The Missing
Context/facts
Plot:
The story is paralleled by flashbacks back and forth through the story line, not chronological. It follows the story of a young girl who went missing in 2003 and has supposedly reappeared with claims she had been held captive with a French girl who had also gone missing around the same time.
A retired detective (Julien Baptiste) can’t resist becoming involved and travels to germany and Iraq to find answers.
Context:
| Feature | Linkage |
| Co-produced by New Pictures, Company Pictures, Two Brothers Pictures and Playground Entertainment | Merging between independent and major film companies across the world making the production international. |
| 8.5/10 out of 28 ratings on rotten tomato | High ratings on a well established and respected review site, more encouragement to watch the show. |
| Set in France and the United Kingdom, most of the scenes were filmed in Brussels, Belgium, some in Iraq. | International production, creates a wider display of cultures represented in the show and engages with people from around the world, |
| Broadcasted on BBC one, now available on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video | Originally streamed on a public service broadcasting network- free for the public and feeding in to their uses and gratifications. Now available on larger conglomerates such as amazon- more product distribution potentially increases audience consumption |
Julien Baptiste:
| Feature | Linkage |
| Main protagonist being very familiar, white male. | The show feeds in to stereotypes of detectives in the media- contributing to the strong conventions surrounding masculinity in that line of work. |
Language
Narratology:
The narrative code of the show follows a non-chronological, non-linear plot.
Propp–
Propp’s ideas surrounding character types is a key theoretical framework surrounding the characters- for example the missing person was a young girl fitting into the princess stock character and the detective being the hero. Stereotypical female princess saved by a male hero- the spheres of action shape their characters.
Todorov and Freytag-
The show breaks away from Todorov’s theory surrounding the narratives in television. The non linear plotline blurs the line between equilibrium, disruption and denouement, rearranging Freytag’s pyramid
Genre:
Neale-
Neale describes genre as a constructed repertoire of repeated conventions and rules attracting audiences based from predictable expectations, which are then reinforced with unique elements.
The missing fits directly into the crime genre, following typical crime plot lines with the addition of merging sub-genres such as missing person cases/missing abroad and hybridity from genres such as thriller.
The plot is very fitting into it’s genre and fits into the conventions and rules while the narrative code adds the unique aspect for the audience- jumping timelines and creating suspense and eagerness to find out how they fit together.
Neale argues genre as a cultural category whereas interacting with specific genres reinforce conventions within society- it becomes expected. The missing could reinforce conventions surrounding stereotypical ideas of missing people cases- where the missing person is a younger girl and the work force are men.
Schatz-
In relationship with Schatz’s ideas surrounding genre, we can describe genre as a genre of order- where the audience is transported to a world where “fundamental societal values are in a state of sustained conflict” that highlights the conflict within our own culture.
Barthes-
Barthes’ ideas on genre and the codes often incorporated within them are relevant in relation to the missing. The show is very heavy surrounding enigma code to raise ideas and encourage the audience to want more information; such as the narrative code consisting of time jumps and plot holes.
Structuralism:
Levi-Strauss-
Binary oppositions are incorporated throughout the show to thicken the plot and introduce contrast- this is prominent in the time jumps; where it flashes back and forth between denouement of the girl being found and the disruption where she is still missing.
Postmodernism
Intertextuality is the theory where the meaning of the product doesn’t reside in the text but is produced by the reader and there own interpretation. The missing’s narrative code is intentionally hard to follow and confusing in order to evoke different interpretations and possibilities surrounding how she went missing- this relationship between the consumer and the product creates discussion and more interaction.
Baudrillard-
Baudrillard’s theoretical framework surrounding postmodernism suggests the concept of new production is built from an addition of past elements and existing concepts. More specifically, the concept of simulation describes the media’s tendencies to favor a generation of copies over the original and therefore the representation is distorted over time and forms a simulacra. The missing’s genre of crime can be referred to a simulacra compared to reality- it reinforces the idea of detectives remaining secure and confident within there case and the likelihood of the case being solves when in reality the workline is very stressful and more lab-based and unfortunately many cases are left unsolved for good and not reopened after a set amount of time.
Representation
Identity:
Gauntlet-
Gauntlet’s ideas on identity is not prominent within the show, almost all of the characters fit into the heterosexual norms.