Nope, not that.
Yep.
Yep. That.
There, that is better.
Or worse.
I can never tell.
And that is really the subject of this post.
What do I mean by that?
"There are no sane characters. "
-Miles Boucher
WHAT I SAID!
(hint: that was for dramatic effect)
But, seriously, there are no sane characters.
Rather:
There are no reasonable people in drama.
Don't believe me?
Look at Oedipus:
Cast Study: OEDIPUS
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| That right there is a King of Thebes... |
Oedipus meets his father Laius on the side of the road and what happens?
- Oedipus's father Laius tries to murder Oedipus
- Oedipus murders his father
- Oedipus marries his mother and becomes king of Thebes
- His mother has four of Oedipus's children
- Thebes suffers plague
- Oedipus curses himself (unknowingly)
- Oedipus banishes his brother Creon and the prophet Tireisias
- His mother Jocasta finds out he is her son and hangs herself
- Oedipus gouges out his own eyes AND is banished
Why?
Why does this happen?
Because Oedipus's father Laius is told by a prophet that someday his son will murder him.
So what does he do?
- Laius sends his son away to die on the mountainside.
I would call that an unreasonable response.
Just the all of it.
Because really what it came down to was the fact that a blind hermaphrodite tells a king that someday his newborn son will kill him and that is all it takes for him to order his son to die.
Everything that follows stems from that moment.
Arguably Oedipus is a complete innocent.
But, the Greeks really don't seem to care about secular morality.
Okay.
That is an extreme case.
But, that was the Greeks.
They worshiped dirt.
That couldn't happen in a reasonable society.
Like the Elizabethans in England?
Case Study: HAMLET
This may seem like easy picking.Hamlet and Horatio certainly talk about death and madness a lot.
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| Hamlet: Does this seem healthy to you? Horatio: No. Gravedigger: No. Hamlet: I was talking to the skull. |
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| The King is like get this crazed bitch out of here! |
And then of course, Hamlet speaks to a ghostly vision that no one else can see save Hamlet and the audience....scholars still debate that one.
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| Seriously, look at that shadow. That is my Father! |
I would argue that they are right.
Yet again the:
- Hamlet spurning Ophelia
- Hamlet murdering Polonius
- Claudius's banishment of Hamlet
- Claudius's orders to execute Hamlet
- Laertes's rebellion
- Ophelia's insanity
- Ophelia's apparent suicide
- Hamlet's return and subsequent jumping into Ophelia's grave and fighting Laertes in it
- Their duel
- The accidental poisoning of the Queen
- The accidental poisoning of Laertes
- The deliberate poisoning of Hamlet
- The deliberate poisoning and the subsequent stabbing of Claudius
All of this, all of this, all of this stems from:
- Hamlet believing the Ghost who said:
- I am thy Father's Spirit AND
- Your Uncle killed me
That is it.
That is all it took to convince Hamlet that it was all his Uncle and everything that followed stems from it.
Who does that?!
Crazy people do that.
But, those were from the Renaissance.
They did more drugs than the Flower Children.
They drank ale instead of water.
Shakespeare probably smoked cannabis.
Of course their characters were crazy.
We couldn't have that today...
(it's a leading line of thought, but still)
Case Study: HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER (or any sitcom...Scrubs/Friends/New Girl/Cheers)
*SPOILERS*Meet Ted:
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| Aww early Ted is the best Ted! |
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| Crazy eyes! Crazy eyes! |
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| Her name is literally Smulders... |
Second season is about them falling apart.
Third season is about them working on being together (Friends w/Benefits)
Fourth season they break up; Ted gets desperate.
Fifth season is art.
Everything after is just a sorry excuse.
And then Ted finally meets up to his promise and meets the Mother of his kids:
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| Sup! |
Until she dies.
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| WHY?! |
And in the end, we find out that all of this is just an excuse to chase Robin.
AGAIN!
He literally asks his kids if it would be okay to date Robin after the death of his wife.
Now, here is the sanity:
It is very healthy to talk to your kids about dating again.
They are a part of the relationship and can and probably should be consulted.
But, Ted literally tells them everything about his sexual history, his conquests, his travails, his foibles.
They know Ted & Robin have the unhealthiest relationship.
That is not the action of a sane and healthy individual.
Ted is the most obtuse individual when it comes to self-awareness and self-control.
And here is the thing...
It's what we love about him.
NOT ALL THE TIME!
Oh shut up!
She is engaged bro!
To name a few.
But, there are so many precious, beautiful moments that we love.
His apparent disassociated moments with his students:
The fact that Ted made it rain for Robin:
The fact that he would have stolen an entire blue orchestra:
These are still the acts of a crazy person.
But, we can and do find them endearing.
There are reasons explored actually within the series, but are not the subect of this article:
The point is:
All drama is filled with crazy and that is what we love.
Case Study: YOUR FAVORITE STORY
Think of your favorite story.Okay?
You have a story?
You got it in your head?
Know all the back story?
The ups? The downs? The surprises?
Good.
Now, really examine those characters.
Examine their behavior.
Examine their responses.
Are they responding reasonably?
Dare I say sanely?
I'd argue probably not.
Now, here is the thing.
EVERYONE WANTS TO BE SANE.So far as I have been able to gather.
However, I would contend:
Art is Insane
End stop.Art is Insane.
It is what we love about art.
People do things we would never do.
- Ted Mosby loves in spite of love kicking his ass.
- Hamlet goes off the word of a spectre and his whole family ends up murdered and his kingdom overthrown.
- Oedipus ends up blind, childless, and cursed.
We like watching these stories.
We like watching characters get kicked and getting back up again
And why?
Because it is crazy to do so!
So why is the first critical response I hear always, always, always:
- It was so real!
- That is exactly how I would respond!
Really?!
Would you really?
Would you really kill your father, mother, nieces, nephews, and children?
If so, I may want to have you committed.
Now, to be fair, it may say something about the human condition.
Namely: we are all insane.
But, that is the subject of another post.
Here is my point:
Artists are trying to make their characters sane
It is the biggest tragedy to art I see right now.
People are trying to make their characters 'real'.
And that means by toning down their responses.
That means that instead of tearing up the contract, characters are politely saying, "No, thank you."
Instead of throwing pies in each other's faces, we see them tersely eat dinner for a half hour scene.
This is not an overall trend.
In fact, many modern comedies embrace the insane quite well:
- Death at a Funeral
- Hot Fuzz
- Shaun of the Dead
- At World's End
- Ted
- Rush Hour
- Tommy Boy
To name but a few.
But, if you are stuck, if you can't quite figure out why a scene isn't working, consider that maybe you or your partner or the situation isn't quite crazy enough.
Questions to Consider
- Who is right in this situation?
- Who is wrong in this situation?
- Can I make them wrong?
- How?
- Am I acting unreasonably?
- Can I act more unreasonably?
- How?
- What would an insane response be?
- Why am I not doing that?
- Is the reason: to be liked?
- Is it because I would "never" do that?
- What is wrong with doing it?
- What is the most I can get away with?
- What are the consequences for my current action?
- Is it imprisonment?
- Why not?
- Is it lower than imprisonment?
- Why?
I'm not saying everyone needs to go to prison or murder someone.
That would be formulaic.
But, the number of comedies that have a prison sequence is as high as the wedding:
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| National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation |
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| Bridesmaids |
If you aren't gambling on going to prison in your play or screenplay or novel at some point.
Then, I don't think you are writing drama.
Because your characters aren't insane.
And that really makes all the difference.
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