The Hangover

Plot summary – the groom and his 3 best mates decide to go to Vegas for his stag do, staying at Caesars Palace, where they relax in the room and go to a casino and celebrate with a few drinks on the hotel rooftop. The next morning, Phil, Stu and Alan awaken to find they have no memory of the previous night, and Doug (the groom) is nowhere to be found. Stu is missing a tooth, their hotel suite is in disarray, a tiger is in their bathroom, a chicken in their living room, and a baby is in the closet, which they name "Carlos". Throughout the film they follow steps to find out what has happened the night before, the discover Doug has been kidnapped by mistaken identity, after a race pushed for time back to LA for the wedding Doug and his wife get married. As the reception ends, Alan finds Stu's digital camera detailing the events they cannot remember, and the four agree to look at the pictures together before deleting the evidence of their exploits.

How does Todorov theory apply to ‘the hangover’?

Everything is fine until they go to Vegas for the stag do, the disruption of the equilibrium is when Doug goes missing, the recognition is when the stag party realise they need to find the groom as he needs to get hope to get married. The group decide to find Doug and take him back, this is their attempt to repair the damage, and this then creates a new equilibrium.

What is Vladimir Propp’s theory?

Propp’s narrative theory was based on folk tales and legends that he studied from different countries, he found that they were all quite similar and that they seemed to be about the same basic problems and the same types of character kept cropping up. He focused on the way there seemed to be different ‘types’ of characters rather than individuals. He recognized 8 character types.

Propps theory does apply to the hangover, it has various character types the theory mentions such as the hero, the villan, the princess, however in the hangover the princess is the reward and it’s a man.

Levis-Strauss theory

This theory is about binary opposites, for good there is bad, for success there is failure, it is a simple theory which most movies Included, for example in the hangover the villain is the kidnappers, and the hero is the stag do who find him

Todorov Theory↓