The Crazies (2010) narrative analysis

Vladimir Propp:

The villain- Government and infected- Government caused virus breakout, and infected humans are killing innocent people.

The Hero- David and Judy: Protagonists of story.

The Donor- N/A

The Helper- Deputy Russell Clank: Sacrifices himself to save protagonists.

The Princess- Judy: Judy is the reward in David’s eyes as she’s carrying their baby.

Her Father- N/A

The Dispatcher- Rory: Rory is the first noticeable infection which sends a message out to the healthy that something suspicious is going on.

The False Hero- N/A

Claude Levi-Strass:

(Binary oppositions)

Infected/Not Infected (Insane/Sane) - The humans that aren’t infected are constantly trying to fight off the infected; there is no escape.

Man/Monster- The infected seem to be quite monstrous, because of their soulless/ gormless characteristics.     

Life/Death (Normal/Possessed) - The infected are practically dead as it seems their personalities have been eaten away.

Government/Civilians- Innocent civilians loose lives from government’s mistake

Bordwell and Thompson:

In the crazies we know/presume some of the story as the plane crash isn't shown but we know this has happened when the plane and the passengers are discovered in the local river of Ogden Marsh. The viewers then establish that the government have created a deadly virus, which was in the progress of being distinguished, until it crashed into Ogden Marsh and disseminated through the town. After the disaster, the government had no choice to destroy the town and the people to ensure the virus doesn't spread any further. This is conveyed through a shot from a satellite, suggesting their watching the town; this is a great example of Bordwell and Thompson's theory, because the governments mistake has triggered a series of events. Another good example of Bordwell and Thompson, is when we are shown a shot of a babies room, but arent informed about Judy being pregnant. This shot suggests that Judy is pregnant without obviously stating it.        

Tzvetan Todorov:

Todorov’s theory doesn’t apply properly to The Crazies, as we are introduced with a chaotic opening scene from the future; also because we aren’t shown whether the equilibrium will be reinstated. The equilibrium is issues after at a baseball game, making it very clear that this was a perfectly normal town in which everyone knew of each other. This is conventional of the horror genre to have a non-linear approach making it hard for Todorov’s theory to fit.    

Equilibrium: The peaceful town of Ogden Marsh, expressed through a baseball game and following the normal lives of David and Judy. (This is only shown for a minuet part of the film)

Disruption: Government’s mistake, of crashing a plane carrying a deadly virus into Ogden Marsh’s’ water system. But this isn’t shown until later in the film. The viewer’s first notice a disruption when the un-responsive Rory Hamil, approaches the baseball game with a shotgun.  

Reinstate equilibrium- David and Judy attempt to repair the disruption by escaping to another town, which was successful. But, not knowing they were actually making the situation worse by potentially carrying the virus over to another town. The end scene let the viewer’s know that the government had detected this breach and have no other choice but to destroy the next town. This is typical of horror’s, to leave the audience hanging. They purposely make the viewer question whether or not David and Judy will survive.