My thoughts on secondary characters.
It occurs to me how often it is the case that I judge a piece of fiction by its treatment of secondary characters. Perhaps I'm just weird, but I often find myself not identifying with the main character of a piece, but with one of his friends, sidekicks etc. Actually, I more often find myself identifying with the villain, but we'll get into that another time.
The reason that I find that I identify with secondaries is because I do not relate to overly strong, macho, super independent adventurers, and when I do relate to them, I don't like them. I find characters not in the spotlight intriguing and interesting.
Which makes it a shame when second chair characters are not developed. Often, these indivduals are flat and their purpose is purely utilitarian. These Characters become tools of the plot. If they are good and likeable, they are used to gain sympathy for the main character (usually by dying). If they are bad, they are used to create disdain for their bad acts and the villains they are associated with (and then die).
Not that I'm against having a character die to help create emotion, I just feel that when characters become accessories to the plot, the story itself suffers. Treatment of secondary characters is a contributing factor to what makes a film like Inception great, and a movie like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, banal.
In X-Men Origins: Wolverine, there was (obviously) only room for one character in the spotlight. Everything, EVERYTHING in this movie is used to shine more spotlights at Hugh Jackman's manly manliness. Again, not to say that I'm against that (I appreciate manliness quite well *coughJACKBAUERISAWESOMEcough*), but the film feels wearisome in that everyone Wolverine interacts with is merely to be used to A: Move the plot along, B: Make the audience feel sad for Wolverine C: Make the audience angry at the government. This is compounded by the fact that film is a prequel. We know that most of these characters will never show up in other films, so there's practically no reason to get attached to anyone.
Compare that to how Inception was handled. DiCaprio and Ellen Paige are definitely the leads, but the secondary cast was not a means to an end. From the straight faced yet clever performance of Joeseph Gordon-Levitt, to the more playful and sarcastic delivery of Tom Hardy, they each had a unique personality that helped make the film great. Sympathy is for the main character is still created (even via the death of a character, mind you) and yet never does the movie feel like it's using the cast as tools.
There are plenty of films that treat their secondary characters well, as there are numerous that do not. I just find it refreshing when they do. I like to attach myself to a someone in a piece, someone not necessarily the main character, and be rewarded.
The reason that I find that I identify with secondaries is because I do not relate to overly strong, macho, super independent adventurers, and when I do relate to them, I don't like them. I find characters not in the spotlight intriguing and interesting.
Which makes it a shame when second chair characters are not developed. Often, these indivduals are flat and their purpose is purely utilitarian. These Characters become tools of the plot. If they are good and likeable, they are used to gain sympathy for the main character (usually by dying). If they are bad, they are used to create disdain for their bad acts and the villains they are associated with (and then die).
Not that I'm against having a character die to help create emotion, I just feel that when characters become accessories to the plot, the story itself suffers. Treatment of secondary characters is a contributing factor to what makes a film like Inception great, and a movie like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, banal.
In X-Men Origins: Wolverine, there was (obviously) only room for one character in the spotlight. Everything, EVERYTHING in this movie is used to shine more spotlights at Hugh Jackman's manly manliness. Again, not to say that I'm against that (I appreciate manliness quite well *coughJACKBAUERISAWESOMEcough*), but the film feels wearisome in that everyone Wolverine interacts with is merely to be used to A: Move the plot along, B: Make the audience feel sad for Wolverine C: Make the audience angry at the government. This is compounded by the fact that film is a prequel. We know that most of these characters will never show up in other films, so there's practically no reason to get attached to anyone.
Compare that to how Inception was handled. DiCaprio and Ellen Paige are definitely the leads, but the secondary cast was not a means to an end. From the straight faced yet clever performance of Joeseph Gordon-Levitt, to the more playful and sarcastic delivery of Tom Hardy, they each had a unique personality that helped make the film great. Sympathy is for the main character is still created (even via the death of a character, mind you) and yet never does the movie feel like it's using the cast as tools.
There are plenty of films that treat their secondary characters well, as there are numerous that do not. I just find it refreshing when they do. I like to attach myself to a someone in a piece, someone not necessarily the main character, and be rewarded.
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