I feel lately there has been a few movies that deal with fairly unlikable characters doing unlikable things. For example, take Diablo Cody's Young Adult, sure there's a bit of a character arch but mostly it's a character study of someone who's still stuck in a phase of high school bitchiness. I find this interesting in how I've heard people talk about this movie, some people are all for it when others just can't get past the fact that the main character is overall unlikable. I've had this problem with writing scripts, I find characters who stray from the protagonist cliches really interesting, I love studying those type of characters. However, a lot of people seem to frown apon it when there isn't any real resolution or realization. I just finished reading Leslye Headland's Bachelorette, which I really enjoyed but read other reviews stating the above. Yeah, it deals with a few girls who are selfish and do a ton of drugs to shield their own problems, but does every movie have to have some moral message? I'm curious to know what others think of having the main characters not being the most likable of people, doing shady things. Do you feel that every character needs that arch to tell a story properly? Personally, I find these type of characters really interesting when looked at as a character study.

My most recent encounter with this was from Prometheus. I HATED the characters, and the last half of the movie I, whenever they did something i thought, "Huh? Why's he/she doing that? Explain to me movie!" It's not a good thing when you have no idea why a character is doing what he/she is doing.

Good question, Kev and personally I think no, a character doesn't necessary have to be “good” to be interesting or for the viewer to engage in their story. If a character is flat out annoying and continually makes stupid decisions (which is what I think Bcurt was referring to) then yeah of course it quickly becomes exasperating and you end up not giving a sh?t about them or the film, you lose interest and patience. However, if it’s a layered, well observed study of evil, corruption, greed, revenge, sexual promiscuity or whatever via the protagonist, who surprises and confounds character arc expectation then it can be far more thrilling and engrossing experience then any depiction of a so called noble character.

Two examples come to mind, American Psycho and There Will Be Blood. The former is seen as a worthy adaptation of a cult novel and the latter is judged to be one of the best films of the last decade even though both central characters are irredeemable and essentially don’t change one iota so yes it can be done and people, like myself, who are generally more interested in the darker side of humanity will always respond to these portrayals.

Hey Kev,

My mind goes right to gangster flicks...
Immediately brought to mind one of my faves of that sub genre...



Bob Hoskins is never likable but you can't take your eyes off him in this one.
Check it out!

Regards,
E.D.