Creating Unforgettable Characters

by Linda Seger

  "Lassie is a wonderful companion and a wonderful friend, and in this age of bad relationships—and I think we do live in an age of bad relationships, especially among humans—it's great to have a dog to provide that tranquil relationship that one never gets anymore."

  Compare the context of Lassie with the context of another nonhuman character, King Kong. He comes from the South

  Seas, from a context that is primitive, dark, mysterious, and terrifying. The associations that come with him include vague knowledge of ancient religious rituals, human sacrifice, and a dark unrepressed sexuality. His origins are unknown, and what it takes to appease him is still somewhat mysterious. We are more frightened of King Kong because we bring to his character our own fear of the unknown.

  EXERCISE: Using the process of choosing an attribute, expanding through associations, and clarifying context, create a strange, scaly creature from another planet. What qualities will you give it? Will you emphasize defensiveness, fear, intelligent manipulation? Or will you emphasize compassion, com-panionship, and lovability?

  What associations do you bring to this character? The associations will change, depending on whether you emphasize negative or positive humanlike attributes.

  What would its context be? Does it live deep within the earth, emphasizing a primitive, dark context? Does it come from the sky, emphasizing an otherworldly, or perhaps even a lighthearted context? Does it live upon the earth, which could make it more relational?

  THE FANTASY CHARACTER

  Fantasy characters live in a romantic, magical, strange world, inhabited by such unusual creatures as leprechauns, giants, goblins, trolls, and witches. There may be evil and darkness, but it's never ultimate. The characters may be dangerous, but not horrifying. They may be mischievous, but good will always triumph. Fantasy characters may even be redeemed in the end.

  Characters within this magical context have a limited number of qualities. Sometimes they are defined by physical exag-

  geration, oversized like Paul Bunyan or diminutive like the Lilliputians in Gulliver's Travels.

  Others are defined by their magical powers—Merlin the magician in the King Arthur legend or the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz.

  Some are defined by being supergood, or superresourceful, or superbad. Almost all of the heroines, heroes, and villains in fairy tales answer to this description.

  Although most fantasy characters are rooted in the fairy tale and the folk tale, new ones have been created. Some of these include the mermaid in Splash, the boy-man in Big, the Ante-rians in Cocoon.

  In the television series "Beauty and the Beast," a fantasy character, Vincent, is paired with a realistic character, Catherine. Vincent's context—underground, earthy, primitive, always looking up to the light—contrasts with that of Catherine in her modern, high-rise apartment building. As a realistic character, she has a much fuller range of emotions to draw upon. She can be depressed, sad, frenetic, overworked, as well as loving, kind, understanding, and compassionate.

  Vincent's qualities are more limited. He is not simply a realistic character wearing a lion's head. He remains within the confines of fantasy. Although deformed in appearance, Vincent's qualities are positive. He's kind, compassionate, caring. There is, at times, a sense of yearning, but this never compromises the goodness of his soul. Indeed, goodness is his defining characteristic. The style of the show is romantic, and Vincent is heroic—making it a modern fairy tale.

  In advertising, one of the most successful fantasy characters is the Jolly Green Giant. The story of his creation shows how carefully choosing specific attributes can produce a clear and memorable character.

  In 1924, a new brand of a larger sweet pea was marketed and called the "Green Giant." The Leo Burnett Agency was hired to develop the character. Many of their decisions reflected the desire to create a fantasy character. They began to develop the positive context of the giant by placing him in a Green Valley and by having him carry associations of health and plenty.

  Huntley Baldwin from the Leo Burnett Agency writes: "Deep down, at the heart of what we feel about food, is survival. In almost every primitive culture, great gods guided the hunt and guaranteed the harvest. A pantheon of gods made sure everything was plentiful, fresh, and wholesome. The Green Giant is a direct descendant of such gods. As with most fantasy characters, there are some details known about him. He lives in a valley where all good things come from. He guides the destinies of those who live and work there. He personally tends to every detail, from seed to harvest to packing."

  Certain specific qualities were given to him to expand his character. "The Green Giant is the 'star' of the commercial," Baldwin continues, "but visually he plays a very supporting role. He is more a presence to be felt than a character to be seen. He is serious but not stuffy. He is friendly and warm (hence the 'ho-ho-ho'). But obscurity contributes to his fantasy. He is what everybody imagines him to be, not what one artist or cameraman reveals him to be."

  Baldwin emphasizes that the giant needs to stay in a fantasy context. In one ad they placed the Green Giant among real people. It didn't work. "Real people can destroy the mood and the fantasy by reminding us the Giant is make-believe. The fantasy gives people permission to 'believe' what might otherwise be rejected as pure exaggeration. Animation extends the fantasy and allows the viewer to deal with the stories on a symbolic rather than a rational level."2

  THE MYTHIC CHARACTER

  Each of the three types of nonreal characters we've discussed have emphasized attributes, context, and/or associations. Creating the mythic character uses these same elements, but adds one other: an understanding of the audience.

  The difference between an ordinary story and a myth depends on how the audience views it. Most fiction moves us in some way, whether to tears, laughter, or understanding. But with most good films and novels, once we finish watching or reading, the experience is over. Perhaps we'll remember a scene or a character for some time, but we don't continue to experience it.

  When we finish reading or watching a mythic story, however, we add a reflective process to the experience. The scene or character comes back to haunt us. It doesn't let us go. A mythic story represents the meaning in our own lives. It conveys a story that can help us to better understand our own existence, our own values, our own yearnings. Many of us watch the movie or read the novel and project our own personal story on to the one being told.

  Sometimes myths and mythic characters encourage us, motivate us, or push us into new behaviors or new understandings. We become, in a sense, bigger people as we identify with the heroic in the mythic characters.

  Mythic stories are usually hero stories, containing a heroic figure who overcomes obstacles that stand in the way of his quest for a goal or treasure. As a rule, the hero is transformed in the course of his journey. As we watch the story unfold, we may think of our own heroic journeys. It might be the obstacles the writer has to overcome to sell that script or novel, or the problems encountered in a search for a fulfilling love, job, or life-style. The journey of the story may also remind us of our own inner journeys, as we seek value and meaning in our lives.

  Many films contain mythic elements, such as a heroic character who overcomes obstacles on a journey, but if it does not engender reflection or identification, it will not be a true myth. The test is what the audience projects on to the story, and whether the story and characters help them to understand their own lives on a deeper level.

  For instance, the newest Indiana Jones film, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, contains a larger-than-life hero who overcomes all manner of obstacles as he searches for the Holy Grail. To outward appearances, this would seem to be a myth since it contains most of the required elements.

  Looking at the film in more depth, let's ask some mythic questions: Is Indiana's journey to find the Holy Grail similar to our own journeys toward fulfillment? Does his story encourage us to meet the obstacles in our own lives? Does the film bring us into a deeper rel
ationship with our own personal stories?

  For most members of the audience, the answer to these questions would probably be no. This does not detract from the fun or adventure of the film—but it does mean it probably is not operating as a myth.

  You could ask these same questions of other films that have been called mythic, such as E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Blade Runner, Star Wars, or Robocop.

  Let's look at another character, one of the most successful in advertising, who is considered to be a mythic character—the Marlboro Man.

  "In advertising, as in most fiction," says Michael Gill of J. Walter Thompson, "you need to tap into the subconscious of your audience. The Marlboro Man seemed to have done that. In Joseph Campbell's study of myth, he mentions that as long as humans and horses have been around there's a myth of the man on horseback. Usually this man is a great king, a god, a knight, or a warrior. With the Marlboro Man, of course, this man is the symbol of the West—the cowboy. People respect and idolize this person. When people smoke or drink they're not doing it casually, they're doing it to be associated with something that improves their feeling about themselves.

  "The more realized the character is, the more people can relate to and like the character. In the Marlboro ad there's the mustache, the tattoo, and a white hat. A black hat would make a different statement. Usually he's mounted on a horse in wide open spaces, not towns. Towns are evil and risky and dangerous. Country is good. We always picture him in beautiful surroundings and with beautiful animals—an animal is the primal expression of freedom and indulgence and enjoyment. Fresh air and healthiness are very important. There's a feeling of confidence—that he's in charge. He's always either alone or, sometimes, with other men. But he's never with women— that's not part of the myth. Tapping into this mythic dimension in advertising is very rare—but the Marlboro Man seems to have done just that."

  Most consumers of Marlboros have probably spent little time outside of a city, and may have never ridden a horse. But they project meaning on to the Marlboro Man. He stands for their desire for fresh air and open spaces, for their sense of confidence in themselves.

  A case might be made that Vincent, in "Beauty and the Beast," is both a fantasy and a mythic character. Superman also could be considered a mythic character. Batman seems to be mythic as well, since the Batman story and character says something about the darkness and psychoses of our society.

  Michael Besman, senior vice-president of production at Guber-Peters Entertainment, tells about the development of the character of Batman: "Batman is the quiet avenger. He's like Robocop. Bruce Wayne is the millionaire, the character with a split personality. Troubled by the death of his parents, he's out to avenge it. He's the uncomfortable one, having been brought up in the limelight as the wealthy heir. He's forced to deal with the press and forced to communicate with the public. As Batman, he doesn't have to mask his anger, he's able to release it. Bruce Wayne has to live in the world. He has an identity. Batman does not."

  In a sense, Bruce Wayne had to deal with his human identity. He is a realistic character who chooses to become non-realistic because it's simpler and more direct. By losing his dimensionality, he also is able to lose the pain of his humanity, which is so difficult to deal with. Bruce Wayne created Batman because he wishes that Batman would have been there to save his parents.

  Besman contrasts the difference between the characters of

  Superman and Batman: "Clark Kent is very much aware of his secret identity. When he came to earth, he grew into the role of Superhero, almost as an extension of his superpowers. But Batman evolves from pain, anger, and a need to express it.

  "The audience reaction is very different to each character. I was a huge fan of the Superman comic books. I remembered thinking it would be great to actually have a Superman. It's almost like knowing God exists. It's security. I didn't want to be Superman. I'd like to hang out with him. Batman, however, is an uphill climb. He had to go through so much. There's more of an emotional connection. He's like us, less magical than Superman. Superman is very white bread. Batman is the other side of the coin."

  The context of Batman also determines the character. In some of these comic-book heroes, the context is very dark. Besman continues: "This was a realistic, gritty, dark, and psychological rendering of Gotham City. It's an exaggeration of a place so the audience can fully grasp what compels a man to become a Batman."

  A recent box-office smash features another mythic character, the Phantom of the Opera, who symbolizes the wounded victim. James Dearden, who wrote a movie script for this story, confronted how to make this character mythic. "In the script, what I tried to do was to create a phantom. But how do you try to write a guy who is hideously disfigured, and lives in a subterranean cave all his life and at the same time has a beautiful soul, and is capable of feeling love? Obviously that is not a real character, because a real character in those circumstances would be smelly and disfigured and psychologically twisted. Yet what we've got is based on the myth. I think we managed to create a character that was, in the context of the movie, consistent, who was a symbolic character you could believe in. The starting point in his creation is the value or idea. The idea in that instance is this hideously maimed outcast with the most beautiful, generous soul inside of him. 'Beauty and the Beast' was my paradigm for the Phantom."

  Mythic characters tend to have certain specific qualities. They are usually heroic. Much is demanded of them, and they are able to meet the challenge. In the course of the story, mythic characters change, becoming stronger or wiser. The mythic figure often has a mysterious or dark past. There's a sense of some backstory that may not be revealed to the audience, although it may be implied.

  Sometimes the writer (and the character) knows the past, but deliberately keeps it a secret because it is too painful to mention. The character may be unable to deal with it, and not want to talk about it. The backstory in this case is an essential part of the character, but because it's mysterious, audiences create their own interpretation of what happened. Shane, who partly stands for the myth of the Old West, could fit into this category.

  Sometimes the past is known, or revealed during the story. The terrible deed that has motivated and obsessed Batman for his entire life touches on our own understanding of the power of revenge and obsession.

  Every age creates new mythic stories that help us understand our lives. In the 1930s, Charlie Chaplin in Modern Times expressed the overwhelming helplessness that many feel in an overly industrialized society. More recently, Blade Runner showed us the natural consequences of continued corruption and overpopulation. Oliver Stone explored mythic characters in Wall Street's tale of greed, and in Platoon's story about good and evil and innocence lost. Field of Dreams explored our nostalgia for the past and for resolution, and Sea of Love and Fatal Attraction explored loneliness and the inherent danger in many modern relationships.

  Mythic characters can be difficult to create. They need enough dimensionality to seem like real human beings, yet there has to be a sense of mystery, and some lack of specificity to enable them to represent not just a person, but a certain idea. They are both human and symbolic, with neither one overbalancing the other.

  The ultimate test of a myth is whether it speaks to the audience's lives. Still, bringing in some mythic dimensions can deepen characters and strengthen the connections between their story and that of the audience.3

  In the seminar with the staff of "MacGyver," mentioned previously, we discussed ways to add mythic dimensions to his character. The ABC network executive at the meeting, William Campbell III, thought it very important that MacGyver remained somewhat mysterious in order to be heroic. At the same time, the strength of the show came from the combination of action, intelligence, and emotions. I suggested that we might be talking about a new kind of hero and by brainstorming the character from a mythic perspective, we might be able to expand his character and the relationship that the audience has to him.

  The de
finition of hero changes from age to age, but it changes very slowly. Heroes have been defined as warriors, conquerors, competitors—as men of action. Certainly MacGyver is a man of action. But he is a different type of hero. He responds nonviolently and noncompetitively to situations. The hero of the past set out to conquer the wilderness; MacGyver wants to protect the earth. The hero of the past was a rugged individualist; MacGyver is a humanist and team player. He could be a new kind of hero for today's youth. At a time when many young people withdraw into drugs, depression, and a sense of powerlessness, MacGyver represents alternative responses and behaviors.

  Expanding the character of MacGyver could take two different directions. If the producers wanted to make him more mythic, they could create more stories about the important issues of our age—from corruption to ecology to genetic engineering—showing this new hero responding to these issues and finding nonviolent solutions.

  To add to the mythic dimensions, the producers could decide to capitalize on something mysterious or unresolved from his past. This would enable audiences to project their own interpretations of his backstory on to the character.

  However, since the strength of the character (and the actor) conies to a great extent through his ability to convey emotions and caring, and through his dimensionality (qualities that are not always found in mythic characters), trying to make him a classic mythic hero might be a mistake. MacGyver is a clear emotional character, without real mysteries in his past.

  Instead, one could capitalize on his context in a technological society, his ability to overcome obstacles, and on some of his larger-than-life qualities. If the context and associations were expanded, the relationship with the audience might be thought through in mythic terms, without compromising his human, dimensional qualities.