Vladimir Propp says that there are 7 stock character types in films. These are:
- The Hero
- The Villain- who hinders the hero in some way and tries to stop him in what he is doing by actively blocking him/her.
- The donor- this character provides an object (often a magical object) to help the hero in their quest.
- The dispatcher- this character gives a message to the hero.
- The false hero- This person claims to be helping/on the heroes side, but actually disrupts the heroes quest.
- The helper- who aids the hero.
- The princess- the hero often gets her in the end and she is usually an object of the villains plot.
Romance films often follow a lot of these character types. For example, there is always some sort of hero and villain character in each, the villain is often someone getting in the way of the couples relationship e.g. a "bitchy" female or the main female characters father who doesn't approve of the relationship. The false hero is a character that we see appearing a lot in romance films, often it is a friend of the couple that they think is helping them but actually wants to end the relationship. The helper is often played by one of the love interests' parents or friends. The princess character role sometimes comes into it as romance films usually consist of two heroes (the couple) and one of them is usually female therefore they fill the princess role, but they are more of a main character/main part of the narrative and not just a prize that the hero gets at the end of his quest.
Todarov:
Todarov says that there are 5 stages in the narrative of films. This applies to films of all genres and is stereotypically used widely in action/adventure films. The 5 stages are:
- An initial stage of equilibrium where everything is fine and as it should be (pretty much everyone is happy)
- The next stage is a disruption breaking this equilibrium by some sort of bad event happening.
- A recognition of this disruption in the next stage, when the stock characters realise what has happened.
- An attempt to repair the disruption.
- Then finally a restoration of the peace and a new equilibrium.
Films of the romance genre often follow this narrative structure as it has proven to engage the audience as they are used to it and have proven to enjoy it in films in the past. An example of how they might follow these stages is:
- Equilibrium stage- The couple are in a happy relationship together and everything is peaceful.
- The disruption- something or someone cause the couple to split up.
- Recognition- the couple realise that they have broken up and miss each other.
- Repair- the couple want to get back together and try to resolve their break up in some way or another e.g. with a romantic gesture.
- Restoration- The couple forgive each other and get back together and everyone is happy again.
Levi Strauss:
This theory talks about binary opposition, this means that two completely different things are needed to balance out the films plot. For example:
- Good vs evil
- weak vs strong
- East vs West
- Modern vs traditional cultures
These things are complete opposites and are used in films as opposing forces/ideas that challenge each other as part of the narrative.
Laura Mulvey:
Laura Mulvey created her 'Male Gaze' theory in 1975. This talks about how she thinks that film audiences have to view characters from the perspective of a straight male. The camera angles emphasise the curves in a females body and the way that the camera is moved often demonstrates how a male character would look at (check out) a females body. She thinks it objectifies women by the way the camera is positioned. The romance genre is often a genre to use angles similar to the ones Mulvey is talking about, often females in romance films are over sexualised and these specific camera angles are used to do this to emphasise her sexuality to the audience.
