Stand By Me Narrative

1. Prop's Character Types

1.1. Prop's Character Type theory is the theory that  the narrative is driven by the characters. For example, the hero is the one who the story follows, the villain is the one who disrupts the story and the prize is given at the end of the story.

1.2. I have not watched this film but from viewing trailers and reading about characters I believe: The four boys are heroes. The villain is a boy called Ace, he is the town bully, I assume the dispatcher is a news article. I was unable to determine the prize but it could be that the boys learn a valuable experience.

2. Todorvo's Equilibrium Theory

2.1. The Equilibrium Theory is the theory that all stories have 5 steps in the narrative. 1.) Equilibrium - everything is balanced and everything is fine. 2.) The disruption - something breaks the equilibrium. For example, the villain putting their plan into action. 3.) Recognising that the equilibrium has been broken - Usually the hero meets the villain. 4.) Repairing the equilibrium - This is when the hero fights back against the villain. 5.) Equilibrium again - everything is finally back to normal. It is not the same as before the equilibrium was broken but it is peaceful.

2.2. Due to not actually watching the film I am unable to know the whole equilibrium. However, I am able to piece together that at the start everything is fine. This is the starting Equilibrium. The disruption is when a child is killed and the body is never found. The recognition is the group of 4 boys setting out to find it. I have predicted that the reapir of the equilibrium will be to do with the boys finding the boy and finding out what happened and equilibrium again will be the boys still being friends but would have become more mature.

3. Levi Strauss' Binary Opposites

3.1. Binary Opposites is the theory that a films narrative is driven by a conflict between two opposites. For example, the most used binary opposite is good Vs evil.

3.2. The opposites in this film could be: Childhood Vs Adulthood and Innocence Vs Evil. Childhood Vs Adulthood is shown when the boys have to tackle the heavy task of dealing with an adult topic such as death and murder. Innocence Vs Evil is shown when 4 young and innocent boys have to face something evil and cruel such as murder.

4. Barthes' Action and Enigma Codes

4.1. An action code is an event that moves the narrative along.

4.1.1. The action code in stand by me would be when the boy is killed and the body is not discovered. This drives the 4 boys to go out and find the body.

4.2. An Enigma Code is when the story causes the audience to question who, what and why. So basically it is a mystery that intrigues the audience and keeps them guessing.

4.2.1. The Enigma code in Stand By Me would be: "why are they trying to find the body" After all, this seems like a strange thing for a bunch of young boys to be doing. I assume this question is answered at the end of the film.