{"id":34236,"date":"2016-07-10T17:11:57","date_gmt":"2016-07-10T22:11:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.davidbordwell.net\/blog\/?p=34236"},"modified":"2020-07-26T16:56:14","modified_gmt":"2020-07-26T21:56:14","slug":"rethinking-the-character-arc-a-guest-post-by-rory-kelly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.davidbordwell.net\/blog\/2016\/07\/10\/rethinking-the-character-arc-a-guest-post-by-rory-kelly\/","title":{"rendered":"Rethinking the character arc: A guest post by Rory Kelly"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Aptment<\/p>\n

The Apartment (<\/strong>1960).<\/em><\/p>\n

DB here:<\/p>\n

Rory Kelly, whom I met some\u00a0years ago at a conference of the Society for Cognitive Studies of the Moving Image<\/a>, has been a pioneer in linking the practices of film production to larger issues of narrative, performance, and artistic form. What follows is a version of a superb paper he gave at the Society’s annual meeting in Ithaca in June. Since Kristin and I are always eager to know how practitioners think of their craft, we jumped at the chance to pass along\u00a0his thoughts in one of our guest blog entries.<\/em><\/p>\n

Rory comes fully prepared to the task. Currently\u00a0an Assistant Professor in the Production\/Directing Program at UCLA, he has been a bright light in filmmaking for many years. His first feature, Sleep with Me<\/strong> (1994) premiered as an Official Selection at Cannes and was released by MGM\/UA. His second feature, Some Girl\u00a0<\/strong>(1998), garnered him the DGA-sponsored Best Director Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival, and his 2006 short, The Women<\/strong>, premiered at the Long Island Film Festival. He was also co-executive producer of mtvU’s Sucks Less with Kevin Smith<\/strong>. Rory\u00a0has been a Film Independent Screenwriting Fellow and is currently working on several research projects, including studies of discourse analysis and emotional expression in film. At the same time, thanks to a 2016-2017 Heillman Fellowship, he is preparing\u00a0a feature documentary about racism in America, To Someday Understand<\/strong>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Here’s Rory on a\u00a0perennial problem of the screenwriter: the character arc.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Since the 1960s, the character arc has become all but obligatory in Hollywood movies. Genres like sci-fi and horror, once largely unconcerned with character change, now often include it. Compare, for example, the 1953 version of War of the Worlds<\/em> with Steven Spielberg\u2019s 2005 remake. In the latter the alien invaders are not only defeated, but in the process Tom Cruise\u2019s character, Ray Ferrier, becomes a better father.<\/p>\n

Why has character change become so prominent? In The Way Hollywood Tells It<\/em> (2006), David offered some suggestions. The psychological probing in plays by Arthur Miller,\u00a0Paddy Chayefsky, and Tennessee Williams became\u00a0popular models of serious drama. Teachers and writers were\u00a0persuaded by Lajos Egri\u2019s book, The Art of Dramatic Writing<\/em> (1946), in which the author advises that characters should grow over the course of a play. There was also the impact of self-actualization movements of the 1960s and 1970s that held out the promise of personal growth and transformation.<\/p>\n

It’s also likely that star power has had considerable\u00a0influence. When trying to raise financing for a low-budget indie script a few years back, my collaborator and I were advised by three different seasoned producers to give our protagonist a more pronounced arc or we would never be able to attract a name actress to the role. Whether they were right or not, I do not know, but their shared assumption about attracting talent is telling.<\/p>\n

Given how common the character arc has become, we need to better understand how it is typically handled. I think we can\u00a0identify and analyze six narrative strategies \u00a0that\u00a0create a particular character type: the protagonist who\u00a0is flawed but is capable of positive psychological change. My primary example will be The Apartment<\/em> (1960).<\/p>\n

I’ll also consider aspects of character change in Casablanca<\/em> (1942), Jaws<\/em> (1975), and About a Boy<\/em> (2002).\u00a0This list will allow me to consider the character arc over six decades, from the studio era to contemporary Hollywood, and across several genres. Limited as it is, this set of films suggests that\u00a0certain techniques of character change \u00a0recur again and again. In tracing them, I’ll occasionally make reference to the four-part plot pattern Kristin has set out in Storytelling in the New Hollywood<\/em> (1999) and several entries on this site: the Setup, the Complicating Action, the Development, and the Climax.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A six-step program<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Casa<\/a><\/p>\n

Casablanca<\/strong> (1942).<\/em><\/p>\n

First, a filmmaker seeking to construct a character arc will almost inevitably begin by establishing that his or her protagonist is of (1) Two Minds.<\/strong> I mean by this that the character has competing impulses. Think of Rick in Casablanca<\/em>. On the one hand he is inclined towards communal action; on the other hand he sticks his neck out for no one. This latter behavior is solidified during the Setup portion\u00a0when he assists in Ugarte\u2019s arrest.<\/p>\n

\"PIC<\/a><\/p>\n

It can be termed Rick\u2019s (2) Negative Behavior Pattern<\/strong>. It is a pattern because it is a type of behavior Rick enacts again and again, as when he repeatedly refuses to give the letters of transit to Victor and Ilsa. The film even turns Rick\u2019s selfishness into a motif.
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