Is your latest script hampered by the fact that the lead character is too perfect? Such was the case with Bob Gale. back to the future Movie.
Recently, on my podcast Script Apart, he recalled how the time travel trilogy really started to take off when he gave hero Marty McFly a flaw. “We had to give him a darker place to start so he could grow,” he explained. “Otherwise what are we watching? How do the events of the film change him? What is it all about?
Find your biggest personality flaw
in the first back to the future In the movie, Marty’s (Michael J. Fox) story is straightforward: a teen with a mad scientist best friend who accidentally seduces him while traveling decades back in time in a DeLorean ’s mother (ok, maybe not that literally).
The point is, in the original, Marty has no flaws whatsoever.
near back to the future part 2With the contract for a third installment already signed, Bob and director Robert Zemeckis realized that in order to sustain more movies, “Marty had to go through a journey,” as the screenwriter put it. As a result, he can’t back down when someone calls him a “coward.”
“People often ask me, if I could go back and remake the first movie, what would you change or add? What we would probably do is lay some groundwork for it,” Bob told me, describing how it made the character More fun.
When your protagonist is perfect, what lesson do they need to learn that makes them a different person by the time the credits roll? In this case, what lesson should we as viewers learn about the follies of pride and ego?
exist back to the future part 2In “Marty,” Marty travels back in time to see how his flaws will ruin his life—unless he makes changes in the present and learns to back off.
Audiences prefer characters with flaws. In real life, we all have a problem or two that correspond to Marty’s “coward” passions. The more flaws you make your protagonist, the more real and relatable they become to the audience.
If you feel like your personality is flawed, look in the mirror. What parts of yourself would you like to change? Is there a hangup that you can’t get rid of and you’re afraid it might ruin your life? Apply this to your protagonist and your script will hit 88 mph. “Roads? Where we are going, we don’t need roads.
Still, if you want your screenplay to shine like this iconic trilogy, you definitely need character flaws.
Read more: 100 Internal Conflicts Your Character May Face
