The
music video for Teenage Dirtbag by Wheetus follows a teenage boy’s journey
through a school day, focusing on his crush on a girl who doesn’t know who he is,
the day ends at the school prom where the girl offers him tickets to see iron
maiden. This journey is explored through a linear episodic narrative. According to Todorovs theory of narrative, the
first part of a linear music video like Teenage dirt bag is Act 1 where the
first equilibrium is established, in Teenage dirt bag this is from where the
boy is biking to school to where the band are playing the song in a school
hall. After this there is an inciting incident which disturbs the balance of
the narrative, in this case this is boy’s bike being ran over by the boyfriend
of the girl he has a crush on. This inciting incident makes room for act 2 and
the disequilibrium which follows on the story. This is introduced from this
point on to where the location changes to the school hall for the prom.
According to Todorov, this disequilibrium follows a struggle to get/achieve
something, in this music video this is a struggle for the boy to get a girl,
because she has a boyfriend. This narrative structure is clearly followed
through the focus on the girl’s boyfriend through the lyrics and the camera
shots. Following the disequilibrium, a new equilibrium comes into play, during
this, the struggle is resolved. In this case, the struggle to get the girl is
resolved in a denouement by her offering “tickets to see iron maiden”.
Roland
Barthes theory of narrative codes can also be applied to this music video. The
3 part Todorovian narrative structure creates a pro-airetic code where the
audience sees the opening of an action and wants to see the close. In this
case, the opening action is his bike being knocked over by the girls boyfriend,
this event means that the audience are keen to watch on as it signals a new
chapter in the video. Another example of pro-airetic code in the Teenage
Dirtbag music video by Wheetus is when the main boy makes eye contact with the
girl in the corridor. This is an example of pro-airetic code as it makes the
audience keen to see what will happen next as his dream of getting her
attention has just been hinted at. Act 3 (the new equilibrium) creates a
resolution to the boys struggle to get the girl as she invites him out.
Compared to the previous events of the music video this is unexpected and
creates an ideological close as this is exactly what he wants. This ideological
close satisfies the audience as they see a clear closure to the struggle they
witnessed and it meets their expectation of media texts and stories for there
to be a beginning, middle and end. The song “teenage dirtbag” is an extremely
well known, mainstream song and music video. This un-niche style means that the
audience do not expect to watch a particularly academically thought provoking
piece of media text. Therefore, the clear 3 part Todorovian structure suits the
audience and their expectations well and gives them what they’re used to, in
turn satisfying them.
