{"id":343,"date":"2011-10-27T14:04:36","date_gmt":"2011-10-27T14:04:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/?p=343"},"modified":"2024-12-09T17:54:28","modified_gmt":"2024-12-09T17:54:28","slug":"the-selfless-hero","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/the-selfless-hero\/","title":{"rendered":"The Selfless Hero"},"content":{"rendered":"

When we think of a hero in a movie we immediately assume we are talking about the central character otherwise known as the Protagonist<\/em>, but many stories conceal a multitude of heroes, often unsung, in secondary, supporting roles that are just as important to the narrative and Protagonist\u2019s psychological development and physical journey.<\/p>\n

Think of Obi-Wan Kenobi<\/em> in the original \u201cStar Wars\u201d. He is a hero in his own right because he allows himself to be slain by Darth Vader<\/em> in order to push Luke Skywalker<\/em> toward the next stage in his journey. Without this sacrifice Luke would depend on his mentor to see him through the final conflict instead of believing in his own inner strength.\u00a0 And that is the key to a good hero.\u00a0 Someone who sacrifices their own needs \u2013 or indeed life \u2013 for the sake of the greater good.<\/p>\n

When constructing a story, writers typically focus on the central plot and central character, and this normally results in villains and secondary characters entering the stage simply to support what has already been established.\u00a0 This can inevitably lead to two-dimensional characters that become sounding boards or vessels for exposition, and a central storyline that makes sense but is unfulfilling to an audience.<\/p>\n

Instead, try introducing well-defined, three-dimensional characters with their own lives and stories outside of the main plot and then weave these secondary stories around the central storyline, and design some of the Protagonist\u2019s story choices around the secondary characters.\u00a0 This may not always work and you should obviously never lose focus of the principle story and character but the process will open your mind to new avenues and hopefully create a more rounded and engaging narrative.<\/p>\n

Treat every character as a hero, even the villains.\u00a0 That\u2019s right, villains are heroes of their own stories.\u00a0 When we think of Alan Rickman\u2019s enigmatic villain Hans Gruber<\/em> in \u201cDie Hard\u201d we see a guy who wants to steal money and kill whoever gets in his way.\u00a0 But perhaps there is more to his story than we know?\u00a0 Perhaps the screenwriter<\/a> explored a complex backstory for Gruber that never made it to the big screen \u2013 because it was unnecessary for an audience and would more than likely be overly expositional \u2013 but knowing about Gruber\u2019s childhood and experiences may have helped shape the part.<\/p>\n

I am sure that Alan Rickman didn\u2019t just read the role as a villain and that was that.\u00a0 Like all good actors, especially those who believe in \u201cthe method\u201d, he may have tried to find a spark of humanity in Gruber, something he could use to justify Gruber\u2019s actions.\u00a0 Maybe Gruber\u2019s father used to work for a big conglomerate like the Nakatomi Corporation and that they fired him and it lead to the break up and suicide of his father.\u00a0 Gruber would of course never reveal this to his accomplices but for him, the heist meant more than money.\u00a0 It was revenge and closure.\u00a0 A salute to his father.<\/p>\n

By understanding that EVERYONE in a movie has a story to tell and a life beyond the bounds of the movie screen and pages of a screenplay<\/a> we can begin to view each role, from hero to grumpy waitress with only three lines, with the respect they deserve.\u00a0 The truth is, that grumpy waitress is the way she is because her boss is a jerk, she has no love life and is working three jobs so she can afford to look after her sick mother.\u00a0 She is the epitome of the \u201cselfless hero\u201d \u2013 but we\u2019ll never know.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When we think of a hero in a movie we immediately assume we are talking about the central character otherwise known as the Protagonist, but many stories conceal a multitude of heroes, often unsung, in secondary, supporting roles that are just as important to the narrative and Protagonist\u2019s psychological development and physical journey. Think of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[84],"tags":[111,110,116,117,166,168,115,167,102,119,34,94,165,114,118],"class_list":["post-343","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dan-bronzites-script-tips","tag-character-arc","tag-characters","tag-darth-vader","tag-hero","tag-heroine","tag-journey","tag-luke-skywalker","tag-obi-wan-kenobi","tag-plot","tag-protagonist","tag-screenplay","tag-screenwriter","tag-selfless-hero","tag-star-wars","tag-villain"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":667,"href":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343\/revisions\/667"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.movieoutline.com\/screenwriting-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}