Narrative Equilibrium – Tzvetan Todorov (Blog Post 7)

 Media Language Theory: Equilibrium/Todorov

Scene from Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation, July 31, 2015

Proppian characters- Hero: Ethan Hunt, Villain: The plane crew, Dispatcher: William Brandt, Helper: Benji, Luther

Equilibrium- The plane is yet to take off, so they have time to get the package

Disruption- The plane begins to take off, and Benji's tablet cannot do anything to stop it

New equilibrium- Ethan jumps onto the plane, sneaking in, and gets the package back

In media res- Starts in mid-action as they are trying to hack into the plane to stop it from taking off with the package.

Multiperspective narratives- Keep switching between Luther, Benji, Brandt, and Ethan's perspectives

Three Sentence Paragraph

The purpose of this clip is to create suspense and anticipation: They use the Equilibrium theory in many ways, by starting in a mid-action way, which gives us a sense of how much pressure is going on. Establishing an equilibrium by showing that they still had a chance to secure the package while the plane was on the ground, which was quickly disrupted by the plane beginning to take off, but then our hero Ethan jumps onto the plane, assisted by his helpers Benji and Luther. He secures the package, which is the new equilibrium; it switches from different characters (Multiperspective narratives) to show how tense the situation truly is, giving us a sense of whether he is or isn't going to get the package on time.