How Writers Can Shape Characters’ Reputations (and Enhance Their Stories)

I was ready to push send on this post, a followup promised in the last one) when I realized reputation is a critical part of the movie Catch Me If You Can. It's filled with great examples. If you haven't seen it, you might want to take a look before reading further.

The main character, Frank, is already an expert in using appearance, charm, and gifts to get people to like and trust him. He got all this from his father, who was honored by the local Rotary, even as he was involved in tax evasion. Frank's first triumph is pretending to be a substitute teacher at his new school. He uses confidence, presence, and knowledge (of French) to pull it off.

He also uses it to humiliate a student who has bullied him, making him do a horrible recitation in French. In a sense, it's a moment of justice, but it also is a projection of power, which is another important element of reputation. Frank's ability to embarrass people, especially those who could challenge him, continues in the story (e.g., when he hides his ignorance of medical procedures from interns who could detect his con).

When he's caught at school, he reveals a knowledge of the use of documents for credibility, advising a student skipping class to fold the fake note from her mother. This foreshadows the use of documents as proofs throughout. He passes checks that are doomed to bounce. But passing them is more of a challenge. He needs more knowledge about who can pass checks easily (airline pilots).

For documents to have more success against challenges they need to overcome all the obstacles savvy people, like banks, put in the way. One of his actions is to obtain equipment to make checks that authenticate themselves.

So, so far we have reputation in its easiest form based on charm, likability, and confidence. Combined with reasonable documents, these can fool many people. Adding in knowledge can expand the range of people who believe. And the lack of knowledge or correct documents will engender disbelief and harm a person's reputation.

One piece of knowledge is jargon. Frank purposely learns how pilots talk, which becomes a short step toward another proof – the uniform. Often, people don't look past the uniform and in doubt people with credentials because they assume the appearance is validating. Showing a badge can gain cooperation. There is a funny take on this in the movie, where Hanratty accidentally shows a maid the back of his genuine FBI identification, and she accepts it.

Expertise — real knowledge and capability — also can bolster reputation. Another key element in the film is Frank's deep knowledge of stationary (which was his dad's business). He's obsessed with documents, and learns everything there is to learn about ink, paper, texture, and more. In fact, this genuine expertise gets him released early from prison to help the FBI. Ironically, he also shows expertise in law by passing a bar exam without cheating, but he loses all credibility with the judge because, though he has a lot of knowledge, he knows nothing about presenting a case.

Association is another means to harm reputation (as referenced regarding Stand by Me in the last post) or for building it (as with Frank claiming degrees from Harvard and Berkeley). Frank also claims to be working for the Secret Service (which handles crimes involving currency) to evade the FBI, and it's simply accepted, bolstered by handing over a wallet that he claims has his identification (and doesn't). Association is used in a negative way for Hanratty. The only people who will work with him are FBI screw ups. In fact, one of them is assigned to him as a punishment. This undermines his reputation, even though his knowledge is extensive.

One of the most intriguing elements of reputation in the movie is when The New York Times pegs Frank as a glamorous James Bond of the skies because of his ability to fool the airlines. Nicknames and public approbation can enhance reputation, but also can change a person inside. Frank deliberately accepts the Bond characterization, using the name Fleming (as in Ian) when he buys a suit that matches the one in the movie. He sees himself differently.

That brings up the impact of reputation and who is effected. Any piece of evidence that changes trust can work in different ways with different witnesses. In addition, the power and memorability of such evidence can be manipulated by writers to enhance a story. These will be the subject of my next post.