Dialogue Dive: How Stan Edgar Became Homelander's Daddy

hey guys I just finished watching genv and the ending made me remember just like how much I missed homelander in my life and that's about all I'm going to say for like the ending of the show as far as spoilers go I went on to fill that homelander size Gap in My Heart by rewatching a bunch of scenes from the show and I realized that some of his best scenes are right alongside another immensely interesting character Stan Edgar the CEO of V the dialogue that these two share between each other and just like the overall construction of the scenes are actually phenomenal and I think they'd be a great learning opportunity for other writers hoping to improve their own dialogue see like there's a ton of stuff happening underneath the hood concerning the writing of these scenes that are not easy to recognize if you don't know what you're looking for luckily I've been working as a script and novel editor as well as a novelist myself for pretty much a decade now so hopefully I can break down some of these elements into easy understandable pieces that you can can use yourself this dialogue dive will be a tad different from previous ones though as instead of focusing on just one scene we will be focusing on the writing of power dynamics through multiple scenes this is because while homelander and Stan Edgar have incredibly engaging scenes they actually only share four moments together and each one beautifully progresses the power dynamic between them and to that end we will be breaking down four components of dialogue-based narrative power dynamics and the best way to do that is to start with what power actually is luckily we are given a pretty good definition early on real power isn't this it's the ability to bend the world to your will you would decide what the seven do this is pretty much right on the money especially when talking about narratives from a literary perspective this concept is called agency agency is the ability for a character to affect the conflict in a narrative if a character is constantly reacting to things happening to them they have low agency if a character is doing things that Force others to react they have high agency now typically in fiction agency and therefore power often does come from characters being stronger faster and more destructive this is because through the use of these abilities a character can bend the world to their will think of literally like any powerful vill oai Thanos Aku and you will see how their abilities give them the power to shape the world homelander fits into this category because he sees himself as strong enough to force others into submission he sees himself as having power Ashley don't look at him look at me Ashley look at me sorry sorry however a character does not need supernatural abilities to have power or agency they only need to have the resources to affect the world around them and by extension the conflict this is where VA CEO Stan Edgar is even with no literal superpowers he controls the most powerful company on the planet along with basically the US government and shapes the world through those means this then indicates that no matter how individually fast strong or Invincible a character is if they cannot use those resources to affect the conflict or the world they do not have agency or power in the narrative these fundamentals are how we will go about understanding homelander and Stan Edgar's power dynamics and how the dialogue Alters it through their continued interactions now the second element that we will break down is the actual construction of power dynamics between the characters let's look at how homelander and Stan are introduced in relation to each other use that fear to control us morning right Samantha busy day morning homelander at the end of the day to what do I owe the pleasure well you never come up to 99 so figured I'd pay you a visit now you probably noticed a lot here just in 10 seconds homelander barges into Stan's office without an appointment and then brushes off the secretary then homelander says because Stan never comes to see him he is coming to see Stan and finally we can see that Stan Edgar's dialogue is very cordial and respectful even during the rude intrusion this may all seem small but it's dialogue that allows homelander to play on the perceived power Dynamic both that he and the audience perceives these opening few moments are literally a power move he's entering into Stan space and demanding his time and attention invasion of territory is like the most basic Primal form of authority display we continue to see homelander press his continued perceived power over Stan 2 he puts his feet up on Stan's furniture and then threatens him with the collapse of the company how do you think your shareholders would feel about that all this dialogue and all these actions come back to the fundamentals that we discussed homelander in this moment believes he has the power to bend the world to his will he believes that he has complete control over Stan Edgar because vot as a company relies on soups and homelander is the best soup of them all homelander believes there would be no Vault without him of course of course you know how important you are to everyone in Vault no no s I am VA this is why he's acting so pompous and threatening and to start this interaction favored towards homelander was a really smart choice by the writers see we Watchers are automatically going to think that in any situation that homelander in he holds the power almost without fail he's used his strength and Terror to force individual interactions to his will so going into the scene with Stan Edgar who's literally being introduced into the show for the first time I'm pretty sure we Watchers would obviously think the same thing again Stan's just a guy sure he runs VA but he's literally just a guy what this initial interaction between homelander and Stan does is set up a phenomenal moment of subversion leading to Stan completely owning homelander down the line the writers used dialogue to make us expect X while what they really gave us was y and because of us experiencing the first half of the scene with homelander holding the power the second half when Edgar takes control appears even more dramatic this is something that I tell my clients all the time the deeper you dig into the drama initially the higher your climax will be later the first thing that Stan Edgar does to establish power isn't even dialogue but it's arguably the most important moment he simply doesn't react homelander the most dangerous man in the world mind you you threatened him and VA but Stan Edgar simply allows him to sit in silence sometimes a lack of dialogue is just as important as the dialogue itself here by refusing to react to homelander threat Stan Edgar is refusing to allow homelander to shape him to his will homelander is looking for Stan to fear him something will'll get into later but Stan doesn't give it to him Stan Edgar instantly shifts the power Dynamic by establishing that homelander has no power over him he signals to homelander that he has no agency in this moment the next thing that Stan Edgar does to raise himself in the power Dynamic is to ignore whatever homelander was saying and starts telling a completely different story this is actually a tried and true power move by villains and powerful characters that you've seen many times before you ever hear the tragedy of Darth plagas the wise well you look nervous is it the scars you want to know how I got them when a character goes into a monologue about a story or anecdote it's a dialogue tool to show that they are commandeering complete control of the conversation what do you know about Frederick VA excuse me Frederick bot redneck and hillbilly strolling along Country Lane talking about the Garden of Eden the redneck drinking whiskey as he walks believes that Adam and Eve had have a right to take that out characters who do moves like this are generally meant to be perceived as wise or cunning which Stan Edgar is both of but at the same time these anecdotes always relate to the initial power struggle or conflict at hand Stan Edgar's Story by revealing vot's history and what what they really want their goals it sets up dialogue for him to demolish all the power homelander thought he had in the dynamic after all you run a superhero company and uh you never check in with your superheroes do you you are under a misconception that we are a superhero company we are not what we are really is a pharmaceutical company I am VA you are not our most valuable asset that would be our confidential formula for compound be like uh I don't know around the hiring of that girl for example you wish to be consulted on Stormfront oh why not I don't have to consult you about Stormfront or anything else these lines of dialogue aren't just Stan Edgard being mean that's not how power dynamics are established what these lines of dialogue do is take away homelander power to affect the conflict or in other words it takes away his agency through Stan Edgar's dialogue both the audience and homelander realized that Stan Edgar holds all the power to bend the world to his will in this power Dynamic Stan is on top even though homelander is more physically powerful this is how a power Dynamic is established one character can enact change in the narrative while another cannot as I tell my clients the process by which this is achieved in each of your individual stories will of course be unique but this scene lays down the general guidelin L for using dialogue to accomplish this the next element we will break down is how the writers utilize Stan Edgar's elevated position in the power Dynamic to keep homelander in check and it all stems from just a few lines in the initial scene here they are you wish to be consulted on Stormfront oh why not I signed off on all the rest I'm the leader of the seven for which you have my undying respect see I don't think I do one of the key aspects of dialogue is the fact that it acts as a window into characterization whenever a character uses dialogue to express their position of power they also conversely Express their vulnerabilities this is because whatever makes the character strong if absent would leave them vulnerable for homelander he delivered dialogue which indicated that part of his identity and Authority came from selecting all the members of the seven as Captain homelander lives to be the leader of the superhero group and he takes it as a personal affront when leadership is undermined this is the entire reason he barged into Stan Edgar's office in the first place unfortunately for homelander though Stan Edgar realized this and honed in on the weakness homelander unwittingly conveyed and he did this by eventually robbing homelanders control of the seven the very thing he lived for but you have restored a wholesome trustworthy image to the company when we needed it the most which is why the board wants to make you co- captain of the seven what co- Captain Stan Edgar is doing this power play to purposefully publicly humiliate homelander he wants homelander to know his place you know that he can he can probably hear you good I hope he does Starlight real power isn't this and the reason this is happening is because St Edgar has a very particular way of seeing the world and we know this through dialogue when homelander bursts into his office Stan took that as a challenge to his authority in the power Dynamic Stan Edgar felt that this challenge could not go unpunished or else the power Dynamic would shift he lays out his ideology blatantly to Vicky Newman later we never go after homelander it is practically federal policy no one is going after anyone just a gentle reminder of who's in charge I assume you saw him on Cameron Coleman this morning he's testing boundaries and when that happens you have to discipline them like well like a parent all this is important because homelander has control over the seven as a substitute for his lack of control over the outer World effectively being the leader of the seven gives him agency because he can bend its members to his will it is a South Korean delicacy holy Timothy oh my God it's Timothy he's my friend I uh I can't eat him I'm not going to eat him oh I'm not going to deep Timothy is delicious we see this time and time again he will simply make members do things because he can he likes having control over them no more lies go ahead and scream so Stan Edgar as both a power move and a punishment takes this control away from homelander a great example of this is in their third scene together at a rehearsal if Starlight doesn't want to sing she doesn't sing Stan what a surprise our testing shows that 76% of likely viewers will make every effort to watch tonight for Starlight as for you 53% might DVR this is one of homelanders lowest moments so far because not only does he have no agency in the real world he can not even bend his constructed world to his will Stan Edgar has completely robbed him of everything that gave him power and purpose and he did so by focusing on homelanders strengths that also acted as his vulnerabilities however the street runs both ways and as any well-paced narrative would do homelander was given his time for Revenge by using the same methods against Stan Edgar just as homelander revealed his vulnerabilities so did Stan Edgar well let me remind you you slipped compound V to terrorists all over the globe to get you and your cronies into National Defense but maybe at the cost of destroying the whole company I don't think I appreciate your tone sir VA as a company its shareholders and its stocks are what's important to Stan and even though it's only hinted at in the scene the other most important thing to him is his adoptive daughter Victoria Newman so homelander does the exact same thing that standed to him he takes away everything that gave him power he OU him from vot publicly shames him and gets his own daughter to betray him homelander has bravely come forward as a whistleblower and provided evidence of crimes committed within bot by CEO Stan Edgar and in the final scene with homelander and Stan Edgar together we see homelander arrive to gloat to see Stan just as pathetic as he was based upon everything that we've broken down with Stan Edgar's resources to change the world and affect the conflict gone homelander should clearly be on top in terms of the power Dynamic Stan Edgar is as weak as he's ever been but even so we get an exact repeat of the power dynamics in the very first scene but that does not mean that vot can use that fear to control us morning Sor that's all right Samantha busy day morning homelander you do have a Hell A View From up here I'll give you that you should see it from space how do you think your shareholders would feel about that your entire life is imploding and it's as if you're reading John Grisham while you're pining at the Golden Globes we are busy running around like maniacs trying to clean up the mess you made eventually probably soon the world will recognize you for the pitiful disappointment you are I don't have to consult you about Stormfront or anything else you are not worthy of my resp respect you are not a God that you are under a misconception that we are a superhero company we are not what we are really is a pharmaceutical company and you are not our most valuable asset you are simply bad product Stan Edgar somehow remains dominant in the power Dynamic even with all of his strengths taken away this scene and the sequence of dialogue is super cool for two reasons firstly it reveals just what type of antagonist Stan Edgar really is what I mean by this is that in many fictions where the antagonist is defeated or at least stripped of their power we get to see who they are truly conflict always reveals true character and the more serious the conflict the more genuine the character revelation will be some villains only maintain their composure and imposing demeanor through Power their true fragility and weakness is showcased when they lose their Authority and power great examples of this are L Yagami and aula who both descend into raving Madness and emotional collapses when they are defeated we see how pathetic and unenviable they actually are without the power to prop them up conversely though there are some characters that when defeated maintain their confidence in composure because it did not come from external power but from who they were as people spoilers for breaking bad I guess like 10 years later but the example of this that I think is best comes from Gus Fring even in death with his face literally halfway blown off he remains calm cool and collected because that's simply who he was other characters in this Paradigm include Elena Tyrell just before her death or Lord Becket just before his all this is to say that homelander assumed that because Stan no longer had power to bend the world to his will at least on a large scale level Stan would be growling and weak and pathetic this would finally give homelander the opportunity to to bend stand to his will to have agency and Power in the dynamic however what homelander discovered was that Stan Edgar's power did not come from Vault or external resources Stan Edgar's power came from his own self-certainty and Authority this is why homelander could never have power over Stan the beautiful writing of the boys is that homelander is literally the most powerful man in the world but is also deeply tragically insecure and has no feeling of self-worth or self-confidence little respect Stan something you should have given me what good would that do where would it even go but to the bottomless gaping pit of insecurity you call a soul his self-identity is completely made up of how others view him because of this he must manufacture confidence through his control of others Stan Edgar though is completely self-secure and needs no external validation for his authority and because of this because estan knows that homelander is weak and pathetic underneath his bravado Stan doesn't fear homelander or anything he could do to him unbelievable 80 over 60 your entire life is imploding and it's as if you're reading John Grisham homelander in Stan Edgar's narrative power Dynamic is the classic example of the man who must tell everyone he is strong versus the man who knows himself that he is strong no s I am VOD I am the king I will punish you any man who must say I am the king is no true king no way I mean you saw it he can get as pissy as he wants as long as I am CEO of v he's under control the king is TI see him to his Chambers come along I'm not tired we have so much to celebrate I believe you have a premiere of tech night lives to go to but that then brings us to the million dooll question doesn't it why doesn't homelander just kill Stan Edgar as much as we talk about power dynamics and agency when you get down to it homelander is literally more powerful than Stan we've seen him kill people before plenty of them so what stops him now well let's break this down because this is the fourth and final dialogue element that we'll get into what the dialogue of all these scenes that wi over does is continue and deepen the theme of homelander childish stunted mindset and I don't mean that like figuratively I mean the show has literally set him up to have the B of A Child because of the experiments performed on him when he was a kid homelander never mentally progressed into an adult and this theme of his character was perfectly showcased in his relationship with meline Stillwell in season 1 remember homelander sees himself as VA unlike all the other soups he has no alternate identity we never see him out of his costume his identity as an individual is inextricably merged with VA and the agulation it provides him therefore when meline Stillwell becomes his Handler at VA his authority figure in the work place he saw her as his mother homelander could not separate his corporate identity from his personal identity because they are one and the same which means that he looked to meline to provide him the attention and affection that he did not get from a real maternal authority figure the whole reason he ended up killing meline was because of jealousy and insecurity over her sharing her affection with another child why do I explain all this because this is the character Theme That Was Then furthered in season 2 because where homelander viewed meline as his corporate and therefore personal Mother season 2 sees him viewing Stan Edgar as his corporate father Stan is the CEO of vot after all the quote unquote head of the family homelander entire conflict with Stan is that of an insecure rebellious teen striving for the approval of his father but never getting it and again this is not a hypothetical interpretation of the literature like the curtains were blue the four scenes we watched were filled with dialogue that established a parent child relationship our most valuable asset that would be our confidential formula for compound V which you man out that you are released into the wild I don't think I appreciate your tone sir so how about I just walk Stan how would that R after the pr hole you dug for yourself this past year I'd say you're lucky we're putting on this farce at all but hey it's your part you can cry if you want to he's testing boundaries and when that happens you have to discipline them like well like a parad work you know that he can he can probably hear you good I hope he does truie you're not even pathetic you're you're just nothing then why are you still here looking for my approval like I'm your daddy and even if I were what would there be to approve of and I think all this dialogue along with homelander reaction to it gives us an answer as to why homelander doesn't kill Stan like he killed meline or others homelander is so insecure that he literally does not view himself as powerful and furthermore homelander is intimidated by Stan Edgar's self-security he said as much oh God you want to know something I used to be intimidated by you I did and now I look at you I'm just I I have no idea why the only people at homelander aggressed across the first two seasons were people that feared him homelander had no concept of personal power and authority his perception of authority and power came not from his own strength but from how he could make others feel weak and once he perceives you as weak and fearful of him it's over that's it he he will kill you this is why homelander barged into Stan's office and threatened him and stared he was waiting to see Stan's reaction listening to his heartbeat he was waiting and searching for a crack and Stan's self-security but there wasn't one he does it again after ousting Stan from vot he's searching for craving for reaction so he can see Stan as weak but he never gets an opening the dialogue of the scenes we are given is so well written that we perfectly understand both of these men and where they stand in the power Dynamic homelander can't kill Stan because he can only be validated through the fear or agulation of others and since Stan Edgar feels nothing for homelander saved for pity and disgust homelander can't act against him cuz he literally feels inferior to him the dialog contained within the scene does a great job of executing both the overt and subtle aspects of the power dynamic between homelander and Stan along with furthering the character Theme that homelander has a childlike nature I hope that by break breaking all these components down you all can become more comfortable with the execution of dialogue and grow more confident with your own writing if you find dialog breakdowns like this cool check out my website to hire me on to look at your own work or schedule coaching sessions I'd love to work with you guys I will leave links in the description below check out my patreon if you want to help too and buy my books if you want to see how I write stories myself as always it was a pleasure and I'll talk to you all again [Music] soon [Music] for

Channel: Savage Books

Views: 81,592

Keywords: the boys, the boys homelander, gen v homelander, amazon prime video, dialogue dive game of thrones

Id: 4JApuftZAgc

Length: 27min 44sec (1664 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 15 2023