Many of us are experiencing a dramatic change in our lives during this global COVID-19 pandemic. Change can be scary.
Yet, like character transformations in a film, changes in our lives are inevitable. Understanding them helps us to develop authentic life changes in our protagonists, highlighted Kira-Ann Pelican, writer, researcher and script consultant.
Do protagonists change like us?
Kira-Ann showed clips of some of my favourite films depicting how protagonists undergo a dramatic change to find themselves.
Just like we try to do in our lives, we must discover why and how our protagonists change to reach their life goal. Like us, they tend to ‘grow older and wiser.’ They experience ‘intense emotional events’ and have to deal with ‘turning points’ in their lives.
Kira-Ann exemplified this with the powerful Netflix drama series Unorthodox, where Esty from a New York Hasidic community escapes her arranged marriage to find her identity and voice through her passion for music in Berlin.
Is the script mid-point a mid-life crisis?
To make our character(s) change authentically, we need to connect the character not only with the plot but also with a theme. These themes, said Kira-Ann, are like different stages in our lives.
For protagonists aged 5-12 years you could write about the child’s ‘growth towards autonomy’. For adolescents aged 13-19, you could write about ‘finding an identity’ like in the epic BBC adaptation of the novel Normal People. If your protagonist is in early adulthood aged 20-39, you could write about ‘ambition and acquiring skills’ like in The Devil Wears Prada, or ‘learning to be in a mature relationship’ like in The Graduate.
If your protagonist is in mid-life, aged 40-59, they could be ‘reassessing life goals’ like in Thelma and Louise. Later mid-life, between ages 60 and 75, I was relieved to hear Kira-Ann say, is a stage where ‘life becomes happier again’; ‘living more in the moment’. We get ‘pleasure from relationships’, and focus on ‘maintaining skills and resources rather than acquiring.’ Then in later life, the 75 plus-year-olds, depression could set in if goals haven’t been achieved.
These life themes should recur in our writing as we develop the protagonist’s character in whichever age group, the protagonist will have a similar character arc.
Intense emotional experiences
Intense emotional experiences, such as death, breakups, religion, and winning can cause dramatic shifts in personalities which Kira-Ann stressed should be captured dramatically in scripts.
Watching Chariots of Fire, as the music played again, ‘the hairs stood up on her back’ Kira-Ann commented. She showed the clip where the protagonist races towards the finish line; we feel the elation, like we are winning the race! And yes, the music is awesome!
Kira-Ann also highlighted how to show post-traumatic stress disorder as well as post traumatic growth. For example, she compared two clips in the Theory of Everything. The first one encapsulated Stephen Hawking’s devastation, ‘a difficult watch’, said Kira-Ann. We witness Hawking’s fear as he struggles to perform simple motor skills with a doctor. By contrast, the second clip depicts Hawking’s emotional growth using beautifully shot emotive flashbacks of his remarkable life achievements.
Reflecting on my protagonist and my life
One of my main takeaways from Kira-Ann’s talks is that she showed how the midpoint in our scripts is not a random stage, imposed on us by Hollywood. It is a scientific finding, supported by many psychological studies.
As the mid-point is that time when our protagonists, whatever their age, reassess their lives and try to move forward despite all the obstacles tossed in their paths. A strong script should have a clear midpoint and shed light on our own lives.
Kira-Ann has a book coming out in November titled The Science of Writing Character: Using Psychology to Create Compelling Fictional Characters (published by Bloomsbury/Acad). I can’t wait to read it!
I have worked and traveled all over the world as a journalist and also as a writer for UNICEF, mostly in countries affected by humanitarian crises. I am now self-employed, writing feature stories and screenplays as well as consulting for UNICEF. I have a passion for storytelling and psychology. I recently completed a Master’s degree in Health Psychology which has helped me in my story telling and in my life.
