Media coursework

1. THE NEON DEMON
Narrative Structure

2. Introduction
■ The Neon Demon follows a linear, single stranded narrative as it follows one character,
Jesse, from the beginning of her time in Los Angeles to her death without mixing the
chronological order of events.

3. Todorov’s NarrativeTheory
■ Equilibrium  Sixteen-year-old Jesse has moved to Los Angeles
fromGeorgia after her parents’ death and is hired by a fashion
agency to model almost immediately after seeing photos of her
taken by Dean, an amateur photographer she met online who she
later goes on date with. Her interviewer tells her to lie about her
age, changing from sixteen to nineteen as she is underage.
■ Disruption of equilibrium  Jesse meets Ruby who takes her to
party where Sarah and Gigi are.This disrupts the equilibrium as
they judge her appearance almost immediately whereas up to
this point, everyone has only complimented Jesse. Gigi is more
polite and friendly than Sarah, complimenting her hair and her
nose, asking if they’re real as she has a lot of plastic surgery on
her whole body to the point where her doctor considers her
“bionic”. However, Sarah asks her bluntly who is she sleeping with
in order to get jobs.
■ Recognition  Jesse becomes a narcissistic person after realising
how fascinated everyone else is with her and her appearance. She
realises this when she is suddenly given the showstopper role in a
fashion show and on the runway sees a vision of herself kissing
her reflections. Dean ends their relationship when she expresses
this to him.
■ Attempt to repair  Jesse is killed and eaten by Ruby, Sarah and
Gigi as she becomes a threat to them due to her realising how
valued she is. However, later on the set of a photoshoot, Gigi kills
herself in an attempt to get Jesse out of her body as she is too
pure and Gigi is too ”plastic” to fully digest her.
■ New equilibrium  Sarah and Ruby continue with their lives and
Sarah seems to taken in Jesse’s purity and is now being hired for
jobs as quickly as Jesse used to.