Martin Rubin - Thrillers

In 1999 Martin Rubin's book 'Thrillers' was published. The book featured a list of existing thriller genre media and drew out common codes, conventions and theories found within them.



The Transformed City theory by C.K. Chesterton created the idea that many thrillers have British authors - particularly if they are based in Britain - and that media in the thriller genre often transforms an ordinary situation into something extraordinary. It also supported the idea that the thriller genre is a modern genre and generally have urban environments as settings.

Northrop Frye created the idea that the hero of a thriller is almost always an ordinary person that the reader/viewer can relate to, and this ordinary person is placed in a situation which forces them to behave in extraordinary manners - such as performing near-impossible acts in which they survive things that would almost certainly kill a normal human such as escaping a burning building or being trapped underwater for lengthy periods of time - with The Heroic Romance theory.

Lars Ole Saurberg's Concealment and Protraction theory states that the unique sense of suspense created in the thriller genre pulls the audience in two different ways to confuse them, create plot twists and heighten the audience's concentration. These two ways are concealment; in which the thriller hides something from the audience on purpose to keep them interested; and protraction where a suspected event such as a planned assassination or the explosion of a bomb is deliberately delayed which also keeps the audience on the edge of their seats.

The Question-Answer Model was introduced by Noel Carroll and presents the audience with a series of questions which they are forced to wait for the answers of, which creates tension and keeps the focus and interest of the audience consistent. There are two factors involved with this model: the probability factor is used to make the hero's struggle for justice seem more desperate, as an outcome with a high or maximum percentage of probability is not as exciting as an outcome with an unsure and unpredictable result. This allows the author to create plot twists and cliffhangers, and makes the audience concentrate better. The moral factor creates the idea that the morally correct outcome will occur which increases viewer's involvement and makes them think more about what they are viewing.

John Cawelti's The Exotic theory supports the idea that thrillers are set in modern, urban environments which are filled with mystery and enchantment. It makes emphasis on location - such as urban environments - and supports the fact that unfamiliar things are introduced to ordinary people and places.

The Mazes and Labyrinths theory by W.H. Matthews originates from Greek mythology with ideas such as the main characters finding themselves in a predicament and that they are faced with a long and somewhat complex journey that they must complete in order to reach the villain - filled with traps, dead ends, twists and mazes. This theory creates the idea that the audience are presented with the hero's problems and puzzles which heightens their involvement and interest in the thriller.

Finally, Pascal Bonitzer's Partial Vision theory makes the impression that what the audience don't see is just as important as what they do see as they are only shown a certain amount of the story with the rest hidden from them and they are kept guessing about the rest of it which raises suspense. Questions are left unanswered to the audience also which makes them concentrate harder on the thriller to try and figure out the mysteries presented to them.