Building, Twisting, and Deepening How Readers/Audiences View Character Reputations

I’m studying a TV series now, and the instructor pointed out that different characters become “go-to” for highlighting story/protagonist themes. It rang bells because my course with Danny Simon, many years ago, demonstrated how this works in comedy. Take a situation/comment and imagine responses for each character in the story. One will resonate. And that reflects what we expect of the characters.

Reputations are what drive our expectations. You know some characters can’t be trusted. Other will sacrifice themselves for others. Some will bring a laugh when it’s needed and others will point out what goes wrong. Last time, I used Catch Me if You Can (CMIFC) to present the evidence writers can use to shape reputation. This time I’ll talk about a few tools that can make the reputation memorable.

Building and Deepening

The reactions of other characters. In CMIFC, characters surprise us by accepting even slight evidence to continue trusting a character after that character has been proven untrustworthy. This ironic response reinforces our contrary point of view because it forces us (audience, reader) to defend the truth we’ve come to believe.

Repetition. This can be as simple as catch phrases that make sense, but it is more often a pattern of behavior. In CMIFC we know Frank will dig in and do research. In fact, he studies more and more intensely as time goes on. He similar builds on his other tactics, like distraction, often taking them to a new level (as when he surrounds himself with “stewardesses” to get past police and escape on a jet.

Seeing consequences. We naturally tend to observe choices and actions that lead to big results. Part of the fun of CMIFC is seeing what tricks might be used or might fail in a confidence game. The bigger the consequence (making piles of money, landing in a French prison), the more we attach specific attributes to a character. As always, if some of the results are surprising, they become more memorable.

Contrasts. CMIFC continuously plays Hanratty against Frank, usually in consecutive scenes. But one of the tricks for drama, and especially comedy, is creating situation that trap very different people together. Odd couples make it easy to assign characteristics.

Twisting

Losses, falls from grace. This is big in plot building, but it also reveals character, usually by showing that a characteristic that is assumed to be true is hollow. (It also make force the character to explore a latent talent or value and raise it to the top.)

Injustice. When a character is blamed unfairly or talents and values are unappreciated, it’s usually an emotional moment. And nothing makes information stick like emotions. This also might lead to a moment of courage, when the character stands up to the person who knocks them down (often even though it makes things worse for them). Betrayal is the flashing neon sign of this kind of a twist because it reverses expectations and shatters a personal connection.

Crushing cliches. There are a lot of stock character in fiction. They come with ready-made reputations (like the prostitute with the heart of gold). Often, writers will take advantage of that assumption long enough to lull audiences and readers in, then subvert it with unexpected behavior. A moment of grace from a villain or cruelty from a hero can deepen a story and become a vital, provocative moment.

Characters may double down when it’s ridiculous to do so. They may break away from their patterns and be misunderstood. They may make a late entrance that nullifies all the stories and rumors about them. They may behave differently in private than they do in public.

One of my favorite twists in CMIFC comes from Hanratty. A big contrast between him and Frank is his honesty. When he talks Frank into surrender, claiming the place is surrounded by angry police eager to kill him, we know he’s highly motivated to lie. And his statement seems ridiculous. But it turns out to be true. The one time he lies to Frank is when he says he can meet his dad when they get home. My interpretation is that he does this out of compassion, so Frank won’t have grief tearing him apart on the long flight home.

Exceptions and surprises, when they are tied to important turns, are memorable and always impact reputations.