I was not happy with the result of Big Bad Wolf. I'm hell bent on rewriting it into something decent and I thought it was coming along fine. Might even turn into my first feature'ish script. I was getting excited about this one even.

Then someone told me that a twelve year old kid can not be the protagonist! I should either use an older teenager and make it for teenagers or have an adult being the protagonist. Someone the kid can turn to and someone to protect the kid. If I use the twelve year old as the protag I go against Hollywood convention and no one will believe the story.

Is this true?  

Sure, a kid can be a protagonist.  From movies such as The Goonies, all the way up to The Sixth Sense, kids can play the hero.  You just have to justify why a kid would play this role.


Phil

That's absurd.  Did this person actually have kids?

Linda Blair was 12 in The Excorcist and she did pretty well.  How old were the kids in "Stand By Me"?  I'll bet it was around 12.

And I am sure there are plenty of 14-15 year-old kids that can "play" 12.

Tell us who told you this so we can mock them haha.

Yes!  We will all mock him.  And then we will share wine and laugh about how we mocked him.  Laughing.  Mocking.  Drinking.  A good time!


Phil

I wonder if, from the perspective of a casting director, this is where having a young protagonist might be a problem.  Especially if they're the emotional center of the story.  

Naratively speaking I can think of no reason at all why a 12-yr-old can't be a protagonist.  Afterall, we were all young once so we can all relate.

But let's face it, there aren't many Haley-Joel Osments or River Phoenix out there.  Hinging the success of a film on a young child's performance must be a risky venture.

I wonder if that's what this person was getting at.  It seems like quite a blanket statement to make.


[edit] - I too share in your mocking of this person.

Thanks!

That's kind of what I was thinking, but I wanted to make sure in case I had to rethink the whole idea.

I think the concern was, this being horror and intended for adults, adults would not be able to relate to her.

I was myself thinking of "Stand by Me" and "The Little Girl at the End of the Lane" with Jodi Foster.

Having recently become a huge S. King fan, I have also noticed that he likes to use kids in his stories as well. Like "Hearts in Atlantis" which was an amazing book, but a really bad adaptation IMHO. The protagonist in that one was also a twelve year old.

There've been so many movies with kids as protagonists that they've generated cliches that, while everyone recognizes them, are exclusive to movies about kids. How many movies have their been featuring kids whose abilities are doubted by their parents, who, of course, are ultimately proven wrong in the end, or kids believing in something supernatural or out of this world and pleading with their parents to join them in their beliefs. Forget the Sixth Sense. E.T. anyone? We've all seen this kind of stuff before.

So yeah, Hollywood already has their own conventions regarding kid protagonists. If you're breaking any conventions, I wouldn't worry about it having anything to do with the protagonist's age. Besides, breaking conventions is usually a good thing.

In short, of course kids can be protagonists. I doubt the casting directors would worry about it. I say go for it.

Choosing a 12 year protagonist is not an obstacle for writing a great script. Artistically, the protagonist's age is irrelevant if you've got an interesting well written story.

The only possible disadvantage comes from the business/comercial side. I can't think of any kid actors that can open a movie, like some grown ups can (i.e. Tom Cruise, Will Smith, etc). So, it could be said that a 12 year protagonist would cut off the chances of casting the kind of A-list actors that can significantly increase the box office potential of any project.

I guess that's why some producers may, in some cases, consider a 12 year protagonist as a liability. But saying "no one will believe the story" seems pretty far fetched, so don't worry about it, and tell the story you want to tell.

Good luck.

The only problem I have with a 12 year old antagonist is when they are put into situations where they get into trouble and end up the good guys.  There are too many movies with Bart Simpson-esque kids save the day from terrorists or other bad guys.

If the kid is going to save the day, make it believeable.  Don't have a kid beat a squad of Navy SEALS because he lured them into a toy store.


Phil

Yikes, somebody told you there can be no 12-year-old protagonist?!!

Think Dakota Fanning.  Haley Joel Osment.  Daniel Radcliffe.  Your fave, Jodie Foster.  And on and on...

Pia, don't worry about Amanda.  She can and will deal with this situation in a logical, believable manner.  Trust me on this one.  Kid protagonists are only as believable as the story will allow.  Stupid characters aren't believable regardless of age.

There, the gauntlet has been thrown.  

Now let's focus on the story.  And keep the faith.

Hey Pia, do you knew that my character the lizard had? 12, dude! Just inocent 12!

Thanks everyone!

I feel better now.

I am excited because I think this one might be it! Sure I have a lot of half-baked scripts, but this one I will try to see to the end.

Thanks to everyone here at SS, I'm learning. Slowly maybe, but I'm learning and currently I'm learning to discipline myself and write every day. 5 pages minimum. Sure, most is crap, but some are OK.

I'm never short on ideas so hopefully I will eventually be able to produce a script with regular intervals.  

Pia

One of my inspirations for obvious reasons, "The Sandlot."

Enough said.

PS-Pia, you know I'll read "Wolf" eventually.  I was actually in a nice reading groove last week, and suddenly I'm shut down again.  I plan to pick up the reading soon!

Yeah, of course kids can be the protagonist. I just think of Leon. Natalie Portman was probably the coolest 12-year in that film. Ever.

But I do find that most kids in Hollywood film are excruciatingly annoying, because they're reduced to one of three stereotypes:

1) The Screamer: mostly girls. the kid is reduced to a prop that needs to be saved a lot and can't for the life of her run away from danger herself. She just stands there and screams.

2) The creepy kid. Sixth Sense, the Messengers, The Ring. Every horror movie has a creepy kid these days, who is highly succeptible to evil ghosts or something like that. Avoid.

3) The Dennis the Menace/Bart Simpson type that Phil introduced earlier in the thread. God, these are the worst. I hate them so much! Especially movie about annoying kids who somehow save the world from an evil, but zany bad guy played by Tim Curry.

I think the challenge is to make the kid real. I'm writing a short right now about a 12-year old girl and I really had to do a lot of research because, you know, it's been a while since I was 12. Been even longer since I was a girl. I think it's tough not making them too innocent, yet at the same time not too precocious about life.

Cf. Dawson's Creek. These guys were supposed to be what, 15? they were acting like Ivy League thespians, constantly doing witty asides about the whimsicalness of life.

What I found was that 12-year-olds, especially girls, are right at the thresh-hold of maturity (in more than one way). I remember the girls at my school kinda divided themselves into those who were still kids and those who were striving to be young women. There is a sorta mythological rites of passage aspect that you can use when dealing with a 12-year-old protagonist.

Sorry about the ramblings, but when I first get started I always end up with an essay.

Quoted from Death Monkey 3) The Dennis the Menace/Bart Simpson type that Phil introduced earlier in the thread. God, these are the worst. I hate them so much! Especially movie about annoying kids who somehow save the world from an evil, but zany bad guy played by Tim Curry.

Usually, when this is the plot, it's a kid's movie.  You'll never find this in adult movies because the adults won't buy it and will (in part) think that Hollywood is laughing at them.


Phil

ALthough I do completely agree that a twelve year old could be a protaginist, I would like to argue in "The Sixth sense" Haley joel osment was not the protaganist, but bruce willis was.  Same thing for the exorcist, the little girl wasnt the protaganist, but the preist.

Not disagreeing with the actual argument at hand, 12 year olds totally work and many of the examples put out there have been great, just in my opinion the sixth sense and the exorcist arent.  I was actually thinking the shining, that kid is younger than 12 and I would consider him the protaganist.