Now to focus on the Tearing Down story. Usually this is a Change story. Here we find the Main Character in a fully justified position at the beginning of the story. They have a major problem in their Backstory that is so embedded within them that they’re completely blind to it. They can’t solve it.
They may have a found a form of peace with it, something Dramatica calls a Balanced Inequity, but the problem still lies deep within them. They may or may not be aware of it, but the point is they can’t do anything about it.
The story then is the process of the Main Character “tearing down” those walls of justification to get to that problem - to shine the light on it.
Scrooge in A Christmas Carol is so set in his ways that he can’t imagine himself changing. But through the efforts of Marley and his ghost cohorts, Scrooge’s walls are torn down in such a way that change is made possible.
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4 responses so far ↓
1 Andrew // Jun 8, 2005 at 8:41 am
Great blog.
Do you know of any ‘tear down’ stories where the main character ends up being ruined by the process? In Scrooge we see him improved by the process, are there any films (maybe a noir or a classic tragedy) where these walls are used against the character to manipulate him/her into doing something they shouldn’t - thus leading to tragic consequences?
2 Chris Huntley // Jun 8, 2005 at 12:01 pm
What you refer to is a Change/Bad story, a story in which the Main Character changes but is left in a bad place (personally). Here are some examples found in the Dramatica software: Body Heat, The Godfather, Hamlet, Heavenly Creatures, Othello (and HOW!), Lawrence of Arabia, Platoon, and Unforgiven. Obviously, the degree to which the “tragedy” exists is moderated by the Story Outcome. Failure/Bad stories are classic tragedies. Success/Bad stories are personal tragedies.
3 arijjan // Jun 9, 2005 at 1:28 am
Jumping in,
So if I missed anything before just point me to it :>).
It Company of Men always strikes me as a beautiful example of a personal tragedie.
4 Chris Huntley // Jun 9, 2005 at 10:07 am
Excellent example.
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