Narrative structure in 'Everybody Hurts'

Everybody Hurts
R.E.M.

In REM’s music video for ‘Everybody Hurts’, a linear narrative structure is featured which can be examined using Todorov’s three act structure theory. The setting of the video is a highway with cars moving (the equilibrium) and throughout this first act different characters are introduced. The inciting incident occurs as the traffic stops, leading into act 2’s disequilibrium (the singer leaving his car and walking). This is typical of three act narratives according to Todorov, which always follow a very similar structure. In act 2 of the video, the narrative finds its resolution when all the characters leave their cars and begin walking with the singer; this carries on into act 3, where the characters walking becomes the new equilibrium. Using Todorov’s concepts, it can be assumed that this video features a successful three-act structure narrative and succeeds at telling the story it sets out to tell.

              End of Act 1                                   End of Act 2                                 End of Act 3

However, at the end of the video there is a separate conclusion in which the music stops playing and we hear the voice of a news reporter claiming that all the people in the video ‘just got out and walked’ and that ‘they cannot find anyone’. This does not fit exactly with Todorov’s concepts, as although this could be seen as a ‘resolution’ to the narrative, it is featured after act 2 and 3, and is presented as a very short fourth act.

Narrative devices are used very effectively in this music video, the most significant being the use of subtitles as an expression of the characters’ thoughts. These subtitles allow for the audience to better understand the characters and the story, without the need for diegetic sound overlapping the music. At the beginning of the video, the subtitles appear to simply mimic the lyrics; however, it soon changes to the thoughts of a child saying “They’re all stuck.” I find that using this as the first non-lyric subtitle is an interesting and significant choice; it provides impact as it frames the narrative and tells us immediately that something is wrong with the characters. They’re stuck physically in the traffic jam, but they’re also stuck metaphorically within their own sadness and emotions.

Another narrative device used is the car’s window screens themselves. The windows represent an impassable barrier to the outside world, which all the characters are trapped behind to represent their disconnection and dissatisfaction with life. This works as a narrative device because the audience can see from the start of the video that Stipes and the band are trapped in a claustrophobic and colourless space.

The video can be analysed using Barthes’ concepts of proairetic, enigmatic and symbolic codes. Within the narrative, proairetic code is most relevant; proairetic is defined as an opening of an action which makes the audience want to see closure of – in this case being the depression and sadness of the characters being portrayed through subtitled inner-dialogue. The audience wish to see a resolution to the different characters’ problems, which is indeed given at the climax of the video when all the characters leave their cars and begin walking together (symbolic of how the depressed characters “are not alone”).