functional role

Marshall 2022-04-20 09:01:41

When writing a story, you always need to arrange a person in the story. Originally, the main story did not have him, but when the author needs the protagonist to express his inner thoughts, he cannot let the protagonist do a live broadcast like an internet celebrity and keep humming to the camera. Instead, someone next to him "seemed casually" and asked: What do you think? Then the protagonist can act as a kind old leader, patiently explain to the person next to him, and let the audience listen to his thoughts by the way.

It's not that the protagonist can't look at the camera and say it himself, but doing a well-done movie is a little bit avant-garde, like the end of Mike Figgis' "Leaving Las Vegas" (1995), which I love; well done. The bad result is not simple and rude, but extremely rude.

A functional role is like a crutch. Without a crutch, people with inconvenient legs and feet cannot walk steadily, but from the outside, the crutch is obviously not a part of the human body. A good writer will give these features to a biographical character, wrapping the crutch like a human leg, using lightweight polymeric materials, etc., which are comfortable to use and help you walk like a fly. "Wrestle! In "Dad", not one, but two (holy shit!) functional roles are arranged: the heroine's sister and the heroine's cousin. Not to mention the lightweight polymeric materials, these two characters are simply made of concrete piles with exposed steel bars. They are really strong, and they are really inconvenient to use. In addition to comparing with the heroine how miserable it is for the heroine's sister not to listen to her father's words, the heroine's cousin, apart from reading narration and being a clown, has been wandering in the movie the rest of the time.

When I saw that the heroine's father was locked up, I was sincerely happy for the heroine's cousin: he could finally change the course of the main story in a while, and he could go and release his father halfway through the game. As a result, the screenwriter would rather ask a temporary actor to open the door for Dad rather than give his cousin a chance to perform (holy shit again!). Using two people to play the role of less than half of the functional role, the writing efficiency is a bit low. If I were to write this story, I would definitely cut off at least two-thirds of the roles of these two people.

And the characters themselves aren't great either. I don't want to say anything about the heroine's sister. After all, she is a character that exists in reality. She is also a gold medal wrestler. It's not a good idea to cut it off. If the heroine's cousin is written like this, it is recommended to read Kurosawa Akira's "Ran" (1985), the jester, see how the master wrote the harlequin. Two days ago, the white universe in the 3-day movie "The Whistling Youth" directed by Han Tian was also a functional role. As a result, the screenwriter gave this role the biggest tear in the whole film, and Qu Zheming played this role. The characters really earned it.

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Extended Reading

Dangal quotes

  • Mahavir Singh Phogat: You have to fight in a way that people will remember you. If you win silver, sooner or later, you will be forgotten. If you win gold, you will be an example, And examples are given, child... not forgotten. See those girls? If you win tomorrow, you will not win alone. Millions of girls like them will win along with you. It will be a victory for every girl who is considered inferior to boys; who is forced into household chores, who is married off to just raise children. Tomorrow's match is the most important one. Because tomorrow, we are not fighting just that Australian, but all those people who think lesser of girls.

  • [from trailer]

    Mahavir Singh Phogat: All along, I was desperate for a son so he could win a gold in wrestling for India. But what didn't occur to me was that gold is gold. Whether won by a boy or a girl.