a demanding role, deserved the critical and popu-
lar acclaim it received. Yet in many ways, Nina
could be considered a flat character. Her traits are
straightforward; she’s a fearful, driven perfection-
ist. Throughout her excruciating journey to the
final performance, even as she (apparently) physi-
cally transforms, Nina stubbornly clings to the
same insecurities and flaws that she carried into
the story. Her final direct-address declaration is
evidence of her inability to change.
On the other hand, Flynn Rider, the handsome
singing rogue who costars in the popular animated
children’s movie Tangled(2010; directors: Nathan
Greno and Byron Howard; screenwriter: Dan
Fogelman) would have to be considered at least
somewhat rounded. After all, he has a hidden past
that complicates our original assessment of his
behavior and intentions. The character we origi-
nally perceive as a heartless thief is revealed to be
a wounded orphan with a love of reading. Over the
course of the story, narrative events change him
from a vain and manipulative thief to a caring and
honest (albeit still vain) prince charming.
Whatever the shape of the character, narrative
cannot exist if that character does not have a goal.
The goal does not just give the character some-
thing to do (although that activity is important), it
also gives the audience a chance to participate in
the story by creating expectations that viewers
want to either see fulfilled or surprised. More on
that later—for now let’s stick to how that goal
affects our character.
The primary character who pursues the goal
is known as the protagonist. The protagonist is
sometimes referred to as the hero (or heroine), but
this term can be misleading, since engaging narra-
tives do not necessarily depend on worthy goals or
brave and sympathetic characters. As Harry Pot-
ter or Frodo Baggins can attest, it’s certainly not a
liability if the audience happens to like or admire
the protagonist. But as long as the protagonist
actively pursues the goal in an interesting way, the
viewer cannot help but become invested in that
pursuit, and by extension, the story.
Seemingly unsympathetic protagonists chasing
less than noble goals are sometimes called anti-
heroes: Walter Neff is a cocky insurance agent
whose quest is to murder his lover’s husband so he
can have her body—and her inheritance—all to
himself. Walter’s no Boy Scout, but when watching
Double Indemnity (1944; director: Billy Wilder;
screenwriters: Wilder and Raymond Chandler), it’s
tough not to root for him to get away with murder.
Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t kill anyone, but he does
manipulate and cheat and alienate his friends in
order to make Facebook a social media juggernaut
(and show up his ex-girlfriend). However, while
watching David Fincher’s The Social Network(2010,
screenwriter: Aaron Sorkin), we take some pleas-
ure in Zuckerberg’s triumphs and can’t help but
pity him for the price he pays.
In fact, impeccable characters are rare in mod-
ern movies. Narrative craves imperfect characters
because those imperfections provide obstacles,
another essential building block of storytelling.
We’ll discuss obstacles in the narrative structure
section. For now, simply consider that a romance
about a shy, awkward boy in love with the head
cheerleader is likely to be much more interesting
than a love story between the two most beautiful
and popular kids in school. Character imperfec-
tions and flaws also give characters room to grow.
As the previous discussion of round and flat char-
acters indicated, character development is central
to many movie narratives.
In Precious, based on the novel Pushby Sapphire,
the title character’s struggle to escape her violent
mother and learn to read transforms her from a
numbed victim into an assertive and expressive
young woman. Precious’s character development
makes watching this often-harrowing movie a sat-
isfying and rewarding narrative experience. On the
other end of the entertainment spectrum, part of
the pleasure of seeing Kung Fu Panda(2008, direc-
tors: Mark Osborne and John Stevenson; screen-
writer: Jonathan Aibel) is Po’s progress from a
hapless buffoon to a skilled master of his own
unique martial art style.
It’s easy to understand what motivates these
protagonists to pursue their goals. Precious is
abused by her mother and inspired by her new
teacher. Po’s training is likewise prompted by both
positive and negative reinforcement: he admires
his kung fu master, dreams of glory, and knows heWHAT IS NARRATIVE? 129