What’s more important in a movie: the characters or the plot? If you’ve ever taken a screenwriting class, you’ve probably heard this question. That’s because those are the two major components, not just of a screenplay, but of any narrative. Whether you’re learning how to write screenplays or you’re just interested in movie analysis, knowing the answer can help you hone your craft and your critical, film-watching eye.
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Characters or Plot: What’s More Important?
Characters. That’s it. That’s the simple answer. They’re the heart of every story. If you feel satisfied and want to stop reading now, feel free. Otherwise, let’s dive a little deeper.
Most professors and screenplay experts will tell you both are important. That’s a go-to answer, and it’s also true. I mean, Tony Stark doesn’t become less of an egomaniac until he’s kidnapped and thrown into a cave (Character meet plot). But take away the character and what do we have: unknown people kidnap an unknown man and throw him into a cave. Great! Why do I care? How do I relate to these people?
Knowing nothing about the characters, isn’t this movie kinda boring?
You can say no, that’s okay - I’m not the king of screenwriting. If you want to watch a bunch of faceless people fight each other, go for it. Speaking of, let’s look at another example.
Story Time
Let’s take a different, familiar plot and remove the characters. But forget people. Without emotions, personality, or stakes - you know anything that actually makes a character - we might as well just replace everyone with blocks of cheese:
So, this block of cheese is with its friends, who are other blocks of cheese, when suddenly a bunch of mice storm into the building and take everyone hostage.
Already, I’ve given our villains of the story (the mice) a little more character than I wanted, making them the classic arch enemies of cheese. But, to further prove my point, it’s almost impossible to completely omit characters from a story before it gets super confusing.
Our main hero, the previously mentioned block of cheese (who is more protagonist-y than the others), decides to do something about it. It kicks the mice out of the building and saves all its cheese-block friends. End of film. Roll credits. Don’t forget to toss your popcorn on the way out.
What's the Point?
We’ve heard this story before, it’s a classic plot. I’m sure you’ve already got a movie you’re comparing it with. So, let’s talk about that.
Let’s make the block of cheese an off-duty cop on the brink of divorce. He wants to patch things up with his wife, so he goes to her office’s annual Christmas party. Evil men storm the building. Now he’s gotta save the day. You’ve guessed it: It’s Die Hard.
Now, let’s make the block of cheese a secret service agent who failed to save the President’s wife in a freak accident. Months later, terrorists storm the White House and threaten the President. He’s the only guy who can save the day, and hopefully clear his conscience at the same time. That’s right, it’s Olympus Has Fallen.
One more, less obvious example. Make the block of cheese a space traveler who’s just woken up 57 years in the future only to discover her daughter is now dead and gone. Now throw her onto a planet with a bunch of - um - extraterrestrials - and a young girl to defend and save. You’ve got Aliens.
Three relatively similar plots, yet three very different characters. Sure, the plots of each film might vary more than I’m hinting at, but at their core they’re still “block of cheese defeats mice to save other blocks of cheese.” We’ve just given you something to relate to; something to care about.
That’s the hook of characters: they’re human. They have life and they give your story life. They have wants, desires, and flaws. Without seeing those and understanding those, why bother watching? If John McClane was just saving a bunch of random people, I might still watch. After all, we love watching heroes triumph over villains. But what makes each film unique from last week’s issue of “Superhero Saves the Day”? Well, you guessed it, that would be the characters.
Opinions, Opinions
Now, once again, this is 100% just my opinion. I don’t make the rules, but really, there are no rules. Sure, if you take a screenwriting class, your professor might say differently. But those are rules to help you write a commercial success. After all, Hollywood’s a business.
But storytelling is still an art form. If someone wants to write the screenplay with the blocks of cheese, have at it. It might not make a lot of money, but you can’t say it’s not a story. If you love what you create or write, no one can take that away from you. If you think plot is the most important part of a script - well, I’ll disagree - but it doesn’t mean you’re wrong.
Overall, I think plot is important, but it’s just not as important as the characters. To me, characters are the lock and plot is the key you can fashion again and again until it fits. Many times, I’ve written a script with a killer plot. It’s got hooks, it’s got twists, but the characters were almost nonexistent. Without good characters, a script has no heart. Without a heart, nothing’s pumping the blood. So, what’s giving the story life?