No arc for some protagonists?

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  • #16
    Re: No arc for some protagonists?

    It's been a while, but a good example of a protag who has no arc himself (but changes the world around him) is Chauncey Gardner (Peter Sellers) from Being There. His lack of an arc is his defining characteristic. Brilliant movie.

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    • #17
      Re: No arc for some protagonists?

      This is interesting because I've had this question raised a couple of times with my current script. The "best friend" of the protag who is also a main character and the key initiator of the set-up for the film doesn't arc at all. I have her literally in the same place she was, stuck doing exactly what she was doing when we meet her. We know more about her, why she's there and what she wants at the end, but she hasn't truly learnt anything. We know she will never get where she wants to go, but that's the point of this character. But the protag has learned more about her friend and herself as a result, and that's where the arc lies. She accepts this about her friend, sees it (and her past, which is what her friend represents) for its true self, and is freed by it.

      Some consultants loved this bit - because there are people who simply will never learn and because she's a fun character in many ways, though ultimately tragic. Others were worried about this, though felt I'd debunked the rule effectively. They just weren't sure they wanted to leave her like that.

      I don't know if this will backfire in any way - gotta get the film made first - but I have had moments when intellectually I've struggled with it, even though, in the story itself it makes perfect sense to me.

      I think this is an example - as someone mentioned maybe here or on another thread - of how sometimes we can overintellectualise the construction of a story to the point where the story itself can get a bit lost.
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      • #18
        Re: No arc for some protagonists?

        I've been wrestling with this for my next script (which I started today. The only good thing to happen on a "now I know why people are scared by Friday the 13th" day). I always aim high, so I was going for that whole Blake Snyder "everyone arcs" thing. You know - if it is a moving thing they go through, then everyone should arc. But I just could not find an arc for the love interest/ally that wasn't ... forced. I posted on this I think on 2A, and got a great, mind opening reply: "if the ally doesn't arc, her role is to assist the hero with his arc", which is exactly what I wanted her to do, but giving her her own arc was killing the effort.

        I like my protag to arc - I need it - and I really like it if I can have several of the main characters arc , but I'm not going to try to force something that seems artificial. The outline is done, and I'm typing, so we'll see...

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