A Linear Thought

We perceive time in a very linear fashion. It starts when we are born, we go through life, solving any problems thrown at us, creating more problems, and then all our problems are solved with one final solution. Film, TV, and other media mimic this to tell their stories by using the 3-act structure (Act 1: Exposition; Act 2: Problem, Solution, Repeat; Act 3: Resolution), giving us a linear narrative and showing us the events the same way we would perceive them.

Linear stories show us a series of events in a chronological order, flowing smoothly from one scene to the next, presenting itself to the audience in a relatable and easy to digest manner. Non-linear stories on the other hand break apart the narrative and piece it together in a way that may or may not be clear from the start. This can be done for many effects such as leaving the viewer in the dark by redacting or hiding information, or we are watching a character with memory loss as they slowly piece together past events through flashback.

Soap operas use linear narratives as it helps build a bridge between your story and the leap of faith which your audience needs to take to immerse themselves into their worlds and their characters. This is because linear-structured narratives are the most relatable form of storytelling, as they allow the viewers to easily understand the scenes in their chronological sequence.

At the end of the day, soap operas aren't made to amaze their viewers and aren't renowned for their excellent storytelling, yet people still tune in everyday to watch what Stacy said about Gavin. The reason they keep coming back to these characters mundane lives is that relatability that their decade (or more) long narratives give them. They aren't about the stories within the narrative world, but about the world itself as it continuous to simply be normal, giving people an easy escape from reality, from one mundane world to another.

Pulp Fiction has a non-linear narrative yet still uses a similar concept to that of a soap. While we are watching multiple characters and following their stories as they interact with each other, the main protagonist of Tarantino's masterpiece is the world they live in. The setting is the only constant within the jumbled-up scenes as we see characters get killed and the movie completely circle back to previous scenes. Therefore, in Pulp Fiction the connecting factor in its scenes isn't time, but it's the interaction between all of the moving pieces in a beautiful chess game, all moving along the same board.

While non-linear narratives are usually more of an artistic choice or a plot device, it can also be used to give a story an extra depth to it while still giving a relatable linear style of story. An excellent example of this sort of narrative is Clint Eastwood's 2016 biopic Sully, which follows the aftermath of Captain Sullenberger's crash into the Hudson in 2009. We follow a linear narrative as we relate to Sully's perspective of the events, yet the movie uses many flashbacks back to the emergency water landing, sometimes focusing on other characters such as air-traffic control. By using both linear and non-linear structures, we relate even to more to the traumatised Captain as he constantly thinks back and experiences the crash over and over again.

Non-linear narratives, while not following a "normal" method of storytelling are also linear in their nature for 2 reasons. The first being that no matter how non-linear a story is, each sequence when taken out of the over-arching narrative is linear in nature, telling us its own piece of the adventure at hand. The second reason is that every narrative has a certain fluidity to it; whether it is in its chronological nature or something else connecting the events on screen.