Applying Todorov's Narratology to LFTVD

 Applying Baudrillard to stranger things

• To an extent does stranger things rely on signifiers of the 80s to represent the time period

Stranger things can also be described as hyperreal, it is a representation based on other media representations. The intertextuality that underpins stranger things is a result of the representation of small towns in the USA based on media texts of the era.

This 80s representation is based on the costumes, hairstyles, props, set-design, music and pop culture of the time. There is no actual attempt to represent the actual 1980s American reality.

Levi Strauss- Narrative Theory

• He developed the theory of binary opposites for example Life and Death
• Binary opposites are pairs of opposed, conflicting forces.
• Identify the pairs of binary oppositions which structure narratives can be used to determine the ideological messages within texts.

Applying this theory to The Killing

Sarah Lund and her partner (a hard working and calculated inspector compared with a care free relaxed inspector) 

Narratology- Todorov 

Todorov identifies the different stages of narrative, moving from the everyday life of characters (equilibrium) the shift or disturbance in that life (disequilibrium) and then the resolution and the start of a new equilibrium.

The key use of the theory is to identify the values and ideologies suggested by the narrative

Applying Todorov's theory to Stranger Things

The equilibrium introduces the four boys playing in the basement of a suburban family home- identify the social norms suggested by the narrative. This sequence focuses on the idea of a nuclear family living in a sub urban home being a normal life, with responsible caring parents.

The disequilibrium is the disappearance of Will Byers, considering that will may be viewed as more vulnerable as he is a latchkey kid, reinforcing social norms around a nuclear family.

 There is no resolution of the narrative arc in the first episode as the key of a Long Form TV drama, wills disappearance is not resolved till the final episode of the season.

Applying Narratology to the first episode will imply a whole new set of values and ideologies compare to the rest of the season. The first episode suggests a more positive outlook on the two parent house hold dynamic and less favorably on the single parent one. such is the case with the middle class Wheeler household compared to the working class Byers.

Applying Todorov's theory to The Killing

The equilibrium is the life this happy family consisting of Theis his wife and Nana before being disrupted by her murder as a disqualibrium.

This scene from the Killing is a great example of the societal view of crime against women in Denmark, as the scene in question depicts the discovery of Nana's body, we see the cold and unfeeling nature of the police as well as our protagonist Sarah Lund as the body is retrieved. The Mise en Scene of the location at which the body is discovered being shown as a dark, murky swamp like pond is a complete detachment from the original introduction of it being a common site for children to visit, this could represent the innocence of the area being removed the same way it has been with Nana.