Don’t be jealous.
I cooked a pizza.
ALL. BY. MYSELF.
Yup. We’re talking FROM SCRATCH.
Many a moon ago, I gave up on being a chef. I couldn’t even get scrambled eggs right. And then I found Bon Appetit’s Youtube Channel. Cue chorus of angels singing. I’ve never come across a Youtube channel that’s had more likable personalities than Bon Appetit. Brad, Claire, Molly, Carla. Every single person on that channel manages to be knowledgeable, humble, and likable (let’s put a bookmark in “likable” as that’s going to be big theme in this Mish Mash). Since I’ve found this channel, I’ve been a non-stop recipe binging beast, making things that I did not know I was capable of. If you’ve ever been scared to cook, I suggest this channel. They have figured out how to make cooking unintimidating.
Speaking of, I have identified Bon Appetit’s videos as a new genre called “Learnertainment.” It’s a Youtube-specific type of entertainment that offers genuine instruction in an entertaining manner. If you’re a gym rat, why watch some boring bench press video when you can watch the Buff Dudes do it? It’s another example of the fractionation of media. Why pay $15 to go see a bunch of kids swearing for two hours when you can get your entertainment fix in watching five Youtube videos?
The reason I keep drilling this into your head is to remind you just how good a script needs to be in order to drag people away from all these other forms of entertainment, which as we’re seeing, are multiplying by the day! Good Boys is getting some good press and while I’ll admit launching an original comedy without any names to the top of the box office isn’t easy (you try it!), it’s still a 20 million dollar opening. In a time where nobody blinks at a 100 million dollar opening, do we care about 20 million anymore? I do think this means R-rated comedy specs will be hot for the next six months, though. So if you’ve got the perfect R rated comedy, time to start writing!
As for the rest of the week’s opening films, there were, unfortunately, no breakouts. I remember downloading a sample of the novel, “Where’d You Go, Bernadette,” when it came out. It was an odd book where everything was written in e-mails and texts and social media. As a result, it wasn’t easy to get into. So the more I read, the more I answered the title’s question with, “I don’t care.” Needless to say, I’m not surprised it tanked. And what is Richard Linklater doing directing this movie? Does he have a variable interest mortgage rate that kicked in recently?
Angry Birds and 47 Meters also opened to about 10 million each. I thought the first Angry Birds was surprisingly funny. The premise of this bird dealing with anger issues was explored well. But I’m not sure this franchise was meant for longevity. 47 Meters – hey, shark movies sell. We’ve said it here a million times. I’m guessing they wanted more than a 10 million dollar opening. But the marketing didn’t give anyone a “must see” vibe. Finally, there was Blinded by the Light, which feels like an exec from the year 1997 was accidentally sent forward in time to make this deal. Blinded by the Light was purchased for 15 million dollars after it debuted at Sundance. 15 MILLION! It is a movie about a Pakistani boy in the 1980s who learns to deal with life through Bruce Springsteen music. Uhhh, I’m all for originality. But if there was such thing as too much originality, this concept would qualify. I hear this is good but it’s WAY too weird of a concept to have a 2000 theater release. A lot of people who work at the studios are so out of touch with anyone living inland. This is the kind of movie that only does well in New York and LA.
Moving on to more positive vibes…
I’m obsessed with the HBO show, Succession. I just did a dialogue piece about it Thursday. So if you haven’t checked that out, you have detention for the rest of the week.
The reason I’m obsessed with this show is that it features a bunch of patently unlikable people. And one of the things I always talk about on the site is that audiences need to root for your hero(es) in order for them to like your script. And the easiest way to get people to root for your hero is to make them likable. But the flip side of that is if you can make a movie or a show good with an unlikable lead (or leads), you are taken more seriously as a writer. These are the shows and movies that get all the awards and I think that’s why so many writers travel down this path, even though the path is dark and often leads to death.
The hierarchy goes something like this. Try to make your hero likable in some way. That way, we’re sure to root for them. If you can’t make them likable, make them relatable. Lester Burnham in American Beauty was a man going through a mid-life crisis who just wanted to find happiness. That was relatable to a lot of people. If you can’t make them relatable, make them interesting. Louis Bloom from Nightcrawler wasn’t very likable and definitely wasn’t relateable. But he was interesting. The problem is, each step down this ladder increases the difficulty of writing. So while we have a few breakout success stories of unlikable but interesting characters, most of the time, when writers write an unlikable hero, we don’t like the movie. Check out the 2002 movie, Rules of Attraction, to see the ultimate embodiment of this. We hated every character in that film. So of course we hated the movie.
And yet Succession somehow succeeds. It’s about a Rupert Murdoch like media tyrant who’s given birth to a bunch of selfish narcissistic a-holes who are so out of touch with reality that the only thing they know how to do is hurl insults at one another. I mean I just watched an episode where Logan (the Rupert Murdoch guy) hits a child. This is the kind of stuff that goes on in this show. Why do I keep coming back?
For starters, the characters are routinely funny. And one of my big rules for unlikable characters is that if you can make them funny, you stand a better chance at getting people to overlook their flaws. We all have a dark side in us and we tend to explore that through humor. So if you’ve got a character who spews out the same kind of inappropriate jokes as your best friend would, you’re going to like that person on some level. And in Succession, everybody has a cutting wit that makes every conversation the genesis for a potential gut-busting laugh.
This is why whenever I give notes to writers writing unlikable characters, I encourage them to give the characters a sense of humor. Writers, on the whole, tend to be frustrated people. And they often use their characters to unleash those frustrations. But if you’re not careful, it can come off very, “Bitter basement dweller ranting about the world.” Or “Pent up angry guy ready to shoot up a school.” People don’t relate to characters like that. The mere act of providing them an outlet through humor, however, can make them a lot more attractive.
Also, if you look closer, creator Jesse Armstrong does a good job counter-balancing the unlikable traits of his characters. The more unlikable the character is, the bigger the counter-balance. For example, Roman (Kieren Caulkin), is a terrible selfish person. So Armstrong makes him the funniest of the group. Roman is an unfiltered motormouth who just likes to have fun in an argument. Or Tom, Logan’s daughter’s fiance, isn’t the nicest guy. But his desperation to be liked by the family is endearing. Or Kendall, the successor son, is a cruel guy who wants to rule the world. But he’s also extremely vulnerable and, at his core, cares only about his father’s acceptance.
The point is, the writer is calculating how these characters will come off and counter-balancing that negativity with things we traditionally root for in people. A lot of beginner writers don’t know how to calculate un-likability. Or, if they do, don’t know all the positive traits available to them that would evolve the character into someone more likable. But I’ll be the first to admit, this is a dangerous game Jesse Armstrong is playing. He’s producing a Shakespeare play on a tightrope. The margin for error is so thin that the writing alone doesn’t guarantee success. You have to hope that all the actors understand the characters as well. Which is why you usually see these shows and movies crumble. Maybe that’s why I like it so much. It does so many things you’re “not supposed to do” and yet somehow thrives.
That’s all for today. However, I’m going to leave you with a tease for the September Newsletter. There’s been a lot of Star Wars news leaking lately and I have more opinions than a geriatric tauntaun at the Hoth senior rec center. I have to talk about it at some point. And with Disney’s D23 Expo happening this weekend, I expect there to be even more Star Wars news coming soon (might we get a second Rise of Skywalker trailer?). So it will be a Star Wars heavy September Newsletter. Seeya then!
