Props characters theory unit 4
There are eight different character types in the media industry of TV and film. These are: The hero, the villain, the donor, the dispatcher, the princess prize, the keeper, the father of the princess and the false hero.
In this section of this report I will now define what each character means in the media of TV and film and how the audience perceives them and give an example for each.
The Hero is somebody who people look up to and admire and they always have a positive representation in the story. A good example would be Luke Skywalker from the films 'Star Wars.' We follow the hero's story and how he or she achieves their goals or tasks, e.g, saving the world or saving the princess from the bad guy, or scoring the winning goal.
Then there is the opposite character to the hero, the Villain, which has a negative representation to people and has negative traits. The Villain can be evil but is not always so. He or she may just be a person who gets in the way of the hero or antagonises them. In 'Star Wars' the main villain was Darth Vader who would stop at nothing to get his own way. There can sometimes be a group of villains.
The Dispatcher is a character who reveals the villain's plans to the hero or motivates them to fight against the villain. This character could be an older person such as 'M' in the James Bond films.
The Donor is a character who prepares the hero in some way to have the skills or knowledge for their task. There can be more than one donor. In 'Star Wars' the main example of a donor is Obi-wan-kinobi who teaches Luke Skywalker all kinds of powers.
The (sometimes magical) Helper is someone who helps the hero to achieve his goal, such as R2D2 in 'Star Wars' who helps Luke in all kinds of ways. Also Han Solo is a Helper in 'Star Wars.' A helper can be a friend.
The Princess/prize to be won. Sometimes the goal might be to save a princess from danger and sometimes there is no princess and the goal is to win a prize or save the world. An example of a princess to be saved would be Princess Leia in 'Star Wars' (first film), and an example of a prize would be the golden fleece to be won in 'Jason and the Argonauts.'
The Princess' father/Keeper of the Prize. An example of this would be that in some films the princess' father has to be convinced about the hero and won over before the princess or the prize can be given to the hero. An example of this in a film would be Princess Fiona in 'Shrek.'
The False Hero. This is a character who takes credit for the hero's work or tries to grab the prize or marry the princess. An example of this would be Prince Charming in 'Shrek 2.'
What the Propp's Character Theory represents and how it links into the other theories.
Vladimir Propp was a Russian (1895-1970) and studied fairy tales and folklore. He identified eight character types that always appear in these stories and his ideas are used in media today.
Based on the other three topics I have researched, hypodermic needle model and gratification model, I am noticing that there is a link between these three topics and how people perceive these character types. For example, when we talk about representation we talk about the use of stereotypes which is how audiences categorise characters within a film and TV series. For example, if there was to be a hero in a film shown on TV, most people's assumption would be that he or she would be good and brave and had no negative traits or history, therefore creating a positive stereotype for that person or character. This is also where the two other theories have a link with the Propp's character theory. The two theories that help represent people's assumptions about what they should believe and what they should challenge also leads into this theory of Propp's characters. For example, if you see an actor on TV who is classed as a typical stereotype of being a hero, the people who are categorised as being within the hypodermic needle model will not challenge anything they see or hear and not think about if the character has any bad traits or habits outside of the character.
The hypodermic needle model tends to fit in with how we may be brought up to believe that people fit into categories and therefore people tend not to question or challenge this belief when they are older.
Some people will represent the gratification theory when they are watching these films or TV programmes with these types of characters and will not believe the typical stereotypes they see to necessarily be only good or evil and will realise they can have other traits within those categories.
A good a example of would be Robin Hood who robbed from the rich to give to the poor. He had good and bad traits but it was acceptable because his goal was to help people.
In this section of this report I will now define what each character means in the media of TV and film and how the audience perceives them and give an example for each.
The Hero is somebody who people look up to and admire and they always have a positive representation in the story. A good example would be Luke Skywalker from the films 'Star Wars.' We follow the hero's story and how he or she achieves their goals or tasks, e.g, saving the world or saving the princess from the bad guy, or scoring the winning goal.
Then there is the opposite character to the hero, the Villain, which has a negative representation to people and has negative traits. The Villain can be evil but is not always so. He or she may just be a person who gets in the way of the hero or antagonises them. In 'Star Wars' the main villain was Darth Vader who would stop at nothing to get his own way. There can sometimes be a group of villains.
The Dispatcher is a character who reveals the villain's plans to the hero or motivates them to fight against the villain. This character could be an older person such as 'M' in the James Bond films.
The Donor is a character who prepares the hero in some way to have the skills or knowledge for their task. There can be more than one donor. In 'Star Wars' the main example of a donor is Obi-wan-kinobi who teaches Luke Skywalker all kinds of powers.
The (sometimes magical) Helper is someone who helps the hero to achieve his goal, such as R2D2 in 'Star Wars' who helps Luke in all kinds of ways. Also Han Solo is a Helper in 'Star Wars.' A helper can be a friend.
The Princess/prize to be won. Sometimes the goal might be to save a princess from danger and sometimes there is no princess and the goal is to win a prize or save the world. An example of a princess to be saved would be Princess Leia in 'Star Wars' (first film), and an example of a prize would be the golden fleece to be won in 'Jason and the Argonauts.'
The Princess' father/Keeper of the Prize. An example of this would be that in some films the princess' father has to be convinced about the hero and won over before the princess or the prize can be given to the hero. An example of this in a film would be Princess Fiona in 'Shrek.'
The False Hero. This is a character who takes credit for the hero's work or tries to grab the prize or marry the princess. An example of this would be Prince Charming in 'Shrek 2.'
What the Propp's Character Theory represents and how it links into the other theories.
Vladimir Propp was a Russian (1895-1970) and studied fairy tales and folklore. He identified eight character types that always appear in these stories and his ideas are used in media today.
Based on the other three topics I have researched, hypodermic needle model and gratification model, I am noticing that there is a link between these three topics and how people perceive these character types. For example, when we talk about representation we talk about the use of stereotypes which is how audiences categorise characters within a film and TV series. For example, if there was to be a hero in a film shown on TV, most people's assumption would be that he or she would be good and brave and had no negative traits or history, therefore creating a positive stereotype for that person or character. This is also where the two other theories have a link with the Propp's character theory. The two theories that help represent people's assumptions about what they should believe and what they should challenge also leads into this theory of Propp's characters. For example, if you see an actor on TV who is classed as a typical stereotype of being a hero, the people who are categorised as being within the hypodermic needle model will not challenge anything they see or hear and not think about if the character has any bad traits or habits outside of the character.
The hypodermic needle model tends to fit in with how we may be brought up to believe that people fit into categories and therefore people tend not to question or challenge this belief when they are older.
Some people will represent the gratification theory when they are watching these films or TV programmes with these types of characters and will not believe the typical stereotypes they see to necessarily be only good or evil and will realise they can have other traits within those categories.
A good a example of would be Robin Hood who robbed from the rich to give to the poor. He had good and bad traits but it was acceptable because his goal was to help people.
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