A2 Media Studies Propp's Character Theory

7/23/2019 A2 Media Studies Propp's Character Theory

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Joanne Perry

A2 Media Studies

Propp’s Character Theory

Propps’ perception on characters came from his own opinion on people being

complicated and hard to understand. Due to this perception, he ensures us that

you can never accurately represent a person in a media product and instead, the

media will present people as stereotypes as it is easier to understand. Propp’s

focuses on what the function of individual characters are in the narrative. Propp’s

conceptualised these functions in two ways: the actions of the characters in the

story and the consequence of these actions for the story.

Propp’s places characters into 7 categories, representing that most media

stereotypes are linked with character’s from fairytales:

Hero – the hero is a good person who the audience instantly like. he hero is

usually someone who overcomes di!culties such as "ghts.

Villain – the villain is a sel"sh character whose aim is to gain power. he

audience therefore see him as dangerous and a threat.

The Helper – the helper is someone who helps and o#ers positive support. he

helper could be perceived as a sidekick to another character.

The Donor – the donor is an older and wiser character who o#ers advice and

aims to help improve di!cult scenarios.

Princess – the princess is regularly perceived as a helpless, innocent woman.

his represents the stereotype of women having less power than men and can

therefore represent this character as a $damsel in distress’.

The Princesses Father – the princesses father is usually the princesses

guardian who comes to her saviour when the hero is not available. %ften

representing a triangle sequence within a "lm.

The False Hero – the false hero is the person who claims to be the hero but is

usually someone who is trying to be something they’re not in order to get the

princess.

& am going to induce Propps’ character theory within the creation of my "lm

trailer in order to make my "lm easier to understand for the audience. his

represents the $dumbing down’ factor which the media invoke on audiences.

'owever, through the use of Propps’ character theory, many "lms have been

greatly successful due to the escapism for consumers. herefore, although some

audiences may feel as though this is $dumbing down’ the audiences,

independent "lms are not as successful due to aiming to subvert this theory by

challenging these character stereotypes. & am going to ensure that my trailer

uses the conventions of being set in a narrative structure and therefore all of thecharacters in which & use will re(ect the narrative. his will allow my "lm trailer



to follow 'ollywood hegemony as & feel that this is the way in which my trailer

will appeal to more audiences and be proven more successful.

)ithin the "lm poster for the wilight *aga: +ew oon, Propps’ character theory

has been induced as much as possibly to make it easy for the audience to

understand the "lm and alsogives the audience a hint as to

what the "lm is about. )ithin the

poster, we are presented with

various characters all of di#erent

si-es and in varied positions on

the poster. heir si-e and

position represents their role

within the "lm and their

importance. his tells the

audience who they need to focustheir attention on. &mmediately,

the protagonists are introduced due to

their central positioning and large

si-e. &t is hard to tell the protagonist

from the deuteragonist, however,

due to the mans face being on

full display whereas half of the

girls face is hidden and more of

his body is shown through his grip on her,

the audience is positioned to see him asmore of the protagonist for this "lm.

he audience are further positioned to

recognised the protagonist as the hero.

his is due to his tight grip on the girl representing

his protective shield which he has

on her. &t also presents his power

and authority within the "lm representing that the girl listens to him and follows

his instructions. his positions the audience to feel that he has a somewhat

power over them and therefore ensures that they sympathise with him

throughout the "lm.

urthermore, the deuteragonist follows Propps’ character theory as being

presented as the princess. his is due to the vulnerability in which her pose

upholds as she holds onto the hero. his follows the stereotype of the princess

character being helpless and innocent with less power due to the power that the

hero/the protagonist holds over her. he setting also perceives this stereotype as

the forest and fog shows that there is a danger lurking over them and presenting

trouble within the "lm which the hero is protecting her from. he audience are

positioned to believe that the danger may occur within the forest and therefore

represents her vulnerability from this particular setting.



oreover, there are two characters within this poster who represent uncertainty

about their personality to the audience. he blonde girl positioned on the left of

the poster is presented as strong with no facial e0pression, leaving the audience

curious as to what role she upholds in the "lm. he audience is given a vague

impression that this character is the false hero. Due to her strong pose, this

presents her ability to help whatever danger is yet to come but is 1udged due to

her gender. he stereotype that girls are not as strong as boys is present in this

poster as it contradicts her act of strength to perceiving her as trying to be

someone she is not, which is strong and powerful. 2ut she is a girl and therefore

she does not have this upper hand over the male characters, stereotypically.

he other hard to read character is set further back on the right of the poster

with only his head on display and also only displaying half of his face. his makes

the audience question his motives due to his facial e0pression being

mischievous. 3lso, due to only half of his face being on display, the audience is

unfamiliar with the other half which gives a hint to the audience that he couldhave a dark side. herefore, he could be perceived as the villain within this "lm.

'owever, he is set further back on the poster so is represented as to not having

such a large role in the "lm, but still a crucial one. his tells the audience that

they need to be aware of his motives as his actions will only be sel"sh as he aims

to gain power.

he costumes represent all the characters alike, challenging Propps’ character

theory by making it more di!cult for audiences to establish the various

characters. he other character on the left hand side of the poster is male with a

larger portion of his body on display than others. his represents him as an

important character. 'is strong physique is easily recognised through his attire

and therefore represents his as the princesses father. his is recognised through

his physique, as stated and his hand which is purposely on display to represent

that he can easily $lend a hand’ if necessary. his follows Propps’ theory of the

princesses father always being there to help and $lend a hand’ when the hero is

not present.

he helper is often a female character in a "lm due to the stereotype of females

being more compassionate and caring. his is not subverted within this "lm

poster as the female character on the right of the protagonist is presented to be

the helper. his is presented through her posture presenting her as con"dentwith a more equipped, formal attire than other characters also presenting her as

more intelligent and able. &t also presents her as a reliable source and due to her

positioning close to the protagonist, it represents that she is always there to help

when necessary.

inally, as the donor is regularly presented as older and wiser, this brings the

audiences attention to the older male and female characters at the far right of

the poster. &t presents that they are not as able to help the danger that lies

ahead as they do not have as much of a crucial role, however they still aim to

help due to their aged intelligence. he woman’s facial e0pression presents that

she is con"dent and happy to help whilst the male’s facial e0pression presents



how serious the scenario is and that he will use his knowledge to the best of their

ability where the woman has more con"dence to help once their knowledge is in

order. herefore, this shows how modern day media products induce Propp’s

narrative theory continuously to make it easy for the audience to understand due

to the stereotypes induced in the "lm to make it successful. &t also proves this

theory to be successful as the "lm poster clearly states that the "lm is part of a

$saga’ representing that it has and will be induced in previous and future "lms

within the saga in order to continuously ensure the "lms success.

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A2 Media Studies Propp's Character Theory