I've been studying story for a long time now but have only recently given a lecture or two about the characteristics of a hero. I created the lecture in response to a speakers series in Minnesota and greatly enjoyed delivering the content.
I enjoyed it mostly because, well, a hero looks nothing like you'd think. And in a way, I found the revelations quite comforting.
Admittedly, this is no scientific analysis.
I basically studied a bunch of movies and tried to find common characteristics of the character that "saved the day." What I found, though, whether it was Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, Tommy inTommy Boy, Indiana Jones in Raiders Of The Lost Ark or Bridget Jones in Bridget Jones Diary, is that heroes are not exactly what they seem.
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I created the talk because intuitively we all understand ourselves, or rather experience life, as the protagonist in a story. Stories resonate with us, then, because they are cleaned up, clear versions of the dynamics of a human life.
We all want things.
But we face resistance, and we have to risk and fight to make those things happen. It's comforting to see romanticized, hyped versions of these plots play out on screen.
That said, what does it take to be a hero?
Here are 6 surprising commonalities of movie-screen heroes:
1. They are flawed – It's true. We think of heroes as people who have it all together but this doesn't work in a story. Perfect characters are not interesting. They're boring. Heroes have to have something in their lives that holds them back in order to be interesting. Tommy Boy thinks he's dumb, Luke Skywalker is told he's too young and Bridget Jones is an emotional wreck. So if you've got a flaw, you're in luck. You can be a hero in your story.
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