After my outline and annotated bibliography, I feel like I have a better understanding of my research question. I had my idea, but Mrs. Haag helped me connect all the points so that I am able to stay focused on movies relating to audiences. So, I drafted a research question based on that: How do Disney/Pixar movies use character archetypes to relate both to adults and children?
I have narrowed my scope from children's movies to Disney/Pixar movies because they are some of the most influential movies in the industry. I have sources to back this up which will be provided in my lit review. Additionally, I am planning on focusing on movies from 2006 to the most recent movies for two reasons: it eliminated the variable of Disney and Pixar relations, since this is when Disney bought Pixar, and it makes my findings more relevant to today's generations and society.
Key terms in my question include character archetypes, adults, and children. Character archetypes are part of Jung's structuralist psychology. He believes that based on evolution and development of a child, we build archetypes of each role of humanity, which can also be represented in literature, and I will be looking at it in film. The definitions of adult and children are a big chunk of my literature review because there is a lot of debate on how to define it, but basically my conclusion is that it is a fluid process that is usually marked by maturity and responsibility.
As of right now, I envision myself doing a type of analysis involving either one or a few of the archetypes. So these are the closest things I have to variables. I plan on answering my question by looking at characters that relate both to adults and children, and what these characters represent in terms of the movie. So, if the jokester does dumb things that kids laugh at but makes comments that adults laugh at, this is the character that relates best both to adults and children. Then the next step is to look at what this jokester's role in the movie is and what insights he provides.
When comparing my research to other studies I have read, I am looking specifically at the audience and what speaks to them. An issue that I had with other studies is that they jumped straight from plot summary or analysis to societal implications. However, the audience is an important player in the morals and themes pulled out of family media. My goal for the research is to say something about how movies appeal to their audience. And since family film has a broad audience, there has to be a connecting thread that links adults and children. What this thread is will say something about a core value in viewers and a better understanding of the presentation of themes in family media.
Oh my gosh! I love Up, this is a beautiful background. Please don't change it. You have really come far from two weeks ago when I last read your blog. This is getting even better.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I like your topic, I am not so sure about your research question. It's not that the question is terrible, it's just that I don't think that you will be able to answer that question in such a short span of time. There are way too many factors at play in this question. I think that you need to narrow down your variables, make them more specific. Try to find specific archetypes or specific types of Disney movies.
Do you have an idea of the types of archetypes present in Disney movies? If not, then you can take your research in a slightly different direction. You could first prove that archetypes play an important role in Disney films. Use your theory from Jung to prove that archetypes have a significance influence on the audience. Then, if this has not already been researched, you could watch different Disney films, looking for the most common archetypes in these Disney films. From there, you could use what you find and relate it back to the audience.
I agree with Gursajan in that your research question's scope needs to be narrowed and that is it a bit too vague at the moment. Try to find academic sources that show the different aspects of these movies or make your own clearly defined categories and justify their existence. Also, there are a ton of different disney pixar movies from 2006. Are you going to analyze them all or pick movies that share specific themes to decrease the amount of archetypes that exist? You seem like you have a clearer idea of where you are going compared to where you were a few weeks ago, which is amazing. Good luck :)
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