Narrative Theory - Tim O'Sullivan / Pam Cook

Tim O'Sullivan (1998) argues that all media texts tells us some kind of story. Through careful mediation, media texts offer a way of telling stories about ourselves - not our own personal stories but the story of us as a culture or set of cultures.

Narrative theory sets out to show that what we experience when we 'read' a story is to understand a particular set of constructions or conventions - to be then aware of how these constructions are put together. 

Pam Cook (1985) suggested that the standard Hollywood narrative structure should have:

• Linearity of cause and effect within an overall trajectory of enigma resolution
• A high degree of narrative closure
• A fictional world that contains verisimilitude especially governed by spatial and temporal coherence

Image Essay: Beyonce - Pretty Hurts

Tim O'Sullivan (1998) argues that all media texts tell us some kind of story. Through careful mediation, media texts offer a way of telling stories about ourselves - not our own personal stories but the story of us as a culture or set of cultures. Narrative theory sets out to show that what we experience when we 'read' a story is to understand a particular set of constructions or conventions - to be then aware of how these constructions are put together. Beyonce’s video Pretty Hurts conforms to this theory as the narrative recreates a Beauty Pageant - taking the audience on a journey to show some of the lengths and extremes that females put themselves through to change their appearance.

The first scene shows a series of shots of a group of females back stage getting ready for their beauty pageant. Through a montage edit, we see the characters physically changing their appearance – by putting themselves through pain and suffering to look one step closer to their own idea of ‘perfection’. 
One female is shown in a backless dress pinching her skin at the side of her body – it is inferred by the audience that her negative mind set is telling her that she is fat, when she is vey much otherwise. Non-diegetic minor chords are played in the background, which adds to the mundane scene behind the back stage of the pageant – showing the reality of beauty pageants.

Pam Cook (1985) suggested that the standard Hollywood narrative structure should have: linearity of cause and effect within an overall trajectory of enigma resolution, a high degree of narrative closure and a fictional world that contains verisimilitude. Beyonce’s video also conforms to this structure. As the narrative moves on, it shows the women, in the contest, dressed in their elegant dresses with their makeup on as they stand on stage putting on a show. However, through the diegisis the audience knows that all the girls’ smiles are in fact fake - as they are actually very unhappy with ones appearance. This is caused by the effect of the immense pressure that society puts on women to look a certain way. 

Via the use of a long shot, it shows all the women stood in a placed positioned to be judged on who is the ‘prettiest’. The fact they are all simultaneously stood represents the idea that they are robots – constructed by the ideology that society has on how women should look: picture perfect.

As the narrative comes to a close, Beyoncé expresses to the audience how outside beauty doesn’t bring you happiness in life. This message is demonstrated via the use of slow motion – showing her to smash up her trophies that she has previously won from other competitions – portraying the fact that they are just material things, which are worthless. Moreover, the lyrics “Pretty Hurts” are repeated within this scene to reinforce her message.

To conclude, it is clear that behind Beyonce’s video Pretty Hurts’ there is a clear narrative structure – telling a story that is relevant and relatable in today’s society.