Contrasting Characters

In one of my previous posts, I discussed the characters in my film and their roles. I made an effort to ensure they were not stale, one-dimensional forces that only drive the plot; they each have their own negative and positive personality traits, and their own experiences. 

In this previous post, I made some notes:

"-The Party Animal and the Indie Kid will directly contrast in costume, color psychology, etc… Despite both having their own addictions, they also contrast in their understanding of others and overall maturity. Despite an immature front and more severe addiction than the party animal, the skater understands the dangers of drugs and chooses to protect others, even if they cannot protect themself."

I would like to expand upon this idea of opposite forces within my piece, because one thing that many tend to get wrong about trauma recovery is that it is not white or black. It is not a simple flip of a coin, heads if you improve and live a happy life, tails if you become a good-for-nothing drug addict. The positives and negatives act may together on the recovering person, and can result in frustration, shame, and fear.

My piece will have 5 important characters, including 2 pairs that directly contrast each other. The last one... there will be a whole post about him, and why he will not be part of one of these pairs.

Protagonist: A girl with anxiety struggling through trauma of relationship abuse. She finds comfort in putting on a confident personality in front of others, especially when intoxicated. She struggles with intense feelings of loneliness.
Therapist: The therapist of the protagonist. Kind, but realistic. She gives good advice that does not always feed the ego of the protagonist, and her inability to understand issues such as derealization causes an unknown barrier between her and her patient.
Redacted: A primary cause of trauma for the protagonist. Throughout the film, his face cannot be seen, and he is only to appear in short-lived memories. Whenever his face is described with disgust, the protagonist is shown instead.
Party Animal: A friend of the protagonist with access to alcohol. Regularly throws parties. Is reluctant to promote this behavior to the protagonist, but does not realize the severity of the situation. They have an addiction of their own, so they can relate.
The Indie Kid: A skater that befriends the protagonist during the film. They get to know each other well. He does some “fun drugs” such as acid, but is the only friend of the protagonist that does not grant this access to them. They stay sober together.

I did some research on how opposite forces act on eachother in literature, and found an article about literary foils on MasterClass. I'm no lit major, but I'm pretty good at copy-pasting definitions, so I can tell you a foil is "a character whose purpose is to accentuate or draw attention to the qualities of another character."

This is not entirely true, as creating a character only to be an attachment of another would go against my entire speech about character individuality, but the gist is... they're opposites, and meant to shine on one another in certain situations.

MasterClass also went more into detail about the importance of foil characters. We all know the whole "emphasizes strengths and weaknesses of the others," contrast, blah-blah-blah, but they mentioned something that I didn't quite think about:

"A foil might do more than just offer insight into another character’s personality. Their different values and motivations may lead them to make different choices, illuminating an alternate “what if” plotline."

This definitely got my brain whirring, but I'll get more into it when I explain my foils in depth, which is, uh, right now.

FOIL PAIR 1: THE PROTAGONIST AND THE THERAPIST

One would expect the "antagonist" of the film, Redacted, to be the foil of the protagonist, the evil to the good, the dark to the light, but... I don't quite see the protagonist this way at all. My piece is not centered around the innocence and phenomenal morals of my main character like superhero films such as Wonder Woman, but rather her current stage in recovery. 

The protagonist has recently begun recovery. She is still anxious, gets repeated flashbacks, and lacks an ability to think logically or clearly about her emotions. She is reactive in nature and can easily spiral out of control, which will be seen through her imagination and narratives throughout the piece. This directly goes against the therapist, someone who can process their emotions, as well as others', through a logical light. They are not self-destructive, and have mastered the art of healthy grieving, and they try to teach this to others.

I want most of their differences to come from their speech patterns and body language, unlike my other foil pair. This is why I have chosen my two best actors to play these characters, but that's another blog post.

FOIL PAIR 2: THE PARTY ANIMAL AND THE INDIE KID

Another set of opposites in my story emphasizes differences in emotional maturity and self-awareness. The Party Animal, a character who overexaggerates their intoxication for "fun," fails to see the struggles of the protagonist. Or perhaps they do see them, but, unsure of how to help, point to escapism through narcotics. This directly contrasts the Indie Kid, who is deeper into their own escapism but has the self-awareness to keep others out of it. 

These differences will be highlighted in a more superficial way, as their personalities are far more aggressive than the therapist or protagonist. Their actions and costumes will emphasize their opposite natures.
"A foil might do more than just offer insight into another character’s personality. Their different values and motivations may lead them to make different choices, illuminating an alternate “what if” plotline."

As stated earlier, this really got me whirring. I think that these two characters can really represent how differently recovery can play out when you have different people by your side. Depending on who the protagonist confides in and follows more, you have a very different story. I would like for my viewers to wonder about these "what-ifs." What if she had just chosen the other person? Would she be better off, or worse?

These differences will be highlighted in a more superficial way, as their personalities are far more aggressive than the therapist or protagonist. Their actions and costumes will emphasize their opposite natures.