Does Your Hero Do A 180 Flip?
Don’t worry, we’re not talking gymnastics. We’re talking about your hero’s inner change. We all know that (in most genres) your protagonist needs to change during the course of the script, but just how much does yours?
Are they the jealous type at the beginning and by the end they’re a little less jealous? Well, changing just a little isn’t enough. They need to do a complete 180 flip.
Basically, whoever your hero thinks they are at the beginning of the script, they need to think the exact opposite at the end. Without a complete “turned on its head” transformation in the hero, the audience will feel let down. If the hero has barely been affected by his / her ordeal, how are the audience supposed to be?
In order to make this emotional impact and 180 change in the hero really hit home, it’s important to remember a couple of points:
1. The change needs to be demonstrated verbally.
At the beginning of Woody Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway, the first line David (John Cusack) says in the film is, “I’m an artist!” Then, through the course of the film he learns the truth about the limitations of his own talent, and the last line he says is, “I’m not an artist.”
Of course, the first and last lines your hero says don’t have to be exact opposites, as in this example, but it nicely illustrates the point—your protagonist has to directly tell another character (and us) what they’ve discovered about themselves. There’s no room for ambiguity; it needs to be said, and it needs to be clear.
2. The change needs to be demonstated visually.
In Reservation Road, Ethan (Joaquin Phoenix) spends the entire movie obsessed with discovering the identity and killing the driver who killed his son in a hit and run. When he discovers it’s a neighbour, Dwight, (Mark Ruffalo) he kidnaps him, but then can’t pull the trigger. In other words, he demonstrates through, not just words, but action how he’s changed.
In Along Came Polly, Ruben (Ben Stiller) starts the film as an uptight individual, petrified of the slightest risk, but through his relationship with the free-spirited Polly (Jennifer Aniston) his character does a 180 flip. At the climax, not only does he tell her how he’s changed, he eats a nut off the street. Something he would’ve found unthinkable at the beginning of the film.
These kind of verbal and visual clues are vital. They demonstrate the theme of your film (more on this in another post) and clearly indicate how your protagonist has changed emotionally, thus giving the audience a chance to react emotionally also.
