tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post1260940397616627375..comments2024-03-28T11:52:29.432-04:00Comments on Cockeyed Caravan: How to Create a Compelling Character, Step 9: Give Them TWO Statements of PhilosophyMatt Birdhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-26487215316719818452011-04-28T15:44:44.562-04:002011-04-28T15:44:44.562-04:00Jones does sort of have a new s.o.p. at the end of...Jones does sort of have a new s.o.p. at the end of the Fugitive (Ford says "I thought you didn't care." Jones looks at him sternly and says "I don't," but then he sheepishly smiles and admits: "Don't tell anybody") but I certainly agree that it's possible to have the change in philosophy simply be expressed through action. Han Solo never says "I realized my problems didn't amount to a hill of beans on these worlds..." <br /><br />And I LOVE ironic reversals of the same s.o.p., but it's hard to pull that off. Stephen Colbert does it beautifully every night with "The Word", where he repeats the same sentiment at the beginning and the end of the piece but he's reversed the meaning in the meantime.Matt Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-4002351298843287192011-04-28T15:26:34.517-04:002011-04-28T15:26:34.517-04:00They might change their philosophy, but need they ...They might change their philosophy, but need they come out and explicitly *state* what their new philosophy is? Everyone remembers Tommy Lee Jones saying "I don't care" but I don't remember a statement about his new philosophy -- his *actions* were his statement, right?<br /><br />Somewhat related to your point: a variant of this could be that the statement-of-philosophy doesn't change, but the <i>hero's understanding of it changes.</i> When Luke says to Ben in Star Wars, "I want to be a Jedi like my father," he doesn't really understand the full depth of what he's saying (and indeed, Ben's patient, you-don't-know-what-you're-saying smile expresses volumes). By the end of Return of the Jedi, when Luke says to the Emperor, "I am a Jedi, like my father before me," he knows exactly what he means; he's suffered for that understanding (and will soon suffer more).<br /><br />Statement of philosophy doesn't change, but understanding of it changes through experience. What say you?James Kennedyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04342773800742515957noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-84794527981786707142011-04-27T15:17:02.829-04:002011-04-27T15:17:02.829-04:00The hope is that you can satisfy those execs by &q...The hope is that you can satisfy those execs by "stating the subtext" in a multiple choice fashion, which leaves you some room to work with. <br /><br />The bad version is "state the moral", or "nail down the metaphor". The good version is "Establish the parameters of the thematic debate." <br /><br />"Lost" did this beautifully for the first three seasons. The first season was about "fate vs. free will". The second season was "faith vs. reason". the third season was "cult vs. community". Each season, they were able to find dozens of great stories within that larger conflict. The first episode of each season pitted two contradictory ideas against each other, and all of the other stories played out within that moral arena over the course of the season. <br /><br />Execs can be pretty dumb, but I'd like to think that even the studio head's cokehead nephew can be satisfied without forcing you to give the whole game away.Matt Birdhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07319984238456281734noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13294573.post-41642669835966243682011-04-27T14:08:08.119-04:002011-04-27T14:08:08.119-04:00This is something I struggled with for a LONG time...This is something I struggled with for a LONG time -- when a character accurately states their personal philosophy/motivation, it is identical to the author stating his thematic subtext. No good. <br /><br />I also think this idea is very closely linked to (what I see as) your ongoing quest to better articulate the "how much should a protagonist change" question. As you point out, real heroes don't actually change all that much (as you've observed with Marty McFly). What does change dramatically is their personal philosophy. In the case of McFly, he goes from being a badass without confidence to a badass with confidence. The real change is in his personal philosophy. <br /><br />Of course, even if this is true, it doesn't mean development execs won't continue to ask you to state the subtext in the first scene. Yet another reason why I'm starting to think that spec writing is the only way to note-proof a story.Jonathan Auxierhttp://www.TheScop.comnoreply@blogger.com