Hamartia

Y’all know what hamartia is, correct?

If not, I’ve provided the Wikipedia link… Hamartia, or otherwise known as a character’s tragic flaw is a great way to get your Protagonist to change.

By identifying your Protagonist’s tragic flaw UP FRONT, you can very easily figure out where he or she needs to go to bring about that change.

Of course, it shouldn’t be an easy task… After all, we all perform maintenance of our “hamartia” don’t we? Do we not consciously or unconsciously maintain our tragic flaw by way of our:

Environment
Circumstance
Decisions
People we associate with
Actions

And, if this is true, could we not utilize this same model for our Protagonist?

A Protagonist’s tragic flaw is actually more like his or her ego defense mechanism. In the beginning of the story and through approximately the third quarter of a story, the Protagonist continually relies on this tragic flaw to get as far as he or she has gotten. Up to this point however, whether they are aware of the flaw or not, they think they need it to get through the day. Consciously or unconsciously…

Work it correctly and natural conflict — conflict that you need for your story should be almost obvious during every scene if you keep yourself aware of your Protagonist’s tragic flaw.

I get a lot of screenwriters asking me how to create change in their Protagonist or… DARE I SAY IT…

The Character Arc.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again and I don’t really care if anyone agrees with me or not… I like a Protagonist that changes during the story and I submit that change does happen… Maybe in microcosm ways but I THINK IT HAPPENS.

Because if change didn’t happen, what would be the point of the story? Why would we care? But I’m not really trying to talk about change as much as I’m attempting to discuss the Protagonist’s MAINTENANCE OF THE TRAGIC FLAW.

That’s right…

That’s what your Protagonist does. He or she utilizes pretty much the same elements we all utilize to maintain our tragic flaws…

Environment
Circumstance
Decisions
Characters
Actions

Not necessarily in that order but you get the gist.

Your Protagonist’s ordinary world is made up of the above elements is it not? Why is this his or her ordinary world? It’s not unlike a criminal running away from the law… He hides out because he doesn’t want to get caught, right?

So does your tragic flaw. Of course it rears its nasty head at the drop of a hat but rest assured, it’s lurking… Waiting for something to trigger its need or use.

And just like a criminal finds someone to assist in hiding him out, so do we assist our tragic flaw in hiding out… To keep it safe and sound until we need it again. In other words, to kick this tragic flaw out into the light means — dare I say it again — CHANGE.

And really… Overall… Does anyone really want to change?

Or do they hide out in their ordinary world because they can control their ordinary world much better than any new world that is placed in front of them?

So of course maintenance of the flaw is of the utmost importance… Your Protagonist chose the environment he or she lives in so that his or her tragic flaw can thrive. Your protagonist continually places themselves in circumstances where their tragic flaw thrives even more. Of course most of their decisions help maintain their tragic flaw as do the characters they choose to associate with. Last but not least is your Protagonist’s ACTION. All the elements preceding action culminate in some kind of action by the Protagonist that once again, assists in maintaining their tragic flaw.

I guess you could just as easy call it ENABLING.

Good Protagonists do whatever it takes to maintain their tragic flaw. It affects just about everything they do UNTIL that point comes along when they realize they no longer want to allow their tragic flaw to control their life.

Certainly, baby steps toward outing the tragic flaw will show some kind of change depending on how you create those steps. A fairly easy way to know where you should end up INTERNALLY however, is to simply figure out what the opposite of the Protagonist’s tragic flaw is. Once you figure out what the opposite of that flaw is, and you LIKE IT enough to use it, you can now figure out ways to slowly but surely OUT the flaw.

Unless you’re writing a tragedy.

Unk

March 8, 2009 | Filed Under Characters, Tips, Tricks

41 Comments

The Hero vs. The Anti-Hero Protagonist

hero-anti-hero The Hero . I grew up with him. In fact, I grew up with people who wanted to grow up to become a hero. I grew up with people who joined the military or police force in order to become heros.

Funny how we don’t meet too many people like that anymore…

Or is it?

When was the last time you met someone who seemed consistent in their noble philosophy? On one hand, they espouse their noble philosphy and from an outward appearance, they may even seem to actually believe it or even better…

Live it.

Until the SHIT hits the fan… LOL. Then we see them as they truly are. Flesh and blood human beings facing the same kinds of temptations we all face on a day to day basis albeit on different levels…

Maybe.

Who’s to say?

I think we’re able to see through the bullshit most of the time but even so, our masses somehow find themselves admiring those who espouse noble philosophy whether they live it or not. LOL.

But I’m talkin’ screenwriting and movies… The days of the masses wanting to become heroes are over. Sure, there’s always going to be those isolated few of us out there that seek some kind of hero status because I think for some of us, it might actually be hardwired into our DNA. But like everything else these days, we are adapting to our environment and constantly mutating to find ourselves.

Which is one of the reasons I think the Anti-Hero protagonist seems to do a hell of a lot better box office than the hero with the noble philosophy. I mean, as a whole, who are we flesh and blood human being most like?

Heroes or Anti-Heroes?

Let’s compare… Just off the top of my head…

The Hero:

Idealistic
High moral code
Decisive
Leader
Successful
Initiative
Courageous
Likable
Principles

The Anti-Hero:

Pragmatic
Gray moral code
Indecisive
Unsuccessful
Diffident
Inconsiderate
Indifferent
Unlikable
Greedy
Lustful
Rebellious
Subversive
Nonconformist
Insubordinate
Dissenting
Recalcitrant
Reluctant

The anti-hero is definitely a more complex character to write… He or she doesn’t have to be likable. They have a lot more layers than meets the eye. I suspect that generally speaking, they are a lot more like the people we all know hence, we are faster to get on their character train for the ride. I know for me personally, they’re a hell of a lot more fun to write and while I’ll not tell you to write a movie with an anti-hero as your protagonist, I will tell you that in my humble opinion, using an anti-hero ups your chances of success just a bit more than the traditional hero.

There’s nothing wrong with the traditional hero but let’s face it… Most movies that use the traditional hero today are fairly predictable and that just might be because traditional heroes are predictable characters. It’s almost as if God summoned them up to get the bad guy. Their philosophy is noble hence, their predictability. There’s really nothing taunting them like what taunts the anti-hero — generally speaking. Most actors today are always looking for the taunting of their character so why not give it to them?

I hear a lot of this wherever I go… “People are just smarter today than they were thirty years ago.”

Really?

Hmmm. As I sit here in my little coffee shop full of college students, I eavesdrop on not even one remotely intellectual conversation. I’ve been coming here for over four years now and have engaged in a myriad of conversations — mainly about film and even characters in film and at least here in my little neck of the woods, I ain’t impressed.

I do however, think people are much more sophisticated today than they were thirty years ago… Remember, we flesh and blood mongers rarely use even 10% of our brain power… Yeah, I’d say that’s about right however, we are now bombarded with people, images, sounds, ideas, politics, yada, yada, yada more than ever before. Even when a lot of us attempt to focus, we can’t focus because of this bombardment.

Some people say it’s this ever-increasing bombardment that’s the reason why the traditional hero is more or less dead except when we put STAR to said character in films today. You know… Those stars that pretty much play themselves on screen?

Not sure I buy the ever-increasing bombardment because take a look at the second image of John Wayne above as Rooster Cogburn in TRUE GRIT . Rooster was definitely an anti-hero and in a western no less… Plus, I don’t have enough space to list all the successful films before during and after TRUE GRIT that had an anti-hero protagonist so that kinda defeats the ever-increasing bombardment argument.

Is it because it’s just more believable? Is it because most of us are not heroes and that allows us to live more vicariously through the anti-hero?

You tell me.

Unk

October 9, 2008 | Filed Under Characters

44 Comments