"Road movies" and antagonistic force...

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  • "Road movies" and antagonistic force...

    Iâ€TMd really like to write a road movie and was wondering what the nature of the antagonistic force is in many of these? For instance, the antagonistic force can exist in the form of law enforcement, etc, but is the experience of the road a valid antagonistic force, such as the odd stranger who might foil the plan of the protagonists, or is this not concrete enough?



    I intend to get access to some road movies to check stuff like this out, but wouldnâ€TMt mind the initial help.



    Thanks.

  • #2
    Re: "Road movies" and antagonistic force...

    It can be.


    Thelma and Louise encounter many obstacles on the run, not all of them are connected to the antagonist of the Detective chasing them.

    Stand By Me is essentially a road trip story that has many obstacles along the way, none of them related to Ace.

    Planes Trains and Automobiles has the John Candy character as the antagonist but many other obstacles confront them that are not connected to Candy.

    I think that the genre of the road movie is prone to using unrelated obstacles more than any other genre. The most important thing is to give your character's a clear goal and connect the obstacles they encounter to that goal in order to create conflict and dramatic action in relation to the hero's pursuit of his goal.

    HTH

    Fortune favors the bold - Virgil

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    • #3
      Re: "Road movies" and antagonistic force...

      Agree with above.

      In addition to the lead's goal, I think it is important to have strong thematic core to anchor the obstacles.

      Planes, Trains, and Automobiles had many different obstacles that were not all the result of Candy, but they all were linked with the "perils of travel" theme. We've experienced problems when traveling, and that film tried to throw them all at Martin.

      Similarly in Thelma & Louise, the obstacles were not all the result of the detective, but they were all thematically linked to unfair treatment of women. Every obstacle they faced was somehow linked to some form of sexism.

      I think if you have strong common theme in order to anchor the antagonistic forces, you can stray from your main antagonist quite a bit when it comes to the obstacles facing your lead and his/her quest.

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      • #4
        Re: "Road movies" and antagonistic force...

        Put â€Midnight Run†(Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin) on your list.

        The antagonistic force should have a vested interest in the protag not achieving the objective. The antagonist should know what the protag wants and should have a good reason for seeing that the protag fails.
        "I am the story itself; its source, its voice, its music."
        - Clive Barker, Galilee

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        • #5
          Re: "Road movies" and antagonistic force...

          The antagonistic force should have a vested interest in the protag not achieving the objective. The antagonist should know what the protag wants and should have a good reason for seeing that the protag fails.
          I have to disagree with that. It is definitely not the case in Plains, Trains, and Automobiles. Candy's character knows that Steve Martin is trying to get home to his family for Thanksgiving, but Candy is not intentionally trying to stop him. In fact, he's actually trying to help.

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