"You're
psychic?" Jane – “No, just paying
attention. I used to make a good living pretending to be a psychic. I tell you
this because I want you to understand there's no point hiding things from me”[1]
How is the narrative hero in The Mentalist
a typical American TV protagonist and how does he appeal to audiences?
Examples of narrative
heroes include some comic book heroes such as Superman, Batman, and Spiderman and
heroes such as Hercules or Achilles who derive from Greek mythology. They all
share similar traits, they are all heroes because of these specific traits.
They are all considered brave and courageous because of the sacrifices that
they make however audiences are able to see similar traits that they each have as
they are two different sides to most characters. The one side where they are
considered heroic in terms of their actions and the other when they portray
their human emotions which causes the audience to become empathetic towards
this hero and is drawn to their side. They are also shown to possess a strength
which cannot be matched by others. According to monomyth,[2] a hero’s
journey follows a certain pattern and this newfound power supports them and
gives them an advantage during the storyline. This is due to their own unique
skill-set that they have and therefore often use this to defeat the villains in
a particular plot. Narrative heroes in this day and age have come to possess a
quality that cannot be matched by others, Jane whose which included his mental insight
to various situations. Heroes such as Sherlock Holmes and Patrick Jane who have
become very popular among during the 21st century who often subvert
these traits and this is important because this could almost be hegemony[3] due to
the way that the producers of a certain text intend to show more of the human
side which audiences can relate to and thus are likely to maintain their
engagement with the character as a result of this.
The Mentalist
promotes many specific things such as original thinking and not conforming to
society due to the way that the protagonist carries himself out. “Your life is
in chaos, you're lonely, you're depressed, you're addicted to drugs and
pornography and a little nuts, to be honest. You're exactly the kind of man
that does terrible things to women. But I don't think you did this”[4] is one
of the examples in which Jane is able to use his deduction skills and his
excellent eye for detail to figure something out. When all
clues point to someone which makes everyone else believe that they are in fact
the committers of a crime, Jane is the character who always opposes their views
and points out additional details or goes about his own methods to prove his
point when others do not believe him. This is based on the reading that a
member of the audience takes as they have preferences when it comes to
television however, with Americanisation, they are more likely to take the
preferred reading that the creators of a text intends to be taken and become
more law-abiding and find the programme more appealing due to the character’s
personality and mannerisms. This is an extension of the theory suggested by
Stuart Hall[5]
which revolved around the audience’s response to a stimulus.
Americanisation[6] is
something that could be the reason why people audiences find glamorous actors
or something else that is unique more appealing to them and the text that I
will be focusing is The Mentalist which is an American fictional television
programme which revolves around the protagonist, Patrick Jane, whilst he
attempts to find the murderer of his wife and family. He gives up his lucrative
facade of being a psychic and becomes a consultant for the California Bureau of
Investigation (CBI). The plot[7] mainly
focuses on Jane and his methods of solving cases in an unorthodox manner which
others do not approve of. He belongs to the Serious Crimes Unit and his team
consists of various agents one of which includes Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon who
is apparently supposed to be responsible for controlling Jane and his sometimes
“wacky schemes”. The character of
Patrick Jane is a likeable one and has many traits that audiences can find
appealing and recognise as something that they personally have themselves as
individuals. The cultural shift in different countries has changed diversely
due to the amount of American programming that is being depicted on our
televisions every day through the digital satellite provider BskyB. [8]
Americanisation
is the influence that the United States of America has on other countries
across the world. For example, there are ideologies that are portrayed on
television programmes and films such as teenagers getting involved with drugs
or sexual encounters and this is easily seen through British programming
through films such as Anuvahood[9] and
Kidulthood[10]. These two films are completely different
concepts however they both contain similar elements which Kidulthood could have
included as a result of the influential American programming that we see daily.
The Mentalist contains American stereotypes such as the vulnerable female
character (Lisbon) who requires the help from Jane which could reinforce
patriarchal societies although Lisbon is a physical able woman who can take
care of herself however she requests help from Jane when struggling with
emotional distress an illustration of this is in an episode called Little Red
Corvette[11].This
makes Jane seem the hero whereas in reality he is quite timorous when it comes
to physical confrontations and prefers to remain at the background of scenes
“Yeah, you guys go find out. I'll find the couch. [Stands up and turns
around] Oh, there it is”[12]. If
this is a case of hegemony which is a theory that Antonio Gramsci created about
the worlds elites and with America acting as an over-powering presence then
this could mean that “In their process of Americanization these elites have had
to open up to the general public’s demand to new kinds of entertainment and to
market forces geared to meet these demands”[13]. This
would relate to the audiences’ values and beliefs being altered to fit the
ideologies that are promoted to them through the programming that they watch.
This is also relatively close to cultivating audiences which is a theory put
forward by Gerbner because they are basing
morals and principles on characters because of the amount of television that is
watched across the world. [14]
In the past of
cinematic drama, there are similarities that The Mentalist has with other texts
one of which includes Sherlock Holmes: The Sleeping Cardinal which a great
comparison to make as the character of Holmes was played by one of the best
Holmes according to reviews on IMDb[15]. The
characters have similar mental acuity and Jane has been described as the modern
day Sherlock Holmes by the creator, Bruno Heller. This similarity with the
characters’ likeability can be seen as something that has been maintained by
audiences as something that is attractive to them and they find pleasure in
viewing these sorts of characters and this could be for many reasons such as
personal identification which links in with the theory of uses and
gratifications by Blumer and Katz or escapism; a concept explained by Katz and
Foultz.
"The
'whodunit' makes its dramatic question absolutely explicit, and the quest to
find the answer is led by the protagonist.[16]"
This is a quote which relates to the two texts that are in discussion and is a
simple paradigm of how these two texts can appeal to audiences as they are more
likely to become involved since they feel that they are being invited to join
in to solve the crime because of the questions asked by characters. For
example, Lisbon often asks Jane who he thinks did it because she trusts his
judgement, and this will encourage audiences to begin to figure out who the
perpetrator of a crime is and Jane then ends up leading the investigation into
the culprit following his own instincts. This is an example of escapism[17] that
can be felt by the audience and they remain entertained as they are engaged
with the plot and maintain this through each episode and most culprits are
revealed at the end of the episode which can act as an invitation to view the
next episode. Furthermore, at the end of each episode, you hear the voice of
the protagonist, Jane, say “stay tuned to see scenes from our next episode”
which is also something that engrosses them because it makes the audience feel
as if they are being spoken to which will excite and encourage loyalty with the
television programme. Genre appeal is one of the key factors that maintains
audience’s engagement and reinforce their beliefs in the protagonist and
therefore root for him to overcome the odds as everyone loves an underdog. In
the works of Stephen Neale “Mere repetition would not attract the audience”.
This quote relates to the hybridised genres that The Mentalist includes in its
programming. The main two genres that are always included are comedy and drama
the latter of which is the most popular genre in the world according to
research.[18]
Vladimir Propp
created a theory suggesting that all characters have role within a media text
and the protagonist is considered as the narrative hero. They “have to be all
or most of the following: intelligent, strong, resilient, selfless, caring,
charismatic, reliable, and inspiring. A hero is the person who can be bothered,
who does get off the sofa, who will save the day.”[19] This is
a key element of The Mentalist because this can further promote ideologies and
behavioural traits which can be observed and possibly replicated by audiences
subconsciously or even intentionally. However, Patrick Jane is not a character
that is physically strong and his selflessness is debatable because he is a
character that is only working with the CBI due to his ulterior motive
nevertheless his character applies to the other traits of a narrative hero.
This could be motivational factors that appeal to audiences to constantly watch
the programme and maintain the audience’s engagement which can also relate to
the audiences needs and gratifications being fulfilled through escapism and
intrinsic enjoyment using the entertainment factor. On the other hand, the
narrative hero is a character that audiences can make their own judgement about
and this is based on the readings that are taken when consuming a media text
again tying in with the reception theory that was put concerning Stuart Hall’s
works.
"However
there has been a shift toward investigative crime series, where the protagonist
must think instead of fight" which is important to consider because the
protagonist does exactly this. As stated earlier above, Jane does not enjoy
being at the forefront of physical confrontations and instead creates crafty
plans that are put into motion by him allowing him or someone from the team
apprehending the perpetrator of a crime. This is dissimilar with other
television programmes such as Hawaii-Five-O[20] and
Nikita[21] as they
have protagonists that engage in physical action as this is the genre that
these programmes tend to focus on. In contrast the most similar television show
is Psych which almost has the same plot as The Mentalist however the latter has
a major story arc which Psych[22] does not
have which is one of the most engaging factors for audiences because they will
feel as if they are being given an interesting and well-thought of storyline
that is a treat for audiences to watch. The genres are however similar as most
of them include the element of genre and therefore allows audiences to be
captivated due to the popularity and the effect that drama has and therefore
maintains the audience’s engagement. Another media text that is also quite
similar to The Mentalist is Dexter[23] which
is about a serial killer who kills only serial killers and “Our main
protagonist endures a love/hate relationship with himself”[24] which
is the main similarity between Jane and Dexter. Furthermore, the narrative hero
in Dexter is not one who is as intellectual as Jane however he does regret the
things that he does as the audience are able to see how he copes with the
aftermath of events that take place. The lighting used to promote the narrative
is mostly top lighting and chiaroscuro style of lighting to emphasise
expressions and therefore deliver an excellent piece of television to the
audience. Chiaroscuro lighting is one where the object is placed into the centre
of the light and focused upon to ignore other details about them and this is
mostly used on Jane and other characters when making a decision that could be
deemed as wrong or immoral, for example, the deception of a victim’s family.
So has the
process of Americanisation forced audiences to find glamorous actors or
something else that is unique about a text something of more appeal? This is
still debatable however, many audiences identify with the actors that are
portraying the roles within a text and this promotes star appeal. Star appeal
is significantly rising as audiences, especially younger ones, base role models
on actors and become a part of the psychographic group aspirers and
mainstreamers. This would mean that they are initially drawn in to the fact
that the actors have attracted to them to a particular television show and
therefore the responsibility of maintaining the engagement with the audiences
is given to the creators and producers. Jane could be categorised as a typical
American TV protagonist but we must ask ourselves what exactly is a typical
American narrative hero. Most could argue that they must be charismatic and
have feelings that show their sensitivity whereas others may simply cope with
problems by keeping it within and not showing any signs of weakness. The
character of Jane is not a typical American television protagonist however he
does consist of some of the main elements that contribute to making one. For
example, he has psychological problems with himself but does not portray this
to others unless he is absolutely required to. He is a caring individual who
captivates audiences and maintains engagement through sometimes crude and
childish humour. So Americanisation does influence people’s decisions because
of the amount of programming that we watch but how will this change in the
future? Will all American protagonists become similar and therefore reduce the
quality of originality and uniqueness?
Word Count - 2534
[1]
Season 1 Episode 1 - Pilot
[2]
Monomyth Home - http://orias.berkeley.edu/hero/
[3]
Gramsci and hegemony - http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/marxism/marxism10.html
[4]
Season1 Episode 3 – Red Tide
[5]
J. Fourie, P. (2001) p244
[7]
The Mentalist - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1196946/
[8]
Key facts and figures - http://corporate.sky.com/about_sky/key_facts_and_figures
[9]
Anuvahood - http://www.anuvahood.com/
[10]
Kidulthood - http://www.kidulthood.co.uk/
[11]
Season 5 Episode 13 – Little Red Corvette
[12]
Season1 Episode 20 – Red Sauce
[13]
Stephan, A. (2007) p18
[16]
Understanding Crime Drama - http://media.edusites.co.uk/article/understanding-crime-drama/
[17]
Tuan, Y. (2000) p5
[18]
What television genre is the most
popular genre - http://wasupmommy.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/what_television_genre_is_most_popular1.png
[19]
Heroes: What they do and why we need
them - http://blog.richmond.edu/heroes/2013/01/22/our-definition-of-%E2%80%9Chero%E2%80%9D/
[20]
Hawaii Five-O - www.imdb.com/title/tt1600194/
[21]
Nikita - www.imdb.com/title/tt1592154/
[22]
Psych - www.imdb.com/title/tt0491738/
[23]
Dexter - www.imdb.com/title/tt0773262/