Media Task Week 8

1. Superman Comic Books

The “Superman” Comic Books are print-based media objects that illustrates the life of Clark Kent, known as Superman or Kal-El, a superhero from planet Krypton that tries in every issue of the comic to save the world from the evil forces of the earth or from outer space. It has the three main functions: causality, time and space, and the series present the life of the main character from his birth and throughout his adventures. By analyzing this media object with Todorov linear Narrative we can observe that:

–         All the comic books start with a moment of equilibrium, usually the main character is at work or at the parent’s farm in Smallville;

–         The disruption is always present, as the evil character is also always present and tries to the city (Metropolis), the world or just Superman;

–         The recognition begins when Clark Kent disguises as Superman and tries to stop the villain, but he usually fails to do so from his first attempt or stops the evil character’s helpers;

–         Then comes the attempt in which Superman always finds a way to destroy the villain and to save the world, with the help of his superpowers or just his intelligence;

–         The comic ends with and enhanced equilibrium the world being saved again by Superman and everyone being happy, including the main female character Lois Lane which is usually saved by the superhero.

We can easily identify Propp’s notion of character functions and narrative units for this comic book:

• The hero is Clark Kent, alias Superman or Kal-El
• The villain is not the same for every issue of the comic, but his most common and strong opponent is Lex Luthor
• The donor is not really present in every comic, but rarely the ones who help Superman with advices are his adoptive parents or his natural father. Sometimes an outside character gives an object that helps Superman in defeating the villain
• The helpers are his fellow superheroes or it could be just a normal person such as his parents or his friends
• The princess of this story is Lois Lane, a colleague of Clark Kent at the Daily Planet newspaper and the women he loves                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  2.  X-Files series

The “X-Files” is an American cult science fiction television series, created by Chris Carter and screened on Fox. It is about two FBI agents, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully, that try to elucidate mysterious cases. It clearly has the three functions: causality, time and space that differ from one episode to another, since the beginning of the partnership between Mulder and Scully until the last episode, and more recently the last film. By analyzing this media object with Todorov linear Narrative we can observe that:

–         Almost all episodes start with an equilibrium, although it is a short one because there always is a case to resolve;

–         The equilibrium is disappears after a disruption which represents a new mysterious case to be resolved by the two partners, which can be from a person with paranormal abilities to a government conspiracy;

–         The recognition is when the two agents go to analyze the case at the scene of the crime, in which point the entire action begins because of their unusual findings;

–         The attempt comes right after the recognition, with their intelligence, help from others and sometimes brute force, the agents try to solve the case, but sometimes due to the government’s interference they leave some cases unresolved on paper;

–         The episodes usually end with an enhanced equilibrium, although sometimes the mystery is not elucidated.

We can easily identify Propp’s notion of character functions and narrative units for this TV series:

• The heroes are the two FBI agents: Fox Mulder and Dana Scully
• The villain is not usually the same, because there are different cases, but the main villain in these series is the a government secret agency, represented by its main agent, CGB Spender, that always try to keep the paranormal phenomena a state secret
• The donor is not just one person, but the agents were usually helped by Walter Skinner, their boss, a secret agent called Deep Throat and many others throughout the entire series
• The helper usually is the donor of the respective episode, and can be from the FBI director to a simple civilian
• The princess is the feeling of righteousness that the main characters gain after every case resolved                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           3. Braveheart

Braveheart is a 1995 academy-award winning action-drama film produced and directed by Mel Gibson, who was also the main character of the production. It is about William Wallace, a commoner that united the 13^th century Scottish villages in order to overthrow the English rule. The three functions are easily spotted: the causality, time and space, from the childhood of William Wallace to his bloody death. By analyzing this media object with Todorov linear Narrative we can observe that:

–         The film started with an usual equilibrium, with the childhood of William Wallace;

–         The equilibrium is disturbed by the disruption, which represents the murdering of his father and later of his wife by the English invasion troops

–         The recognition is represented by the adoption of William by his richer and more educated uncle, which teaches the boy everything from foreign languages to the art of war;

–         The attempt comes right after he returns to his home village, gets married and the English lord kills his wife. After that he swears to free Scotland and gathers an army in order to gain freedom by fighting the English armies;

–         After Wallace’s death, comes the enhanced equilibrium because the Scottish king continues his battle against the English king and wins freedom for Scotland.

We can easily identify Propp’s notion of character functions and narrative units for this film:

• The hero is William Wallace
• The main villain is the king of England, King Edward I
• The donor is William’s uncle Argyle Wallace, which gives William a proper education and teaches him battle skills
• The helpers are his friends, Hamish Campbell and his father, Stephen, princess Isabelle and many others, including his army
• The princess is the freedom of Scotland