Report on Theories for Peter

THE HYPODERMIC NEEDLE MODEL

The hypodermic needle model was developed in the 1920's and the 1930's and it argues that the audience of a certain media product are always passive in the way that they perceive things. It states that ideas and themes are injected into people's minds. This means that the consumer would have no control at all over their response to the stimulus. Some examples of this would be the radio broadcast of War of the Worlds in 1938 or even Nazi Propaganda during WW2. The response that was created widely by the War of the Worlds broadcast and the propaganda alike was mass hysteria. The main drawback of this theory is that it assumes that no one has individual views or reactions. Which can be argued against a lot as obviously people develop their own thoughts and opinions.

THE USES AND GRATIFICATIONS MODEL

The uses and gratifications model is based on the idea that consumers of media are active and that their responses to media are completely individual. This means that it is the complete opposite of the hypodermic needle model. People may generally think that this model is better than the first one because it allows the idea that people can sue their own minds whereas the other does not. But the biggest drawback would be the it is too individualistic. Meaning that the plot or initial idea that the person had for their own could get lost in translation. 

TSVETAN TODOROV NARRATIVE STRUCTURE

This particular theory was developed from the studies of folk tales and literature. It identifies recurring elements in stories and how they are created. It states that stories have 5 distinctive parts. These are the equilibrium, the disruption, the recognition of the disruption, the attempt to repair the disruption and finally the new equilibrium. The equilibrium is the normal state at the very beginning the story. This does not have to happy and that is shown through examples like Mad Max. The next part, the disruption is the key event that happens and causes a disruption to the main characters. The protagonist may not actually know about it yet but it will eventually effect them. Then in the recognition of disruption section the protagonist is made aware of the cause of the disruption. This means that they begin to do something. At the stage where there is an attempt to repair disruption the protagonist tries to resolve the cause of disruption. This is when the hero would go on a quest. Finally the new equilibrium is the part in which the new state of affairs is established. There could be a possible relationship, society could have been rebuilt and evil may have been destroyed for example.

REPRESENTATION

Representation in media is the idea that social groups are shown not as they actually are in reality but with the ideologies associated with that group dictating how they are presented. This means that certain groups of society are wrongfully discriminated against. This is shown through the act of whitewashing that goes on a lot in Hollywood. Whitewashing is when a narrative is meant to be about a certain race and they use a cast of a complete different race normally caucasians.This is shown in the live action film adaptation of Avatar: The Last Airbender. The cast were meant to be of asian decent but the cast turned out to be all white apart from the villain of the films character. There is also a big problem with sexism within the representation of media. For example when the 2016 female cast Ghostbusters remake came out there was a lot of backlash even before the film itself actually came out. This was because some men thought that they cannot watch and relate to  a film with just female leads. Although the original film with all male leads is seen to be accessible for both genders to watch. Another problem in Hollywood at the moment is their closed minded views on sexual orientation. This is because a lot of the couples that are portrayed on screen are straight and not many at all are gay. Very, very few lesbian couples have ever been shown at all. The downsides of the representation in media is that Hollywood is being closed off to a very select amount of people which is not getting us anywhere. Although I believe that, with all of this talk about the representation at the moment Hollywood will cast people into specific roles because they feel they have to rather than being based on ability. This is wrong on many levels.

PROPP'S CHARACTER THEORY

Vladimir Propp theorised that every single narrative has 8 different character types. These are the villain, the dispatcher, the (magical) helper, the princess or prize, the keeper of the prize, the donor, the hero and the false hero. The villain is the morally bad character that struggles against the hero. The dispatcher is the character that sends the hero on a mission. The helper supports the hero and appears to them at critical moments to offer support. The princess is the object or the award to be won. The keeper of the prize gives the task to the hero. They can also in competition with the hero for the prize. The donor gives something special to the quest this can be physical or mental situation. The hero leads the narrative and they normally go on some sort of quest. The false hero appears to act morally good throughout the narrative and can be mistaken for the hero. An example that you could apply Propp's theory to is the movie Shrek.

STUART HALL'S ENCODING/DECODING MODEL

This theory like The Uses and Gratifications Model suggests that the audience is active when consuming media. Hall's theory suggested that texts in media are read in 3 different ways. One of the ways is a dominant or preferred reading of the text is the way its creators want an audience to understand and respond to it. An oppositional reading of the text is when the audience rejects the message. The final way is the negotiated reading. It is when the audience interprets the text in their own way, this may not be the way that the producer intended for people to see it. 

THE HERO'S JOURNEY

Christopher Vogler created this exact theory. It states that there is 12 different stages of the hero's journey that had to happen throughout a narrative of a successful film. This is used a lot in Hollywood to this day. Stage one of this theory is ordinary world this is the hero's normal world before the story begins. Then is the call to adventure which is when the hero is presented with the problem, challenge or adventure. Thirdly is the refusal of the call when the hero refuses the journey or challenge that was presented to them usually because of fear. Next is the meeting with the mentor. At this stage the hero meets a mentor to get advice or for some form of training. The next stage is crossing the first threshold when the hero leaves the normal world and travels into a special one. The sixth stage is the tests, allies and enemies. At this stage the hero faces tests, meets allies, confronts enemies and they must learn the rules of the special world. Next is the approach is when the hero has hit setbacks and they may need to reestablish another plan. The ordeal is the big life or death crisis. Then is the reward, in which the hero has survived death, overcome their fears and now gets the reward. The tenth stage is the road back when the hero had to return to the ordinary world. Next is the resurrection hero. This is when the hero faces another test where death may become iminate and they have to apply what they have learned. Finally the last stage is when they return with elixir. The hero returns with the "elixir" and uses it to help everyone. A film that uses this idea is The Hobbit.  

LEVI STRAUSS' BINARY OPPOSITIONS 

This theory was developed in the 1900s by Levi Strauss. The main idea was that in every narrative there are opposing main characters. These opposites are meant to thicken the plot and also further the narrative by creating contrast. For example in superhero films there is always a hero and an obvious villain that are plotting against each other. This idea is shown in The Amazing Spiderman between Spiderman and Curt Connors Lizard. There can also be multiple binary oppositions between two characters. For example in Harry Potter, Harry Potter vs. Voldemort may be seen as good vs. evil, also good vs. old, but also innocent vs. corrupt and so on.