TELE 3010 1nd Edition Lecture 14Outline of Last Lecture I. Importance of StoriesOutline of Current Lecture I. Narrative Structurea. Structural Position of Characters Current LectureNarrative StructureELC ReadingTra d itional Narrative Art There is stasis (stability) and then disruption (something that breaks up the stability) and then the resolution (the process of coming back to this stability/stasis). This is a common structure of narrative art. Examples: Romance, Western, Crime stories.Structural Position of Characters Who takes action? Whose point of view? What roles do they have (functions within the plot) Which discourses dominate? Who is superior (which character is superior over the others)1. Action - Stasis —> Disruption —> Resolution - Hero: Flawed Character that has some sort of problem. Then there is a test of character in which they grow… and then become a better character.- Character versus Social Forces. Like crime and people of color (cop shows vs The Wire). By casting african america n s or latino americans in the roles of crime, people begin to see these races in this sense in society. The Wire is an example because what is seen is not a typical picture of a network drama… there are 70 african americans cast and its a good picture of the complexity of life and socialforces.2. Point of View - The authors are intere sted in who are you asked to identify with?- Narration, close-ups, emotional involvement (all of these are ways we are asked to participate w ithin stories or movies.. etc. and we are encoura ged to take the POV of certain characters)versus- Long shots, slower editing, no main characters, no simple answers (Example: Elephant) - usually not who we are asked to participate with.These notes represent a detailed interpretation of the professor’s lecture. GradeBuddy is best used as a supplement to your own notes, not as a substitute.3. Roles- How charac ters are positioned affects how we understand them. - Who are positions of power (doctors and lawyers), positions of weakness (cops?).- Questions of race, class, gender, sexuality. Are women in positions of power? Are criminals in positionsof weakness? What races are in positions of power or in positions of weakness.4. Dominant Discourse - Eve ry text has competing discourses or arguments that can be taken as truth.- How are competing truths discredited? The text will do it by revealing “perverts” or “criminals”… the descent into evilness. The show Lost - you couldn’t tell who to believe. 5. Superiority: Gender- Identification w/ the male and objectification of the female. What does this mean? Example of hercules and him as the hero, and the women as damsels in distress (with no personality or any significance in the story.. more that they are an object of desire). - Look through a male perspective- Women are the object of the look or gaze of both male characters and the audience. 6. Women- Mise en scene: women and their lighting, soft focus, framing, music, erotic costuming.- Their actions are erotic (like dancing and singing) and rea ctive.- Emotions - focus on the women’s feelings - setting - private, domestic sphere. 7. Ideological Meanings- Legally Blonde Example (page 280-281)- Wider ideological questions about: - femininity and female success in male-dominated arena s of life (she became successful as a lawyeralthough she was perceived as an airhead and typical dumb blonde)-how women should act and
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