Characters make for a good story

I believe that without a strong character, the story does not exist. Movies, television shows, plays, books, novels, short stories, even just stories all have to have a character that we, the audience can relate to. Sure, we all spend $7.50 for a ticket to a movie we think is going to be awesome based off what we know from a preview or the fact that we know exactly what kind of movie it is. Action, romance, comedy, you name it-we initiate the action of watching it because we simply like the genre. But what makes a movie superior? What makes it stand on its own without the genre? Here’s a two worded answer: the characters. The first attraction the audience has towards a movie or TV show or anything of the sort is through the character. The established bond or identification the audience makes with the character is what keeps our attention on the screen and cultivates our love for that particular story.

Miller emphasizes the importance of creating a strong character because it strengthens the story and brings out the spectacle of cinema. Lisa, from “My Name is Lisa,” is a young girl who starts off upbeat and promising. We, as the audience establish, based off a 3 second observation, that she is a typical girl who loves to read books and has a good relationship with her mother. Personally, I have a love for kids, so the fact that she was a little/big kid drew me in almost immediately. As the story went on, I began to realize the tragedy of her story and felt awful. I actually wanted to do something for her. That’s how much of a pull I felt for her. The character of Lisa morphed from a little girl mindset to a motherly mindset as her mother’s disease progressed. The change in Lisa is tragic because it forces the innocence out of her perspective and life, which means that she no longer thinks or sees things as a child, but as an adult. The growth in Lisa solidifies the story, the message and the character.

Mike, aka Romeo, from “Sometimes Romeo is Sad,” is quite the complex character. At first, I didn’t know what to feel for him, whether to determine Mike as a bad boy or the antagonist or perhaps the hero. His character is described as someone who is good looking, a motorcyclist, young and macho. I actually viewed Margot as the feminist, someone who made a lot of mistakes in her life and I thought she was going to be the heroine in the story. Clearly, as the story unfolded and the characters’ personalities changed. Mike morphed into what I had perceived Margot as and Margot, the other way around. I especially liked the character of Mike, the fact that he was trying to make up for his mistakes and get past it was a characteristic I admired. I began to dislike Margot because of her ranting, I thought they were annoying. In all honesty, I kept reading for two reasons: I wanted to see how much more we find out about Mike and how the story ended.