by Raizsa-Daphne Benosa

Created on: October 27, 2009

There are two sides of the coin - either you pick heads, or you choose tails. The same concept goes for a movie script or even in children's stories. You could only have two major characters - your protagonist and the antagonist. The protagonist, also known as the hero, is traditionally characterized as a mannerly, gallant man who faces trials despite his "goodness." And these so-called trials are, most of the time, caused by the envy of the antagonist. The story is so well-made that it could even make the audience love the hero and hate the villain.

If one makes a survey and have people list down all the movie, cartoon, or comic characters they know, one would never be surprised to see that ninety percent or more of the names listed is of the hero. Everybody loves the hero. He is the icon to look up to, the savior of the oppressed and the compassionate-hearted, while the villain is the cold-blooded murderer. This is the conventional pictures that our past stories would depict.

However, as time changes, so do people's beliefs. If in the past many writers would trap audiences on the-two-sides-of-the-coin concept, today we have writers and filmmakers who dare to break that traditional idea. The modern audience would patronize a story plot filled with surprises. How else then could a story be a blockbuster? One bankable way to achieve that is to tweak the character a little bit, making him seem more capable of love. This strategy creates a more realistic picture of man.

One other reason could be innovation. These historical villains were made known because of their characters, and a little change in their personality would make a really interesting story. It is like providing another perspective.

Another reason is digging deep into the character's psyche. There could lots of possible reason why man does what he does. It is very hasty to box one character and condemn him in that place forever. Just like us humans, we do many foolish things but we do them because something must have pushed us to do it, not because we are inherently bad people. A brute head over heels for a lady, a killer who murders to avenge the loss of his beloved, and Dracula falling for Mina Harker are just classic examples that tell us that even the worst of the worst are still capable of love.

Learn more about this author, Raizsa-Daphne Benosa.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.