As we discussed it, we threw out some standard ways of creating empathy that are easy and used often. Two of the most common are:
1) Make them an orphan. This creates instant pity and likability. We tend to always root for the underdog - (Hamlet, Dorothy, Luke Skywalker, Bambi, Simba, King Arthur, etc). Oh, and give him a talent or ability, too, that is either unrealized by his peers or that he is ridiculed for (Dumbo, Harry Potter).
Or, 2) Make him the best at what he does (Examples later).
But then I started thinking about the bigger picture for a moment...
It seems to me that the quality(s) that all successful protagonists have is one or more of the following three: Identifiability, Admiration, or Pity. That is, the audience will either admire the protagonist and want to follow his/her adventures; identify with the protagonist, or pity him. Here are some examples:
Admiration: The Hero has great powers and gets the girl - Indiana Jones, James Bond, Superman
Identifiability: The Hero is an everyman with a deep longing - Jim Hawkins (Treasure Island), Dorothy Gale, practically every Tom Hanks role.
Pity: The Hero is an underdog, either with shortcomings or is bullied or both - Rocky, Forrest Gump, Karl Childers, Rain Man, Sarah Conner, every Woody Allen role. (Pity and comedy are natural bedfellows)
But it seems that when these traits, these facets overlap, the character becomes even more likable. Pity is easy. Everyone roots for the underdog. So introduce your character as an orphan, let's say. Then give him special abilities that society does not understand. Then make him a teen-ager or young adult so your movie-going crowd sees him as a peer. Finally, he gets a beautiful girl in the process of the story so we all admire him (plus is we already identify with him, we think, "yeah, I could have a cute girl, too!"). This character description fits Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker, Frodo Baggins (except for the girl part), and many more.
Let's look more closely at some other successful protagonists:
Karl Childers (Sling Blade): First we pity him for several reasons. He is mentally challenged, he lives in an awful situation, he murdered his mother, but is possibly justified for it, so he is basically an orphan. His story is so fascinating that we want to follow his story in the hopes that he gets better.
Dr. Malcolm Crowe (The Sixth Sense): When we meet Dr. Crowe at the opening of the film he is celebrating his award for being the best in his field. We like him. He has a beautiful wife, so we admire him. Then he is shot by a former patient - his special ability becomes his downfall. We pity him. Later, as he explains his career crisis, we identify with him.
Cole Seer (The Sixth Sense): Then Malcolm meets Cole. Cole has only one parent - so he is an underdog. He is not accepted by his peers, more pity. We eventually learn he has a special power that is at the root of his being a social outcast. We admire his power, pity him for his situation and identify with him because we all feel we have some sort of unrealized potential.
Woody (Toy Story): We meet Woody in the opening credits where he is just a plaything. A boy dearly loves him, so we take a liking to him, too. The he comes alive and we find out that he fears being replaced. So on a certain extent we identify with him, because we have all had toys that have fallen by the wayside, and we all have insecurities. But we also see he is the favorite toy - the best at what he does - pleasing Andy and managing the politics in the toy chest. Then he is replace, pushed of his prime spot on the bed, so we pity his predicament.
Nemo: The little fish with the crippled fin. Before we even meet him, all his siblings and his mother are killed. Pity in mass amounts. He has an over protective parent - we all identify with that in some form. We admire him standing up to his dad, even though we instinctively know it will get him into trouble (after all, there are still 90 minutes left in the movie).
H.I. McDunnough (Raising Arizona): The first shot of the film is Hi getting his mug shot taken, so there is a certain amount of pity. He's not very good at being a thief, so we pity him more. Within a few minutes, we see him fall in love with Edwina, stand up for her honor when she is jilted, then marry this desert flower, so we admire him, too.
Fletcher Reede (Liar, Liar): Jim Carrey is first introduced to us as the best in his field, so there is a certain amount of admiration. Relationally, he is a screw-up, so we identify with him. Then his superpower is taken away (lying) so we pity him.
"Hitch": Will Smith is totally admirable for his ways with women, yet we also pity him at his missteps in getting the girl. His main client, Albert (played by Kevin James), is an unspectacular everyman. Not a great looker, totally insecure - like most of the population, yet he connects with the beautiful Cameron Diaz. Wow! We admire that guy, and since we have already identified with him, we think, "Hey! Maybe I have a shot in life, too!" Characters like that give us all hope.
Bugs Bunny: Admiration & pity - Bugs always has a great line and is always in control of the situation. But he's also the prey, a defenseless rabbit, so we pity his predicament, too.
Daffy Duck: Pity and Identifiability - Daffy is the wretch that we all are at our core. He is selfish and conniving. As Chuck Jones said: "Bugs Bunny is who we want to be. Daffy is who we are."
Most of these examples I gave we witness in the first few minutes of meeting the character.
Why? Because that's all the time you have before an audience starts getting bored.
Then I started thinking about Samson - the story in the Bible (in the book of Judges).
(This is an etching of Rembrandt's painting of Samson's Threat. I picked it up at an antique store for about $35. The original painting is much better.)
If you read Samson's life, he's not a very likable fellow. He screws up at every turn and never really obeys God or man. Why do we root for him? Sure, he beat up a lot of Philistines, but usually because of a situation that he created in disobedience. Actually, his behavior isn't much better than Esau's or Nebuchadnezzar's. He's basically selfish and only helps others when it suits him. It's not until the end of his life that he finally understands his role in life and what God really wants for him to do.
Most of these examples I gave we witness in the first few minutes of meeting the character.
Why? Because that's all the time you have before an audience starts getting bored.
Then I started thinking about Samson - the story in the Bible (in the book of Judges).
(This is an etching of Rembrandt's painting of Samson's Threat. I picked it up at an antique store for about $35. The original painting is much better.)Then I went back and read the beginning of the story, Samson's introduction. Actually, he is introduced before he is born. His parents are childless, but pious people. So an Angel announces to them that they will have a child of promise. And that he will be consecrated to God and he will have power. So automatically, we pity his parents and admire their offspring. What's not to like? God has his hand on this boy. We want to see him succeed. So when he starts going down the wrong path we pang at his decision. When he commits grand larceny, we think "well boys will be boys... after all those guys tricked him." We hurt for him because we know his potential. I think we identify with him because we all know our own tendencies to do the same thing. We assume that if we had super strength, we would be like Superman, fighting crime. But in truth, we know deep down what we would do. We would show off and then get mad when we got into trouble.
So there you have it: Pity, Admiration and Identifiability all wrapped into one pretty long-haired package.
So there you have it: Pity, Admiration and Identifiability all wrapped into one pretty long-haired package.
