by Jeff Kitchen
If you discover there is no dilemma in your story at this point, that’s fine, too. Experiment with creating one. Make the plot more powerful by turning a situation into a dilemma. For example, a cop who has to catch the bad guy is a situation, but if he owes his life to the bad guy or the bad guy is his brother, then he’s got a much tougher choice. Creating dilemma is about complicating choices—adding alternatives and making them painful. This may sound simple, and in many ways it is, but you will be surprised at how much dramatic horsepower you can add to a script by focusing on the dilemma. Take a good, hard look at the two equally unacceptable alternatives, being as specific as possible. This forces you to pay attention to something you might otherwise overlook. A deep and complex exploration of dilemma can take you on a fascinating journey into the heart of the story and the character in ways that you may never have imagined.
It’s important to pay attention to the word equal in the phrase “equally unacceptable alternatives.” If the alternatives are equally unacceptable, you will have the true paralysis that a dilemma creates. If they’re not, then there is an easier way out, like being given a choice of whether to jump in the lava or get burned with a match—both choices are unacceptable but not equally unacceptable. The more you pay attention to keeping the alternatives equal, the more you trap the protagonist. As you begin to experiment with the dilemma, playing with story options and exploring extremes, you may intentionally or inadvertently alter one side of the dilemma so it becomes more unacceptable than the other. Cure this by keeping careful track of the balancing act, and increasing the power of the choice that has fallen lower on the scale. Electricity will always take the path of least resistance, so to bottle it up both escape routes must be blocked. To keep Robby the Robot short-circuiting—to maintain the paralysis of being caught between two equally painful choices—test and adjust as you go along.
Experiment with Extremes. Once you get a dilemma up and running, start playing with extremes. Take it as far as you possibly can, just to see how far you can go. How excruciating can this dilemma become? There’s a great James Bond quote in which the villainous Dr. No says, “Mania is as priceless as genius.” Don’t play it safe—get crazy. Remember, it’s the movies! Cultivate a sense of attack as a storyteller by going after the audience and giving them the ride of their lives. This works in any genre. How nerve-wracking can you make this dilemma? How scary? How funny? How silly? How dangerous? How unpredictable? How disorienting? How beautiful? How disturbing? How moving? How utterly, insanely tweaked?
Take a dilemma to its extreme by imagining it as a torture device. Now think about someone you truly despise, place them in it, and crank the screws so tight that your enemy is screaming. Then take this torture device off, put it on your protagonist, and set the screws that tight. As a screenwriter, you probably like your protagonist, so you were treating him too well and letting him off too easily. Torture your protagonist to the point that your audience is tortured. You’ll have your protagonist really screaming and you’ll have your audience on the edge of its seats.
You don’t have to keep the dilemma at that ultimate level, but you should know what its limits are. Think about the movies you’ve seen that didn’t go far enough—that had something there but failed to perceive where the story could go, what its potential was. Those movies just chickened out. The process of getting outside the box keeps your material fresh and violates the homogeneity that plagues the film industry.
Make Chaos Your Ally. Exploring the extremes can take you into uncharted waters, but getting outside your safety zone is part of the adventure of screen-writing. This process can plunge you into chaos. Don’t be afraid of it—make chaos your ally. Most writers know they aren’t doing their job right if they’re not getting in over their head. The more of the dramatist’s craft you conquer, the less afraid you are of chaos. In fact, you will begin to revel in the chaotic process of creation. If it’s neat and orderly and simple, then it will often turn out flat, lifeless, uninspiring, and worst of all—boring. Remember, it’s the entertainment industry. The key word in the entertainment industry is outrageousness. Do you want to write the same old movie that everyone is writing, or do you want to create something that blows the lid off everything else?
When you start a script, there may be a point where you feel as if you’re getting in over your head. Part of you says, “Uh oh, I’m in trouble here.” But another part says, “All right! Now we’re getting somewhere.” Someone once said that writers are like a show horses: They’re not happy unless they’re trying to jump over something that might kill them. The best part of the writing process is the point at which anything goes. The story is still wide open and there’s a real sense of possibility, adventure, and raw excitement.
Put Yourself in Your Protagonist’s Shoes. Become the person who is trapped in this dilemma and experience it firsthand. Say to yourself, “Okay, I am this person stuck in this particular dilemma. It’s unacceptable to _________ and it’s equally unacceptable to _________. I can’t move in this direction because of _________, but there’s no way I can _________ either. I’m so screwed! How did I get in a position like this? It’s an impossible choice. I tried to wriggle out of it, but it won’t let me go.” Really get in there and live it; thrash it out as though it’s happening to you. This will help you to write about it and to understand your character much more fully.
It’s also a good exercise to put yourself in the position of your antagonist and look at the protagonist trapped in his dilemma. You’re the protagonist’s enemy looking at how stuck and vulnerable he is. You see a chink in his armor, maybe even a gaping hole that you can take advantage of. The antagonist doesn’t always create the dilemma for the protagonist, but he will always take advantage of it.
Understand the Power of Dilemma. You will find that a dilemma can give you a real handle on your protagonist. A compelling dilemma will pry a character’s life wide open, much like the Jaws of Life machine used in car accidents that rips open the wreckage and gets the trapped person out. All of the protagonist’s weaknesses will be on display. Or imagine the opposite: a big pair of pliers with each half representing one side of the dilemma. The more you squeeze, the more of a brutal grip you’ve got on your main character. And because the audience members identify with the protagonist, you’ve got a brutal grip on them as well.
Dilemma is also a handle with which to grip your plot. Your raw story may have all this energy, yet you may not be quite sure where to channel it. Start with dilemma, then crank it up so that energy is translated directly into the story. The more powerful your dilemma is, the more powerful your script will be. There’s no hiding from a compelling dilemma, no pretending it isn’t happening, and no wishing it away. The power of dilemma can hook good actors, too, who are starving for meatier roles and complex, dangerous, challenging parts. And attracting talent is an important part of getting a film made.
Finally, be sure to examine the ramifications of the dilemma. At first you need a laser focus on the protagonist and her dilemma, but once that’s squared away, take a step back and look at the protagonist’s entire world. What are the ripple effects? For example, if a Mafia character has to choose between ratting out his brother or doing twenty years of hard time, there are going to be consequences. The choice will impact his relationship with his brother, his ability to think clearly, his relationship with his gang, his ability to sleep, his relationship with his wife and kids, and so on. Understanding these ramifications will help you portray your film’s world.
LOOKING DEEPER INTO DILEMMA IN TRAINING DAY
Now that you have a solid grasp of dilemma, let’s return to Training Day to explore Jake’s dilemma more deeply. It’s unacceptable for Jake to refuse Alonzo’s offer to join his undercover narcotics squad, but it’s equally unacceptable to join Alonzo because it’s contrary to Jake’s moral compass. The dilemma is further complicated by Alonzo’s torturous ability to counter it from each point of view. Everything Alonzo says abo
ut having to lie with the snakes to do undercover cop work is absolutely true. After Jake stops the crackheads from raping the schoolgirl, Alonzo says that his squad only goes after “big game”: “To protect the sheep you got to catch the wolf, and it takes a wolf to catch a wolf.” He also plays on Jake’s ego and ambition, saying, “You got the magic eye, Hoyt. You up your street IQ, you gonna do some damage out here, I guarantee. Crime fighter.” And after Alonzo shoots the drug dealer, Roger (Scott Glenn), he is able to defuse Jake: “I walk a higher path, son. I can give you the keys to all the doors. . . . You’re a leader. You want my job, you got it. You want to lock up poisoners? This is the best place to do it.”
This promise is compelling to Jake, who truly wants to make a difference. He knows Alonzo is telling the truth about how things get done in this underworld, but it’s still ugly, brutal, and corrupt. Alonzo is very much the devil, seductive and silver-tongued, telling him both what he wants and needs to hear, drawing him deeper into his dilemma. It sounds right and it plays into Jake’s ambitions. In the opening scene, Jake tells his wife that if he aces this assignment, he could get his own department division someday: “You should see those guys’ houses.” Director Antoine Fuqua says in the DVD commentary that Jake’s ambition is his fatal flaw. Alonzo is telling Jake not only how to do undercover work, but also how to fulfill his ambitions, how to make detective.
Another aspect distorting Jake’s dilemma is that, however questionable Alonzo’s methods, the duo are making substantial headway in their investigation. David Ayer’s screenplay describes Jake as being half impressed, half appalled with Alonzo. Jake is appalled when Alonzo sticks a pen down the throat of the drug dealer, Blue (Snoop Dogg), forcing him to spit out the name of Sandman, a higher-level dealer, but he’s impressed when this leads to Alonzo getting the Sandman’s address. Then, after Alonzo uses a fake warrant to rob a bundle of cash from Sandman’s house, he uses that same money as a bribe to quickly get the valid warrant that gets them into Roger’s home. And then, after Alonzo has robbed and killed Roger, even trying to pressure Jake into claiming he was the one who shot Roger, Alonzo shows him how they’ve just taken a high-end drug dealer off the street. It’s appalling, but equally impressive. It’s hard to argue with real results—Alonzo says that judges have handed out 15,000 years of incarceration time based on his investigations—and yet do the ends justify the means?
Jake is also constantly being reminded that he has a shot at a “real” job, one with teeth and claws, as opposed to his old job. Having it rubbed in his face that he’s a rookie stings, and urges him to succeed even more. In the high-wayside scene after the shootout at the Sandman’s, Alonzo tells Jake to go back to measuring car wrecks. The camera cuts to a close-up of Jake looking back and forth between Alonzo and a cop helping a stranded motorist change a tire. He is clearly torn.
This illustrates yet another powerful aspect of Jake’s dilemma: adventure versus security, a universal dilemma. Adventure is tantalizing and exciting, but it’s dangerous and potentially catastrophic. Security can be boring, stagnant, suffocating, and claustrophobic, but at least it is safe and fairly predictable. People stay in bad marriages because the alternative is to face the void. Many feel trapped by this choice; it’s a core issue that people face in various ways. It’s the devil whispering in your ear, “Go for it. Risk it. What’s it all worth if you just chicken out?” and the angel whispering in the other ear, “Wait. Think about how hard you worked to get where you are. Are you going to risk it all on one throw of the dice?” Alonzo represents absolute adventure, but the blade cuts both ways. Jake is forsaking security for adventure—and doing undercover narcotic police work is high-end adventure, to be sure—but as Alonzo’s true colors begin to emerge Jake starts to look longingly at the safe harbor he is leaving behind. Neither alternative is any good.
It’s easy for the alternatives in a dilemma to get muddled in your brain. Let’s look at a handy two-column chart polarizing Jake’s alternatives in Training Day:
Jake Can’t Let Go of his Job Jake Can’t Keep Doing His Job
Damned if he quits Damned if he doesn’t quit
He really wants to be in the squad Alonzo’s morals are corrupt
He’s extremely ambitious He could get arrested or even killed
He’s awed by Alonzo He’s appalled by Alonzo
Alonzo is a god in this arena Alonzo is the devil
This is how to get big results Must become a criminal to catch criminals
He’s totally dedicated He’s being drugged and shot at
He wants to do good He’s an accomplice in theft
He will not quit being a cop He’s violating his vows as a cop
Driven by his career Headed for jail
Adventure Destruction
He’s making a difference It’s costing him his soul
He’s learning the streets He’s becoming corrupt
He’s getting results His moral compass rebels
Freedom High cost of freedom
Ambition Danger
Investigation is bearing real fruit Investigation is costing his integrity
He’s joining Alonzo’s elite group Alonzo’s making fun of him
Alonzo is his guru Alonzo is his enemy
Alonzo is persuasive Alonzo is corrupt
Old job too boring New job too risky
Power Loss of soul
An important aspect of this exercise is to let yourself run with it. Don’t worry about being repetitive, because you can see fresh aspects of the dilemma by hitting it from different points of view. The columns interplay back and forth, with both sides connecting and opposing, as with “Ambition” on the left and “Danger” on the right. But you can also just run down one side of the page without specific reference to the other side, and then go back and think the other side through.
Another important part of understanding Jake’s dilemma is to find ways in which you relate to it personally. In what ways have you been in Jake’s shoes? How can you relate to his type of situation? Think about what you want badly and what you’d be willing to sacrifice to get it. Have you ever been caught between achieving results and upholding your ideals? How far have people whom you admire pushed things in order to succeed? And yet, how far is too far? How do you keep your moral compass in the face of conflicting demands? The extent of this dilemma is part of why Training Day is so universal and affects people so deeply.
LET’S CREATE A DEMO PLOT WITH A STRONG DILEMMA
Now let’s experiment with dilemma by making up a quick demonstration plot and putting it through its paces. Let’s start with a detective who is hired by a super-wealthy businessman to protect his wife from unknown assailants. In the process, the detective falls madly in love with her. This is a simple enough idea, but is there any dilemma inherent in the basic premise? Falling in love with the boss’s wife is a tough spot to be in, but it can certainly be expanded upon. Let’s play around with the plot. Pay attention to possibilities that could thrust our detective into a “damned if he does, damned if he doesn’t” situation. Perhaps the wife (let’s call her Minky) is wild, feisty, and sexual, and he finds himself immediately attracted to her. She could run with a rich, exotic crowd, which our detective (Zack) finds exhilarating since he’s never been around major wealth. But remember that there’s substantial danger involved: Somebody is out to kill Minky, and Zack is in the way. To complicate matters further, let’s say that there’s something about her that makes his sixth sense tingle. In a voice-over we could hear him thinking, “If I had any sense, I’d walk out the door right now. . . .”
Now the plot is expanding with the elements of a strong dilemma. It’s unacceptable for Zack to quit this job because it pays well, he’s very attracted to Minky, he finds himself in a thrilling world of wealth and power, and someone has pissed him off by trying to hurt him. But it’s equally unacceptable to keep the job because it is dange
rous and unpredictable, and she is strangely off-kilter—all his instincts are screaming for him to get out while he can.
Let’s take our plot further. In one of the attempts on her life, Minky is not only unfazed but even drunkenly defiant, and is actually good in a fight, earning Zack’s respect. What if she’s too spirited and adventurous—a trouble magnet? What if he’s sober, conservative, and industrious, as well as emotionally shutdown and small-minded? What if she reveals that she’s attracted to him? What if he can’t stop thinking about her? What if she’s love-starved and emotionally vulnerable, like a little girl who needs a daddy? But she’s also a stimulating woman who challenges him on many fronts. She can be a sexual predator and a reckless troublemaker. Picture Catherine Zeta-Jones as this intoxicating, adventurous bitch-on-wheels who’s driving him crazy, but who’s also truly audacious, fun, and mesmerizing. Do you see how we’re working this in terms of dilemma? We’re playing with extremes. How can we make it worse in both directions? How attractive can she be? How dangerous? How unpredictable? How provocative? How resistant can he be? How unprepared? How overwhelmed? We increase the story’s pull by complicating the dilemma, by dimensionalizing it, deepening it, and layering it.
Let’s take it even further. Minky is a sexual animal who attracts men in droves, many of whom are the wrong kind. What if she intentionally confronts dangerous situations with tough guys—just to make Zack deal with them? What if she taunts him with her desire, dares him to do something about it? He wouldn’t be able to sleep—every time he closes his eyes he would see her. She could work to make him jealous, flirting openly and jumping in bed with other men, rubbing it in his face. She could run around the house naked and he would be losing his mind. She’s the best thing and the worst thing that’s ever happened to him. The more flawed he is, the more susceptible he is to her charms, her perversions, her tweaked energy—but it also makes him more frightened, lost, intimidated, and damaged. She’s opening him up emotionally, dragging him out of reclusion and forcing him to really live for the first time. But then the attempts on her life could heat up, and it could get quite touch-and-go. He could be almost killed while protecting her. Her crazy streak could get truly freaky. Now it’s a genuinely scary and deeply puzzling mystery. What if she even seems to have a death wish or acts suicidal?