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Lindsay Crouse
Rhetorical Criticism
Final Paper
December 10, 2013
Footloose
In a movie, since the start of film making, there has been some sort of music playing
in the film. Whether it was in the beginning, middle, or end, music has been a key component in
films. “Emotion characterizes the experience of film, as it does the experience of music”.
(Cohen, 2001) The music plays a significant role in the movies; either transitioning from scenes
of the movie or the actors singing a song to show their feelings. In the movie, Footloose, directed
by Craig Brewer in 2011 the music in the movie influences the characters to change the town
rules on dancing and music. I have always been curious when watching films and this question
has popped into my head many of times. What role does music play for a round character in
narrative criticism?
Writer/Director Craig Brewer delivers a new take of the beloved 1984 classic film.
(Tomatoes, 2011) The movie Footloose is about a city teen age boy, Ren MacCormack, who is
played by Kenny Wormland. Ren who moved from Boston, Massachusetts to Bomount, Georgia;
a small town that has banded dancing and music due to a car accident involving former seniors a
few years back. Rens’ rebellious spirit shakes things up throughout the film to try and persuade
the town council to lift the regulations on dancing and music. While trying to change the law he
falls in love with the preacher daughter, Ariel, who is played by Julianna Hough. Ariel’s brother
was one of the seniors that was killing in the car accident a few years ago. Since then Ariel has
been a rebel child until she met Ren; who stole her heart with dancing and his love for music.

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(IMBD, 2011) In the movie McCormack goes before the city council at the end of the movie
with several bible verses to cite scriptural support for the worth of dancing to rejoice, exercise,
and celebrate. Later in the film, Rev. Moore asked his congregation to pray for the high senior
class who are coordinating the first prom since the tragic car accident. This meant that Rev.
Moore gave the students approval to have a dance in the Grain Mill that was located outside of
the town limits. There was finally a dance in the town. Some may question why this is important
and what the message is in Footloose. Well, all I can say is that dancing is a huge part of many
people’s lives; so is the music.
While watching the film a form of criticism is being played out. The form of criticism
is narrative. Narrative Criticism is defined as organizing the stimuli of our experience so that we
can make sense of the people, places, events, and actions of our lives. (Foss, Rhetorical Criticism
, 2009) They also allow us to interpret reality because they help us decide what a particular
experience is about and how the various elements of our experience are connected. (Foss,
Rhetorical Criticism , 2009)
In narrative criticism there is a procedure to help explain how the criticism works.
First you need to select an artifact, which I have selected Footloose. Second you need to analyze
the artifact. By analyzing the artifact you have to identify the objective which is the action of the
story that appears to design to perform in the world. With my artifact the objective is that Ren
MacCormack is trying to persuade the small town to let the senior class have a dance again and
to be able to play music throughout the town. The elements that lead to the objective are the
events and the plot. When using the narrative method the procedure also ask that you identify the
features of the narrative. In this type of narrative criticism there are many ways to identify the
features. The setting, characters, narrators, events, temporal relations, casual relations, audience,

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theme, and the type of narrative criticism. What I am coding for in this artifact is why a certain
type of music appears when kernels are present? My main focus for coding this question is going
to be toward the events and characters. The next part of using the narrative method is
formulating a research question about your artifact. The last step is writing the essay. This can all
be found in chapter nine of Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice written by Sonja K.
Foss. (Foss, Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice, 2009)
Selecting the Artifact
When selecting my artifact for this paper it was pretty easy for me. I picked a movie
that always stood out to me. The movie that has stood out the most to me since I was a little girl
is Footloose. I picked the 2011 version because it’s more of my generation related then the
original Footloose (1984) starring Keven Bacon.
Analyzing the Artifact
When analyzing the artifact I have selected it involves two primary steps which are
identifying the objective of the narrative, and identifying the features of the narrative to discover
how they accomplish the objective. With the two steps the first one lets you see the narrative
work that appears and how it performs in the world. The second step analysis the strategies to
help accomplish the objective. When identifying the objective of the narrative it is supposed to
help you understand what the situation or condition of the storyline.
In the film Footloose, I believe that the objective in this film is that Ren MacCormack
is trying to persuade the small town to let the senior class have a dance again and to be able to
play music throughout the town. Ren is challenging the perception of a situation.

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Identifying the Features of the Narrative
The first part in doing this is identifying the setting. The setting is where the story is
taken place. The setting is Bomount, Georgia. Second is the characters. The main characters are
Ren, Ariel, Willard, and Rev. Moore. Later we will discuss what the round and flat characters
are. Thirdly is the narrator. In which this cause for Footloose, the narrator would be the main
characters. Fourthly, we look at the events in the movie. The events are called either kernels or
satellites.
The kernels mean major events and the satellites mean minor events. We will look at
the events in the film later on in the essay too. Fifthly, we have the temporal relations which is
defined as the timeline of the film. Footloose is in chronological order. The narrator in the film is
addressing the audience ages thirteen to the age fifty. Lastly, the type of narrative is musical,
romance, and comedy that we throughout the film. Now when identifying the features of the
narrative we take a look at the events and characters to help us code for the importance of why a
certain type of music appears when kernels are present.
Events
In narrative criticism there are major events which are called kernels and minor
events which are called satellites. The minor events usually lead to the major events in the story.
In Footloose, I have found that there are three major and three minor events. The first minor
event is when Bobby, Ariel brother gets into a car accident with a couple of friends; bobby and
his friends died instantly. The major event that is lead from the minor event is the city council
sets regulations’ on dancing and music in the town. This was a very important event in the

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movie. This started off the plot. The characters did not affect the plot; the plot affected the story.
The plot for the movie Footloose, is trying to get a group of high school seniors to change the
law about dancing and music just so the students at Bomount High can have a dance before they
graduate.
The second event that is important in the story is when Ariel takes Ren to the train
tracks. Ariel shows him the lyrics, quotes, and anonymous writings inside the train carts. This
would be a satellite. The kernel that is formed from this event is Ariel hears the train coming.
She decides to test Rens feelings for her. She stands of the train tracks and plays chicken with the
oncoming train. Closer the train is approaching and Ren saves Ariel before the train got closer to
her. This created a relationship between the two. This is an important event because before this
moment, Ren and Ariel disliked each other but at the same time had a crush on each other too.
The third important event that occurs in the movie is when McCormack approaches
the town council to lift the regulations on dancing and music in the town. This is consider the
satellite. The kernel is when Rev. Moore gave his eulogy in church that Sunday after the town
council meeting. He then revealed that the high school could have a dance. This meant that the
rules were lifted. Dancing and music was allowed again in the town of Bomount.
Characters:
Narrative Criticism also has a different meaning for what the characters are. The
characters that change throughout a films, short stories, and novels are called round characters.
Characters that do not change in a film, short story, and novels are called flat characters. The
round characters in Footloose are Willard, Ren, Ariel, and Ariel father, Reverend Moore. Willard
is considered a round character because he started off not able to dance, but with Ren help,

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Willard is able to dance at the end of the movie; the senior prom. Ren is considered a round
character. Ren changes throughout the film. He came into Bomount as a rebel. During the movie
he changes and tries to make a change in the town that wasn’t thrilled with new people moving
into Bomount. Ariel is a round character. As like Ren, Ariel was being rebellious toward her
father because of Bobby death and the rules of the town. After falling for Ren, Ariel changed and
rebuilt her relationship with her father, Rev. Moore. Lastly, Ariel Father, Rev. Moore was the
law. During the film, Rev. Moore, who is played by Dennis Quaid, changed his views on the law
of dancing and music. He saw what it really meant to the teenagers living in Bomount and how
much it also meant to his daughter, Ariel. These characters showed change throughout the film
making them be defined as round characters.
The other type of characters narrative criticism has is flat characters. Flat characters
are characters that do not change throughout the film, short story, or novel. In the movie
Footloose, the flat characters are Rusty, who is Ariel best friend, the two twin girls, who are
Rens’ little cousins, Ren Uncle, Ariel mother, and Chuck, who is Ariel ex-boyfriend. The
following characters that were just listed do not change a bit throughout the film making them
flat characters.
Coding:
Why does a certain type of music show up when a kernel event appears? When
researching this question I came along this article stating that “In many digital audiovisual
productions, music plays an essential role as well, being exploited for setting the atmosphere of a
visual scene, characterizing key characters in a scene, implying situations that are not directly
visible to the audience, and much more”. (Liem, 2013) In footloose the music plays a significant
role when identifying major events. A perfect example for this is when Ren is in the abandon

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warehouse where he expressing his anger toward everyone giving him a hard time in the town of
Bomount. The music starts off as a very aggressive hip hop type of music then turns into a rock n
roll. This type of music is helping the audience see his aggression through the heavy metal guitar
solos and drum solos. This is also where Ren shows his gymnastics and creative dance moves to
also express his anger.
Another example in the movie is when I mentioned earlier about Ariel taking Ren to the
train tracks and looking inside all of the old train carts where there are hidden lyrics, poems,
quotes, and sayings written all over the interior of the carts from the students of Bomount High.
This place is consider the “yearbook”. This is where Ariel and the students at Bomount High can
get away from their parents and the town. The music starts out soft as Ariel and Ren talk about
the future and getting out of Bomount. After Ren doesn’t tell Ariel how he really feels, Ariel
hears the train coming in the background. She tells Ren that after football games they come
down to the tracks and play chicken with the train. While Ariel is standing on the tracks high
heavy metal music begins to play. As the train gets closer the music gets louder in the scene.
When the train is a couple feet away from hitting Ariel, Ren rescues her and the music stops.
“Nonetheless, the accompany soundtrack is an integral component that convey not only
characters dialogue but, of greater interest here, a musical score that can contribute to story’s
meaning.” (Boltz, 2004) Music plays a role in movies when it comes to helping the audience
realize it is an important part in the movie. The music helps the audience see what type of
emotion is being expressed too. If we witness a scene with smooth and calming music in the
background then we realize that the scene is a major event involving something inspiring,
sentimental, or heartwarming. When a scene in a movie has heavy mental playing in the
background we realize that it is a type of action scene. This helps show that the character or

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characters are showing emotion, strength, or pain in these type of scenes to the audience. Music
does play a major role when involving kernel (major) events in films.
ResearchQuestion:
I have always been curious when watching films and this question has pops into my head
many of times. What role does music play for a round character in narrative criticism? Round
characters again are the main characters. So why does music play a role for round characters in
films? “In Hollywood films, the typical aural perspective often makes use of music as
background and screen dialogue as foreground.” (Moschini, 2011) The music in my opinion
show what the characters are feeling in a certain scene in a film. It helps the audience view the
characters through musical tones. The musical tones help the audience stay alert throughout the
movie as well.
In the article “Effects of Film Music on Psychological Transportation and Narrative
Persuasion” by Kristi A. Costabile from Iowa State University, stated that “Lipscomb and
Kendall (1994) suggest a film’s musical soundtrack can provide more information about the
narrative than the visual self.” (Costabile, 2013) From what Lipscomb and Kendall have
suggested is from my view correct. When I watch a movie, any movie for example, the musical
soundtrack to the film does help create a better understanding to the narrative; meaning the
characters.
The article also gave information on what Bullerjahn and Goldenring studied in 1994.
“Bullerjahn and Goldernring (1994) found that participants who viewed an identical scene
interpreted it as sentimental or thrilling depending on the musical soundtrack”. (Costabile, 2013)

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Seeing that the experiment that Bullerjahn and Goldenring performed to see how the audience
reacted to the type of music being played during a scene shows how music does influence the
movie and the way the audience does indeed view the characters emotions though a certain scene
in a film.
Finally, my research question; what role does music play for a round character in
narrative criticism? Can be answered. The role that music plays for a round character in narrative
criticism is to show the audience feel the emotion, the thrill, and the action that happens in a
film. It helps us dictate what type of scene it is through the music that is being played in the
background of the film. The music helps the views understand the movie better too. For instance
my example. In the movie Pearl Harbor, directed by Michael Bay back in 2001, had a certain
type of music being played throughout the film. It was more of a love story than a war movie.
Yes, the film did show important events that happened in the attack at Pearl Harbor, but mainly
focused on the love triangle of Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, and Josh Hartnett. (IMDB, 2001)
The movie musical soundtrack lets the viewers see the round characters as sentimental caused
from the music being played in the film. Music plays a significant role when it comes to the main
(round) characters.
Conclusion:
In conclusion to my research paper on narrative criticism music in a movie does play a
significant role. In a movie, since the start of film making, there has been some sort of music
playing in a film. Whether it was in the beginning, middle, or end; music has been a key
component in films. The music has a significant role in the movies; either transitioning from
scenes of the movie or the actors singing or dancing to a song to show their feelings. In the
movie, Footloose, directed by Craig Brewer in 2011, the music in the movie influences the

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characters to change the town rules on dancing and music. The musical soundtrack in the film
plays an important role when it comes to showing the audience who the round characters are. It
also helps the film show the audience the feelings that the round characters are having in current
scenes or throughout a movie. In the film Footloose, the ending is a powerful scene. Its takes the
song, Footloose sung by Blake Sheldon and lets the senior class help express the excitement of
their senior class prom. The last line from the film is, in my opinion the best way to end a film
with…“Let’s Dance!”

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Works Cited
Boltz,M. G. (2004). The Cognitive Processingof FilmandMusical Soundtracks. MusicPerception ,1194.
Cohen,A.J.(2001). Music as a Source of EmotionIn Film. Music and Emotion:Theory and Research ,
249.
Costabile,K.A.(2013). Effectsof FilmMusic on Psychological TransportationandNarrative Persuasion.
Basic and Applied Social Psychology,1-2.
Foss,S. K.(2009). Rhetorical Criticism.InS.K. Foss, Rhetorical Criticism : NarrativeCriticism (p.307).
Long Grove:Waveland.
Foss,S. K.(2009). Rhetorical Criticism: Exploration and Practice. Long Grove : WavelandPressInc.
IMBD. (2011, October14). IMBD.RetrievedfromIMBD:http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1068242/
IMDB. (2001, MAy 25). IMDB:Pearl Harbor. RetrievedfromIMDB:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0213149/
Liem,C.C. ( 2013). WhenMusic makesa Scene . InternationalJournalof Multimedia Information
Retrieval, pp.15 - 30.
Moschini,I.(2011). Music andseries:the verbalizingrole of soundtracklyricsfromTV seriestouser-
generatednarrations. VisualCommunication,194.
Tomatoes,R.(2011, October). Rotten Tomatoes:Footloose(2011).RetrievedfromRottenTomatoes:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/footloose-2010/