogden Marsh, Russell manages to escape back to meet David at the office. He explains to David that some of the people “made a run for it” which he only would have known about if he was one who managed to escape at that time. The second attempt is revealed later on in the film where David, Russell and Judy are walking to Cedar Rapids and find Russell’s old car. While a government SUV is driving past, Russell (who at this point is becoming increasing angry and showing signs of being infected) throws a spike strip so they can use the vehicle to which he says “A funny thing happened on the way to Cedar Rapids. Bastards spiked my tires” that suggests he previously tried to escape but got caught by the government.