I have a story where a person is being tortured for most of the story. The main character is the torturer, he is a horrible person. Every other character is trying bring him down. I am getting feedback that the main character is so unlikable that he ruins the story.. Any thoughts on horrible characters?
Bob Giordano: Author, director and filmmaker in Nashville, Tennessee.
Founder and CEO at Stage 32 ♦ Actor, Producer, Screenwriter, Voice Artist
10 years ago
Hi Bob. I'm RB, Founder and CEO of Stage 32. As a screenwriter, producer, actor and filmmaker, I know first-hand the challenges all creatives face finding work, landing representation, launching projects, securing funding and simply making the connections that will make a difference in their careers. That's why I created Stage 32. Since our launch in September of 2011, the community has grown to 400,000+ members representing every country on the planet making Stage 32 the social network uniquely populated with the most creative people on Earth.
This is a network for you, built by you. Like mos...
Expand postBob's network
Register / Log In
Exactly my point a few weeks back. Thanks, Mark. Protagonists are now changing in recent years. Just look of many of the new TV shows from How to get away with Murder to Empire and not long ago The So...
Expand commentExactly my point a few weeks back. Thanks, Mark. Protagonists are now changing in recent years. Just look of many of the new TV shows from How to get away with Murder to Empire and not long ago The Sopranos. I about a year half ago, went to a re-release screening of Scarface and it was packed and everyone was clapping on many of Al Pacino's scenes. We all know he was a murderer, but he also set limits on himself, when it came to murdering everyday innocent people. i.e. women and children specifically.
There is something to be said for a lead character that we don't always enjoy. If you're having trouble with an audience connecting with a character, especially a main one, I would suggest reevaluatin...
Expand commentThere is something to be said for a lead character that we don't always enjoy. If you're having trouble with an audience connecting with a character, especially a main one, I would suggest reevaluating his motives and purpose. Why is he doing these things? What makes him human, what justifies "in his mind" him doing these things to people. If we can understand that as an audience, you create a humanistic being that we can connect with in some manner. Also keep in mind, we don't have to love a character in a movie, often times there are characters that we hate so intensely or that we even love to hate. Take Diehard for example, Alan Rickman's character, Hans Grueber is someone we hate so much that we love to hate him. He's got something about him that lures us as an audience in. So if your intention is to make us love to hate your guy, make sure he's got something about him, a snarky behavior, a tick that drives us crazy, something that says, we like you. Even Dexter Morgan was murdering people and Walter White was making meth while destroying his family, but we route for these anti-heroes and corrupt characters based on their humanistic actions. Hope that helps a bit! ~Jordan
1 person likes this
Peter, my pleasure! I hope your above post resulted in a multiple light bulb moments for S32 readers!