Theories Within The Media

Propp

Vladimir Propp developed a character theory for studying media texts and productions, which indicates that there were 7 broad character types in the 100 tales he analysed, which could be applied to other media:

1.   The villain (struggles against the hero)

2.   The donor (prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object)

3.   The (magical) helper (helps the hero in the quest)

4.   The princess (person the hero marries, often sought for during the narrative)

5.   Her father (usually dies during or before the film/book)

6.   The dispatcher (character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off)

7.   The hero or victim/seeker hero, reacts to the donor, weds the princess

Tzvertan Todorov

Narrative is the organisation given to a series of facts. The human mind needs narrative to make sense of things. We connect events and make interpretations based on those connections. In everything we seek a beginning, middle and an end.

Richard Dyer

Richard Dyers star theory is the idea that icons and celebrities are constructed by institutions for financial gains and are built to target a specific audience or group of people.

Dyers theory can easily be broken down into segments such as:

• Audience and institutions
• Constructions
• Hegemony (Cultural Beliefs)

Mulvey

Laura Mulvey coined the term “male gaze” in 1975. She believed that audiences have to “view” characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male. The concept of gaze is one that deals with how and audience views the people presented.

For feminists it can be thought of in 3 ways such as:

• How men look at women
• How women look at themselves
• How women look at other women