Who was the antagonist in School of Rock

[yeehi]

The hero was trying to con the headmistress, and everyone, but there seemed to be no antagonist, in the sense of Dracula.

I don't think his friend's girlfriend counts, either. Nor the parents.

So, why was this such a good flick?

[OzFade]

Re: Who was the antagonist in School of Rock

In ways the headmistress was an antagonist as at any time she could stumble upon Jack Black's little band and ruin everything.

But my money would be on Jack White's girlfriend being the antag because of all the trouble she causes.

Don't look at an antagonist as being a pure evil enemy such as your Dracula reference. Look at it as being the antag is anyone or anything that stands in the way of your hero getting what they want.

[cvolante]

Re: Who was the antagonist in School of Rock

The Man?

[yeehi]

Re: Who was the antagonist in School of Rock

The Man?

cvolante! You dah man!

[TheKeenGuy]

Re: Who was the antagonist in School of Rock

You don't need a character to represent the antagonist in order for the protagonist to have a sufficient conflict.

But yeah, Sarah Silverman's character was certainly an antagonist, as was the headmistress, the parents, Jack Black's old rock band, because they all represent sources of conflict for the protag, because they are all in some way preventing him from achieving his goal.

[Deus Ex Machine]

Re: Who was the antagonist in School of Rock

Don't know who or what the antagonist is? Look at the climax.

The climax is where the hero defeats the antagonist to achieve his goal that he has been in pursuit of for the whole story.

Jaws climaxes when Chief Brody (hero) kills the shark (antagonist) to save his beach community (goal).

Back to the Future climaxes when Marty (hero) gets the time machine to work (antagonist) and goes back to his own time (goal).

As Good as it Gets climaxes when Melvin (hero) overcomes his personality disorder (antagonist) to get the girl (goal).

What is the climax of School of Rock?

What or who does Black defeat?

What does Black achieve?

[canusaycarpaltunnel]

Re: Who was the antagonist in School of Rock

Interesting question. I would guess that the antagonist was his former band that kicked him out. This is what "lit his fuse".

[Pipe]

Re: Who was the antagonist in School of Rock

He says several times throughout the movie. It's the System! The head chick, the parents, the school system. They're all part of the machine that holds the kids back.

[canusaycarpaltunnel]

Re: Who was the antagonist in School of Rock

But the "system" was not the cause of his actions. If his band had worked with him the problem would have easily (and painlessly) resolved itself. He didn't begin railing against the "Man" until he was kicked out of the band.

[Pipe]

Re: Who was the antagonist in School of Rock

There are various definitions for antagonist (Emperor vs Darth Vader) but I'm pretty sure none of them point to his former band as being the antagonist. They didn't force him to action and they didn't work against him throughout the story. (it was the threat of being kicked out of his apartment that drove him to take a job). His roomate's GF was certainly a nemesis.

He wants to share his love of music but he needs to work with the system in order to do so.

[Deus Ex Machine]

Re: Who was the antagonist in School of Rock

What happens at the climax?

Black's character overcomes his ego to allow the band to play their own song which wins the contest.

It was his ego which got him kicked out of the band.

It was his ego that nearly got his kicked out on the street.

It was his ego that made him want to turn the kids into a band.

It was his ego that nearly destroyed the band of kids.

It was his ego that made him want to play his own song.

It was his ego which was finally overcome by Black in the climax when he played the song written by the band and instead of being a spotlight hog he shared it with the kids.

School of Rock is a character driven comedy which means the source of the main conflict comes from inside the main character.

Black is both protagonist and antagonist.

There is definitely secondary antagonistic forces like the Principle and the room mate's girl friend and the original band, but the main conflict which incites Black and drives him through the story is created by his own ego.

When Black is fighting "the man" he is fighting anything that challenges his perception of himself as a rock god.


My .02

[Pipe]

Re: Who was the antagonist in School of Rock

Black's character overcomes his ego to allow the band to play their own song which wins the contest.

It was his ego which got him kicked out of the band.

It was his ego that nearly got his kicked out on the street.

It was his ego that made him want to turn the kids into a band.

It was his ego that nearly destroyed the band of kids.

It was his ego that made him want to play his own song.

It was his ego which was finally overcome by Black in the climax when he played the song written by the band and instead of being a spotlight hog he shared it with the kids.

Wow are we talking about the same movie? It didn't feel to me that he was driven at all by his ego. It felt like he was driven by his desire to share his love for music.

His ego didn't nearly destroy the band, the parents/principal nearly did.

And frankly I don't remember a big decision on what song to play near the end. In fact, the creation of this song is one of those pivotal moments of truth when asking the question, is he actually accomplishing his goal?

[Deus Ex Machine]

Re: Who was the antagonist in School of Rock

Rent the DVD again.

[canusaycarpaltunnel]

Re: Who was the antagonist in School of Rock

In hindsight I would have to agree with Deux. It was his selfish ego that got him kicked out of the band, drove him to lie about his name, to lie to the school, to lie to the students, to lie to the parents etc...

But we don't see much of a character arc in Jack Black's character. He's still the same conniving, manipulative character in the end that he was in the beginning.

As far as playing the student's song, I think the Battle of the Bands contest required the bands to play something original and since he didn't seem to have any material of his own, he used the students. I also didn't see much of a conflict there.

Carpal

[Hassan_Chop]

Re: Who was the antagonist in School of Rock

This was long time ago but this definitely was a character driven flick

Deus is absolutely correct he was an @sshole in the beginning and grows to be a nicer @sshole at the end. So he was both the protag and antag.