How do you survive gunfire, explosions, monster attacks, and any other gruesome end brewing in a script writer's head? Become the protagonist of the story.
I have always known about the Kevlar nature of main characters, especially since this fact is the butt of many jokes, but I just recently started paying very close attention to it. As we were watching the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie this past weekend it was downright comedic how any character that the audience might have an emotional attachment to could not be killed, but just about everyone else seemed fair game. I actually think this fact was being used as a constant gag throughout the movie. If it wasn't, then the movie was a bit excessive.
Why is it that audiences by and large expect this? Why is it that main characters in action movies must go through some improbable to survive gauntlet only to survive? I can appreciate the need for this as a storytelling device, because the audience needs to understand the seriousness of the issue, but doesn't want to deal with the grief of losing a main character. It happens enough, though, that I can frequently predict which specific characters will die and which will live. A lot of people besides me can as well.
There are a few exceptions to the rule:
1. Characters that are nearly main characters will frequently be offed. If you are the significant other or parent of a protagonist watch your back (The Mask of Zorro).
2. If this is near the end of the story or the series and the writers or producers have no reason to keep the character around any more he or she will frequently be killed (The Matrix Revolutions, Star Trek: Generations, Braveheart).
3. If the character will be brought back to life or be proven to not have actually died, then it is acceptable to make the audience think the character has died (The Two Towers).
I think it's noteworthy that I can't think of any other exceptions to the rule. Simply put, it's almost impossible to kill off the protagonist in a typical storyline without one of my exceptions applying. If only I could have their life insurance rates.
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6 comments:
Wow - yeah... even more odd to me is how we transfer this fantasy narrative to real life. A lot of tragedy survivors (airplane wrecks, train crashes etc...) will have a special "divine intervention" sidebar attached to the unfortunate event. Many dead people are unable to share a similar story. The worst movie where I encountered what you described was Lethal Weapon 3 (4?) where around 40 or 50 bad guys were snuffed bu Danny Glover was able to joke around with Mel even though he was laying on an oil tanker deck bleeding from a dozen 9mm wounds (especially his arm area...)
If main characters died off, then they wouldn't be main characters. The movie would go on w/o them. - that is a generalization and does not always follow the rule. But people want to see movies with main characters and main villians fighting it out...old time rivals.
I for one am glad that Darth Vader did not die when the death star blew up.
F o r r e s t,
I thought about that too. I think you are right for most scenarios. Most of the movie is spent building the character of the protagonist and the audience doesn't want the protagonist to die, so you can't just wipe him or her out. There are excpetions, though.
This is only the case for a movie that opts to take a very straghtforward philosophy in telling the story. It would be completely possible to kill the main character in a movie that did not move chronologically (think Memento) or that changed protagonists midway through the story. I wouldn't want every movie to be this way, but if it is done a few times it will keep the audience thinking that it could happen again in those movies where the protagonist actually is unkillable.
I saw "the Guardian" this weekend that illustrates your point
I guess it also depends on whether your main character will remain in the movie after death. Some movies are about the death of a main character, but the character remains in the movie through flashbacks.
Was is it, Excutive Decision where steven segal get offed in the first 10 minutes and all the segal fans were mad? Awesome!
Movies were made for optimistic people. : )
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