Narrative Theorists

Levi Strauss

Claude Levi-Strauss was a social anthropologist who believed in the expression of binary opposition in a films narrative. He believed that all conflict in a film was based on binary opposition, and often is the main focus of the narrative. Strauss believed that the human mind thinks fundamentally in these binary oppositions. 

Some examples of binary opposites are:

Good vs. Evil

Boy vs. Girl

Peace vs. War

Strong vs. Weak

Domestic vs. Savage

Here are some examples of films that show Strauss’ theory of binary opposition:

Good vs. Evil - Harry Potter (Good) vs. Voldemort (Bad)

Peace vs. War - Humans (Peace) vs. Aliens (War)

Todorov

Tzvetan Todorov was a Bulgarian literary theorist who suggests that most film narratives follow the same pattern: equilibrium, disequilibrium, equilibrium.

Todorov believed that this narrative pattern has five stages:

1. A state of equilibrium at the outset
2. A disrupton of the equilibrium by some action
3. A recognition that there has been a disruption
4. An attempt to repair the show disruption
5. A reinstatement of the equilibrium

This theory is found to be true for most narratives, as many films follow this narrative sequence. However, equally, there are films that do not follow this sequence.

Fight Club is a film that DOES NOT follow this theory

Die Hard is a film that DOES follow this theory

Propp

Vladimir Propp was a Russian critic and literary theorist who proposed that characters and their actions could be classified into clearly defined roles and functions. Propp came to this conclusion after analysing over 100 Russian fairytales, in which he found that he could classify all characters into 7 broad character functions. Propp also believed that the protagonist of the film would take on the hero role, and that the films antagonist would take on the villain role.

The 7 character functions are:

The hero

The villain

The donor (Gives the hero something to help them)

The helper (Typically magical, helps the hero in their quest)

The princess

The false hero 

The dispatcher (Sends the hero on their quest)

This theory is found to fit a lot of films, however, there are a lot of more recent films that do not. 

Here is a helpful PowerPoint that I have found when researching, that includes an example as to how 'The Hunger Games' fits Propp's theory: