Pudding Bowl

I think that the narrative structure of Pudding Bowl is linear. I think the film follows this narrative as it has a beginning where we are introduced to the characters, first Ivy when she is cutting out the images of the celebrities, then her brother who is having to stay inside and is not allowed to go out even though his friends desperately want him to and finally the mother who is the reason the brother isn't allowed out as she is making their dinner. Next there is the middle where the events happen and the story builds - Ivy's brother putting the glue in her hair to create a distraction so he can go out and play with his friends and then the mother finding the glue in her hair and cutting her long hair off into a pudding bowl shaped cut. And finally the end where she applies lipstick and places a stocking on her head to make her feel like one of the celebrities she was admiring at the beginning and goes outside and imagines she is actually like of of those women she was cutting the images out of.

A theory that could be applied to this short film is Todorov's theory. This can be seen as at the beginning there is equilibrium and it seems to be just an average day for that family. Next there is a disruption to that equilibrium - the brother putting the glue in her hair and her having to have her long hair cut off, there is then the conflict of her trying to resolve her problem - which she does by putting on lipstick and a stocking on her head and pretending it is long hair and so there is a resolution to her problem. Finally, everything seems happy again and there is even a new equilibrium for her as instead of just admiring the celebrities she actually pretends to be like them.