Is theme the opposite of a character's flaw?

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  • Is theme the opposite of a character's flaw?

    I was backtracking through some old posts at scriptshadow and noticed this little line about theme and character flaw/arc.

    "theme is the opposite of a character's flaw" which was a grab from an interview Carson did with this writer.

    Anyone care to chime in on this? It makes complete sense and is so simple.

    EJ

  • #2
    Re: Is theme the opposite of a character's flaw?

    It's right-adjacent, but not right.

    Theme is the opposite of the character's initial BELIEF.

    The character's flaw is typically an emotional expression that is connected to the belief.

    For instance:

    The THEME of Finding Nemo is: loving parents must let their children go.

    What Marlin BELIEVES in the beginning of Finding Nemo is: loving parents must make sure nothing happens to their children.

    Marlin's FLAW is "neurotic fear."

    I'm not trying to be semantic; it's good to think about the anti-theme (as I call it) and the flaw as two distinct things, because anti-theme is the logical expression of the hero in the beginning, and flaw is the emotional expression of the hero in the beginning.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Is theme the opposite of a character's flaw?

      It's meaningless, true in as many instances as false (when character flaw is identical with the theme, like in Moby Dick.)

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Is theme the opposite of a character's flaw?

        Thanks Craig -- that's a fantastic rundown of the subject.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Is theme the opposite of a character's flaw?

          Originally posted by Craig Mazin View Post
          It's right-adjacent, but not right.

          Theme is the opposite of the character's initial BELIEF.

          The character's flaw is typically an emotional expression that is connected to the belief.

          For instance:

          The THEME of Finding Nemo is: loving parents must let their children go.

          What Marlin BELIEVES in the beginning of Finding Nemo is: loving parents must make sure nothing happens to their children.

          Marlin's FLAW is "neurotic fear."

          I'm not trying to be semantic; it's good to think about the anti-theme (as I call it) and the flaw as two distinct things, because anti-theme is the logical expression of the hero in the beginning, and flaw is the emotional expression of the hero in the beginning.

          Theme:

          Love conquers all

          Anti-theme:

          Bill has never been in love, in fact he goes out of his way to avoid relationships. Love sucks.

          Flaw

          Bill's irrational fear of commitment.
          Forthcoming: The Annual, "I JUST GOT DUMPED" Valentine's Short Screenplay Writing Competition. Keep an eye on Writing Exercises.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Is theme the opposite of a character's flaw?

            This is interesting. Can you reverse engineer starting from a characters flaw or initial belief to arrive at theme?

            For example, how would you apply this to a movie like Independence Day?

            I would assume the theme there is something about humanity's ability to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds when we work together.

            But how would you get there if you looked at the starting beliefs or character flaws of Will Smith or Jeff Goldblum?

            Come to think of it, what is Will Smiths character flaw in that movie?

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Is theme the opposite of a character's flaw?

              Again: this is meaningless.
              Sometimes it's true, sometimes not. So what's the use?

              Forrest Gump.

              Theme:
              1. it's more important to be good than clever
              2. the fate (or accident) rules our lives

              Forrest's flaw: he's retarded (not clever)

              And...?

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Is theme the opposite of a character's flaw?

                Originally posted by goldmund View Post
                Forrest Gump.

                Theme:
                1. it's more important to be good than clever
                2. the fate (or accident) rules our lives
                Paraphrasing from what another poster said a while back (can't remember who), a better theme of Gump is "do as you're told".

                That's all Forrest does in the whole movie and he ends up a famous millionaire war hero athlete pop culture icon. Jenny does the exact opposite, stands up for what she believes in all throughout the movie, and ends up a depressed abuse victim with AIDS.

                OBEY!

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                • #9
                  Re: Is theme the opposite of a character's flaw?

                  I feel like you gotta remember this, for nearly all situations relating to screenwriting:

                  Can it be? Yes. Does it have to be? No.

                  Can theme be the opposite of your protag's flaw? Yes.

                  Does it have to be? No.

                  Can your midpoint change the direction of the story, of your character's initial goal? Yes.

                  Does it have to? No.

                  Can your climax involve a final battle between protag and antag? Yes.

                  Does it have to? No.

                  I just watched The Grey again, recently, and it's a good example to use here. The theme seems to relate to religion, to faith, to God and life having meaning even when it seems there is none. The theme refutes all of that, it places more weight in the reality of nature and the finality of death than it does in faith and life after death.

                  But is the protag's flaw the opposite of that theme? No. It's aligned with it. In fact, that "flaw" (if you can call it that) becomes his greatest strength. His willingness to accept the realities of their situation and not lean on faith or religion as a crutch that will protect him is what allows him to survive.

                  And The Grey is a great movie, IMO. If the protag's flaw had been the opposite of the theme, the film would have suffered.

                  So, as with everything, it's just a case-by-case basis.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Is theme the opposite of a character's flaw?

                    Biohazard --

                    Yeah, well, this film's message is obnoxious (also: don't worry if you're ignorant, you're better than people who learn things anyway because YOU IS YOU), but even with the theme formulated like that, the proposed equation doesn't hold.
                    Even when we introduce the concept of "initial belief."
                    So he believed you should obey. And he obeyed. And it served him well.

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                    • #11
                      Re: Is theme the opposite of a character's flaw?

                      Movies have a Variation of themes, but which theme is the most important?

                      Take Aliens for example. The plot theme is Man Vs Nature. (Marine's vs vile alien creatures.)

                      and

                      Man Vs Man. (Burke wants to **** over his own people for a percentage.)

                      Finally the character theme seems to be Overcoming Fear or Finding purpose (Ripley has a fear of the aliens which she overcomes when she finds her purpose in life. Become a surrogate mother to Newt.)

                      Ripley's main arc seems to be the most important theme of the story.

                      Of course I might be completely wrong about her theme. (I've just recently started to delve into the concept of theme, and I might be way off.
                      http://www.mortalremainsthemovie.com/

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Is theme the opposite of a character's flaw?

                        Ain't theme basically lesson/s learned?

                        Which commonly stems from character/s journeys?

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Is theme the opposite of a character's flaw?

                          Originally posted by Mortal_Remains View Post
                          Movies have a Variation of themes, but which theme is the most important?

                          Take Aliens for example. The plot theme is Man Vs Nature. (Marine's vs vile alien creatures.)

                          and

                          Man Vs Man. (Burke wants to **** over his own people for a percentage.)

                          Finally the character theme seems to be Overcoming Fear or Finding purpose (Ripley has a fear of the aliens which she overcomes when she finds her purpose in life. Become a surrogate mother to Newt.)

                          Ripley's main arc seems to be the most important theme of the story.

                          Of course I might be completely wrong about her theme. (I've just recently started to delve into the concept of theme, and I might be way off.

                          Man Vs. Himself/Herself is the conflict within Ripley, and you're right about that being important. She survived the first film and has survivor's gult. Also, she's a female Rip Van Winkle. Everything she knew has changed and everyone she knew is long dead. So, when she takes care of Newt, she has a purpose.
                          "A screenwriter is much like being a fire hydrant with a bunch of dogs lined up around it.- -Frank Miller

                          "A real writer doesn't just want to write; a real writer has to write." -Alan Moore

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                          • #14
                            Re: Is theme the opposite of a character's flaw?

                            Originally posted by Mortal_Remains View Post
                            Movies have a Variation of themes, but which theme is the most important?

                            Take Aliens for example. The plot theme is Man Vs Nature. (Marine's vs vile alien creatures.)

                            and

                            Man Vs Man. (Burke wants to **** over his own people for a percentage.)

                            Finally the character theme seems to be Overcoming Fear or Finding purpose (Ripley has a fear of the aliens which she overcomes when she finds her purpose in life. Become a surrogate mother to Newt.)

                            Ripley's main arc seems to be the most important theme of the story.

                            Of course I might be completely wrong about her theme. (I've just recently started to delve into the concept of theme, and I might be way off.
                            As it affects my writing, I tend to go simpler with these things. Would say that the theme of Aliens is Motherhood. From there, I can draw the arcs of the lead, the chief antagonist and their relationships to sub-characters in a variety of ways. It's the root concept with the most resonance (for me) in the story. Are there additional sub-themes? Perhaps. The ones you've mentioned (especially the first) are kinda in there.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Is theme the opposite of a character's flaw?

                              To ascertain the character's flaw organically I suggest that it be extracted from the theme. The flaw discloses an aspect of character that can sabotage the hope for growth, so it's build around a belief that counters the theme/internal goal for the hero.

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