Todorov's Theory of Equilibrium

Todorov states in his theory of equilibrium that the narrative within a film starts at equilibrium. Then there is a disruption, then the leading characters recognise the disruption and start on the repair and finally the narrative is restored to equilibrium. Applying this to a film demonstrates how it is present in most films. Some don’t start at the equilibrium,  but you can recognise what the equilibrium may have been before.

Mean Girls (2004, dir. Mark Waters)
Equilibrium- Kady has started at High school
Distribution- The plastics try to make friends with her
Recognition of disruption- Her other friends find out
Repair- Janice, Damian and Kady try to irritate Regina
Restoration- they all become friends and get along

Although, also with this film, there is an initial disruption, however this never tries to get resolved, this is when Kady has to move to America. For this part, the equilibrium is Kady living in Africa, the disruption is moving house and recognition of disruption is when she starts school. You could say that the repair and restoration is dealing with the fact she is in a strange country and accepting their culture and the final equilibrium is living in peace in America. It could be easier to say, that in the film Mean girls, there is no starting equilibrium, it starts at at the disruption, whilst the equilibrium ony gets mentioned. So application to the theory could also be:

Equilibrium- Kady lives in Africa
Distribution- She moves and the plastics try to make friends with her
Recognition of disruption- Her other friends find out
Repair- Janice, Damian and Kady try to irritate Regina
Restoration- they all become friends and get along

Using Todorov’s theory in trailers, different genres emphasise on different parts the theory in a trailer. For example a thriller trailer may focus heavily on the disruption part, as this may be the more thrilling aspect. An example of this is Super 8 (2011, dir. JJ Abrams); everything shown in this trailer happens in the first half an hour of the film. This then intrigues the audience to watch the film and find out more what happens later on. Also, purely from this trailer- the title of the film is barely connectable, except from the flickering at the end of the trailer just before the titale is shown which is connecting with Super 8 film.



Comedy however, depending on the subgenre, shows an over view of all parts of the theory, and giving a better all-rounded idea of the narrative. This may be because the disruption is less noticable or drastic in a comedy film, and the main comedy comes from the resolution of the disruption, whereas in thrillers, the main 'thrill' is the disruption. Which requires the two trailers to focus on different parts of the narrative. This is shown in Mean Girls (mentioned above). Where we barely even notice the disruption, it 'just happens' and the majority of the rest of the film is changing that. Also, in the trailers, as it is showing all parts of the theory, a lot of the narrative is shown; so the audience knows what to expect. This is shown in a trailer for Mean Girls.