I Just Wanna Be Me!

So... I'm getting my 4 year old daughter ready for bed last night, and from the blue she declares "Daddy, I just wanna be naked!". Probably no cause for alarm, but as a parent my Future Adult Industry Alarm went off. I ask her "why" she wants to be naked. Imagine my surprise when the answer turned out to be deep insight into Character, Motivation and Theme:

"Because I just wanna be me. Did you ever notice in movies everyone says they just want to be them? Well, I just wanna be me!"

She then proceeds to rattle off examples of movies she's seen - Tarzan, Little Ponies, Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, etc. - where the main characters wanted nothing more than to be or express their true selves. That got me thinking...

There are many different ways to analyze a story - the Hero's Journey, Aristotle's Poetics, the Dramatica method, the Gozzi/Polti theory of 36 plots, ad infinitum. But it seems to me that the simple exclamation "I Just Wanna Be Me" is a thematic sentiment that beats at the heart of most modern filmic story structure. Not all, but most. Even if it isn't at the very heart of every story, the sentiment is usually something the protagonist or one of the other main characters is going through.

Outwardly, they are fully clothed - sometimes armor-clad - in layers of pretend. They pretend to be the happy husband/wife, the loyal friend, the good employee, when in fact what they long for is something entirely different. They want to shed the clothes, shed the armor and let people see them for what they really are. They wanna be naked.

It seems to me this is the essence of the term "Inner Conflict", and if at least one of your main characters doesn't have some form of Inner Conflict, your story is bound to be shallow and therefore, not emotionally effecting.

In my work, one of the first questions I ask myself while outlining my story - BEFORE actually writing - is "what is my main character's Inner Conflict?". The reason I start here is that Inner Conflict deepens a character and deepens the story. It makes for a more complex, well rounded and realistic telling of the story, because we can all identify with Inner Conflict. Audiences empathize with flawed characters much more than with characters with no flaws/weaknesses/doubts. Yes, watching 007 or Jason Bourne kick ass is fun and gratifying, but on the whole not really emotionally involving.

But perhaps the most important reason defining the Inner Conflict is crucial before I begin writing is that Inner Conflict also leads directly to defining your THEME. In my opinion, most poorly written stories are poorly written because they lack clarity of theme. Most amateur screenplays I've read lack theme completely. To fully explore Theme in your story, you need a main character that is flawed, one that has Inner Conflict. It is through confronting this Inner Conflict that Theme is explored. Doesn't really matter if they win or lose, but for an emotionally engaging, fully fleshed out story, your main characters must have an Inner Conflict they must confront.

Same concept, different medium...

Nine Inch Nails - The Big Come Down (Lights In The Sky Tour, official footage) from Esther Derive on Vimeo.