Narrative theory

Todorov
Theory
Equilibrium - The beginning when everything appears normal
Disruption - Something happened to disruptive the normality
Recognition - When the characters realise something has happened to them and they decide to act upon it
Attempt to restore - The act of trying to restore the normality
New equilibrium - Everything is back to normal - except its not - as its a new normality as things have changed after their joinery.
All narratives are structured in the same way be it films, tv dramas, radio plays or novels. All narratives have a beginning, middle and end although they doubt necessarily come in that order.

Momento
Kill Bill
Fight club
Usual suspects

How do these songs follow Todorovs theory
Hero
- The music video starts at the point of a disruption, the couple are already clearly on the run, as they have money in the back. Recognition occurs wen he realises the has to gift in order to win the heart of the girl he loves. The attempt to restore normality is during the fight when he is trying to defeat the girls ex-lover and win the girl and not have to fight for her anymore. At the end there is a new equilibrium where the fight has finished and he has won the girl but it has come at a price as he is about to die so all the disruption is behind them but now he is going to die and she is on he won as her ex-lvoer is going to jail and her new-lover is going to die. The narrative of the music video is selling him as a heart throb and loyal, which makes girls attracted to him and want him. The target audience is mainly aimed at women.



Band of horses - Dilly
The equilibrium exists for the bikers and town people at the beginning as neither of them have met at this point as neither knows that the other is a danger. Wee this through the cross cutting, we see the bikers on the road and then we see the people in the bar - there is going to be a disruption as they will meet soon. The disruption occurs when the bikers enter the bar and we see their reactions. The bikers clearly like to be violent and so do the town people which leads to the attempt to restore. The recognition is that they realise they don't like each other, e.g. they are treating the girls with dis respect, therefore they are acting violent towards each other. The attempt to restore is the shoot-out. The hippies use their fingers while the rednecks use their guns. Hippies come in pease, but are faced with violence and so react. The new equilibrium is when the hippies ride off into the sunset and the town is faced with devastation. The narrative of the music video fits with the image of the band and helps sell their star image as alternative, country rockers.



Britney Spears - toxic
It starts of with an equilibrium of her doing a day normal day job of being an air hostess, and all the passengers being passengers on the airplane. She then creates a disruption of her pouring on the guys lap. She is seducing the guy in the toilet, and then steals his phone in the toilet. She is showing herself as a sexual figure. When she jumps on the bike it is a attempt to restore in Paris which reveals she is a spy.  There is then a new equilibrium as he is dead because she kills the guy with the poison she stole from the secret chamber. She then moves back to her normal air stewardess job.