Re: Scripts/movies where character arcs before start of story?
I think TAKEN is an example of what I'd call an "unreasonable man" movie...
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him... The unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself... All progress depends on the unreasonable man."
- George Bernard Shaw
In TAKEN, Liam Neeson's character is an unreasonable man who refuses to adapt himself to the conditions that surround him (his daughter has been kidnapped) and instead shapes the world to fit his need (he beats people up until he gets his daughter back).
I don't believe he has a meaningful arc in TAKEN because the point of the film is that he might not have been a great day-to-day father but he's an amazing crazy-situation father. The movie isn't about him becoming a better dad, it's about his family realizing he's the kind of dad you want when a family member has been kidnapped.
At least that's my read on it.
I think TAKEN is an example of what I'd call an "unreasonable man" movie...
"The reasonable man adapts himself to the conditions that surround him... The unreasonable man adapts surrounding conditions to himself... All progress depends on the unreasonable man."
- George Bernard Shaw
In TAKEN, Liam Neeson's character is an unreasonable man who refuses to adapt himself to the conditions that surround him (his daughter has been kidnapped) and instead shapes the world to fit his need (he beats people up until he gets his daughter back).
I don't believe he has a meaningful arc in TAKEN because the point of the film is that he might not have been a great day-to-day father but he's an amazing crazy-situation father. The movie isn't about him becoming a better dad, it's about his family realizing he's the kind of dad you want when a family member has been kidnapped.
At least that's my read on it.
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