Barthes and his Codes

Roland Barthes was a thinker closely associated with Levi-Strauss. he came to the conclusion that narratives could be understood in terms of codes.

The three main codes were enigma, action and cultural. All these codes interlinked. Enigmas were snares which hooked the audience into the film. Although it is not always obvious to the audience why enigmas occur (such as why is David so interested in Michael) they enjoy trying to discover the solutions.

Action codes were caused by the characters in the film who are seeking answers or are seeking to 'act'. The audience enjoy action codes since they propel the narrative forwards. For example Michael follows David's gang to their cave and what he discovers there leads to his subsequent problems. This leads to the involvement of his brother and the Froggs and to his romance with Star.

Cultural codes are things which the audience as a group or society share with the film. For example the idea of vampires is a shared idea which helps us with the film. So too is the rebellious behaviour of the youngsters. Our society has similar problems. Cultural codes are very similar to the verisimilar idea in Classic Narrative Formula.