Horror film that uses the theories:
The basic plot of 'The Loved Ones' is about a troubled teenaged named Bret, who, while driving his dad comes across a bloodied man, he swerves to avoid him, but ends up crashing the car and causing his dad's death. The film then continues 6 months later with Bret about to attend his prom. A girl named Lola asks if he'll go to prom with her, however he turns her down as he is going with his girlfriend Hollie. When he returns home, he goes to his usual spot atop a cliff to contemplate. He is then kidnapped by Lola and her farther who get their revenge on him for turning Lola down.
Looking at Propp's theory first, I'm going to list how and why each character fits into the 8 character types of Propp's theory:
Hero - Bret, as he is the one who is having to endure the pain being influcted on him by Lola and her farther. In the end of the film, he also manages to escape after murdering Lola's farther, he then proceeds to reach his girlfriend before Lola is able to murder her in the same way Bret murdered Lola's farther. This ultimately makes Bret the hero.
Princess - Holly (Bret's girlfriend) is the Princess here, as it is Bret's goal to escape and prevent the deranged Lola from murdering her. This also makes Holly the victim.
Villain - Lola and her Farther. These two are definitely the villains as they are the ones who are putting a threat between the hero and the princess. They're causing harm to the hero.
Donor- I think that Bret is also the donor, as he is the one who has to prep himself in order to fight off the villains. He also has to make do with the single weapon he has to aid him with his escape.
Dispatcher - I think that Holly is the dispatcher, as she is the one who figures out where Bret is and why he might be in danger. She alerts the police to try and rescue him.
Helper - In this case I think that the villain Lola's dad is the helper as he is assisting her in the torturing of Bret.
Victim - Bret is the victim as he is the one who is suffering through being tortured and by living with his tragic past.
False Hero - I don't actually think there is a false hero, as there is no one trying to take credit for anything.
I am now going to look at Todorov's theory and how this film fits into the five parts of his theory. Bret's life is fairly normal, so I guess this is the starting point for an event to occur that disrupts the equilibrium. The event that disrupts everything is Bret politely turning Lola down to prom. This small action has major consequences for the rest of the film. The recognition that disruption has occured is when we see Bret tied to the chair and Lola injecting bleach into his voice box. It is at this scene were we know that Bret has really disrupted the balance. There is an attempt to repair the disruption by Bret trying to escape from Lola, and then once he finally escapes into the arms of his girlfriend, it is at this point that we know the balance has been restored and everything is back to how it should be. Torodov thinks that once equilibrium has been reinstated, something has changed for the better or something has been learned, so in this case the thing that has changed for the better is the death of Lola so that no other boy has to go through the pain that Bret and others before him had to endure.
Fantasy Film that uses the theories:
The ways that Spirited Away fits into Vladimir Propp's theory is as follows:
Villain - Yubaba is the villain here, as
Hero-
Dispatcher -
Helper -
Princess -
Donor -
Victim -
False Hero -