Research: Narrative Structures in the Media

Taylor Swift – You Belong With Me

Both sat in bedrooms communicating via notepads à  he closes curtain just as she (Taylor) is about to confess her love  à  begins to compare to herself to his girlfriend à  “what you’re looking for has been here the whole time,” à  dancing around her room, singing into her hairbrush, he peaks through curtains and sees her and laughs à  she’s sat on a park bench and he joins her à  brushes her hair out of her eyes à  his girlfriend pulls up in her sports car, and grabs his head and passionately kisses him, whilst looking back at the bench à  cuts to football game, with Taylor in the school band, and his girlfriend cheerleading à  he wins the game and his girlfriend is flirting with another player, and he storms off   à cuts back to bedrooms à  he is in his prom suit asking her if she’s going, she tells him she isn’t and that she’s studying and he says that he wishes she was, he walks off   à cuts to prom, Taylor arrives in a glamorous prom dress, and he spots her from across the dance floor, and approaches her à  his girlfriend intervenes, and he leaves her for Taylor à  they meet in the middle of the dance floor à  they both hold up sheets from the notepad, both reading, “I love you” à  they then kiss passionately in the middle of the dance floor with his  girlfriend looking on jealously.

Narrative Theories

Todorov – Equilibrium = Taylor and the boy are just friends (neighbours)

Disruption = He has a girlfriend who is completely opposite to Taylor

Re-Equilibrium = He breaks up with his girlfriend, and kisses Taylor at their school prom

Levi-Strauss – Binary oppositions

Geek vs. Popular

Cheerleading vs. Brass Band

Propp – Hero – Taylor Swift, her mission is to get the boy

Villain – Girlfriend, stops them being together

Princess- the boy, as he is the focus for both Taylor and his girlfriend.

Barthes – Will they actually end up together and will he finish with his girlfriend

The text has chosen to construct its narrative in this way because it matches the lyrics and every scene that is cut.

In conclusion, the narrative fits in with the song and its lyrics. The audience understands the video because it is what they expect to see. It conforms to the typical narrative of a teen pop music video. 

Francesca Rigg