"A Blog In Review"

A final hello to all! It is now time to look back on what I – ahem – we have been discussing thus far, and to perhaps draw some final conclusions on structuralism and its application. Throughout the blogging process I have made clear cases for structuralism and its relevance. It can be seen that through the metaphor of the iceberg, that there are certain deep and surface structures that exist in all medium, from a painting to a movie. What you see is not always the whole story! I have also made it clear that the structures of langue and parole play a large part in governing a medium with the rules of the game (langue) and the way one decides to use those rules (parole).

The first example we encountered was Bond, James Bond. Here it was evidently illustrated that every Bond film and novel follows a very strict, similar arrangement. We had the 9 “moves” within each film and from there could imagine every Bond movie and think of where those scenes exist. I even posted a video of the 15 Best “Bond, James Bond’s” to make it clear that any scene from any movie could be from any of the Bond’s, (if we ignore the actor changes). It is evident that the James Bond series relates directly to structuralist thought. There are the deep structures within each Bond film, and through knowing these prior to watching a movie, the viewer is ensured that they are going to enjoy the film.

Next we encountered sitcoms, a formulaic 22 minutes of television. There are the set 8 character types that I outlined, and from there one can see that almost all sitcoms fall under this structure. Again, the structuralist mindset reined supreme. By understanding what to expect from ay given sitcom, their success is guaranteed (for the most part). The deep structures of the 8 character types relate to us as we understand them because we have seen them before (in other sitcoms). Another point for structuralist thought!

Round 3 were Star Wars and Joseph Campbell’s Hero With A Thousand Faces. In his book, and through a deconstruction by Douglas Mann, it became clear that when there is a story that involves a hero, there is a very distinct structure that these tales tell. The stages of the story exemplify this. This is by far the most shining example of structuralism, as the story of the hero does not only apply to Western media, but myths and tales from across the globe.

Next I gave a little piece of my mind about structuralism, concluding that it has both positive and negative issues. And in my final example, I discussed how videogames could be considered structuralist. Through their content, format and plot many games follow the same guidelines or structures.

Finally, in my previous post I offered possible refutation for structuralism. The most shining issue being that of the ambiguous existence of the unconscious. I believe in the unconscious and so therefore, I feel strongly towards structuralism. I hope through this blog you have gained some insight into structuralist thought and that when you watch further media products you will try to view them with a structuralist mind set. This will hopefully allow you to make your own decisions on media products, making you an active viewer and consumer.

News and Notes: Thanks for reading. Hope you had a blast! I'll end with not a video post but a link to a great documentary by BBC. It address the epic of the Iraq war. How it was fought on the battlefield and within the government. Visit: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/bushswar/?campaign=pbshomefeatures_1_frontlinebrbushswar_2008-03-25