Narrative Analysis

Cyndi Lauper - Girls Just Wanna Have Fun 

Bordwell and Thompson, the narrative within this music video is simple, but told in a complex way. The story is literally about girls wanting to have fun. Cyndi is our protagonist and her parents are the antagonists, she wishes to be independent and doesn't want her parents to tell her how to live her life and to coddle her out of her 'fun'. 

According to Tim O'Sullivan, all media texts have some kind of a story and that these stories are not usually personal to the creator of the song but reflect the culture or the story of us as a culture. The videos then become a shared experience as the audience (who are all apart of the collective culture) are able to relate to the video since we are able to understand together. The reason why she chose this specific narrative was due to the feminist ideology of the time. Relating to the culture at the time that it was created, it became a feminist anthem and well known for its forthcoming strength and intelligent undertone and message. It was a song engineered at the time for the sexual freedom of women and for this it became a cultural tagline as it was a time when feminism was becoming a cultural consciousness. This song also set the template for future artists to address social issues within their songs. 

The ideology of the song was deliberately changed by Cyndi Lauper due to the fact that before hand it was produced by a male director who wanted a narrative that portrayed the 'Girls' as stereotypical and doing 'girlish' things that consist of a males perspective which consisted of female bedroom shenanigans that were considered typical of the female genre. 

In relation to Sven Carlson the music video falls within the performance category, though it has narrative elements and both are equally used within the video. This is due to the fact that when the performer, Cyndi Lauper, lip-syncs it breaks the verisimilitude of the established narrative environment. 
In relation to Kate Domaille, the narrative type which the particular video falls into is that of the Candide category as Cyndi, who is still the protagonist, is being judged and ridiculed by her parent because she just wants to have fun. As she is not dominated by the parents and is still singing 'Girls just wanna have fun' by the end of the video it appears that she is the indomitable hero who cannot be put down. 

Todorov, who produced the Equilibrium of Diegesis, can be interpreted into many form of media as long as they have a narrative. In terms of this video, it can be applied as the audience view the parents as the enigma within this narrative and cause the disruption, the quest is taken throughout the video and Cyndi confronts her parents and goes on a journey with her friends through the city having fun, thus defying her parents. It is unsure whether of not this disruption is ever solved as the parents do not consent to Cyndi having fun and she just continues with it anyway. In the end it could have deeper meaning as the parents may have the power, but having too much power over people may have the opposite effect of conformity and may cause them to rebel against them. The cause being the parents disallowing their daughter having fun and the effect being that she rebels against them and does it anyway. According to Pam Cock, Cause and Effect are important to any narrative and that the audience are pleased when they achieve narrative closure, which is what happens within this narrative. The audience are rooting for Cyndi to be able to have fun and this is what the outcome is by the end of the video, thus leaving the audience satisfied and with closure. It is the overall trajectory of the enigma resolution.