Writing Strong Characters - The Important Distinction Between Want and Need

[Music] question there are nine movies behind me could you tell me what they all have in common and I'll give you a hint it's something that makes all of these films memorable and no it's not an actor a theme or even the fact they've all grossed an insane amount of money it's something far more important we'll get to that in a second but first when I was 12 years old I watched rocky for the first time and if I'm gonna be brutally honest with you I hated it I had just watched this two-hour movie only to find that spoiler alert he loses in the end I felt betrayed cheated that I was promised one movie but got another what twelve-year-old me didn't understand was that the movie wasn't about whether he wins or loses it was about something much greater it would only be 15 years later that I realized one of the fundamentals of great storytelling buried within the core of this film one that makes rocky a classic and not to mention Best Picture winner and the winner is rocky so in this episode I want to examine the importance of want versus need those movies I mentioned at the top well they all incorporated it's a device that allows for a fast-moving plot while also pushing a theme with emotional stakes so let's take a look at some of these differences and apply them using the matrix Lord of the Rings and Toy Story the first difference is that want is external need is internal the external want of a character is what drives the plot forward this is Frodo wanting to destroy the ring woody wanting to become Andy's favorite toy again or neo wanting to save humanity from the grips of our mechanical overlords need on the other hand is internal it is what our characters need to learn about themselves for them to grow and ultimately fulfill their wand this is Frodo realizing he needs Sam to complete his journey woody realizing the importance of sharing and neo realizing that he must believe in himself that he truly is the one you'll notice I used the word realizing here a lot and we'll come back to that later the obstacles of wants and eggs are also external and internal wanting to destroy the ring huge army in your way wanting to be Andy's number one toy new cooler toy in the way wanting to save humanity from killer machines a bunch of agents myths the obstacles for needs are more internal they usually come from the characters themselves holding them back in some way from being their best self which we'll talk about in our next difference a want is known to your character Frodo neo and woody all know what they want but the need is more complicated it usually isn't known to them or if it is that it's often rejected Frodo rejects Sam leaving him to go on the journey alone neo doesn't believe he's the one Woody's quest to win back Andy only results in him being ostracized by the other toys and pushed further from his goal he couldn't handle buzz cutting in on your playtime good you woody didn't want to face the fact that buzz just might be Andy's new favorite toy woody hasn't yet learned that he needs to share if he's truly going to live a fulfilling life he's in essence a sheriff who doesn't share these are the internal obstacles I refer to in my first point third wants Drive plot needs Drive theme going to Mordor traveling into the matrix winning back Andy all push the narrative plot of the film's whereas need is the emotional drive it is the theme what the film is trying to say that ultimately gives us that satisfying ending whether it be the power of friendship believing in yourself [Music] or the importance of sharing that isn't to say a film can't have more than one theme but I digress forth wants are the fun needs are the heart battles explosions hijinks these are all the results of the characters journeying motivated by their external want needs on the other hand are the emotional pull those moments where characters and the audience connect v watts are unique to the character needs are universal let's compare Lord of the Rings to Rocky these two worlds couldn't be more different from one another Rocky's want revolves around a boxing match while Frodo's is saving all of middle-earth both of those are unique to their character but their needs on the other hand are similar they both need the love support and friendship of someone else if they are truly going to win the day and there are countless other films which share this theme it's this Universal connection or these universal themes that endear us to film now that we've identified five basic differences between want and need what happens when a movie doesn't have one of them Transformers including most of the films in the franchise is an example of a film with a strong clear want but no real need how'd you know that as far as transformers is concerned I'm guessing you didn't come out of any of those films emotionally move yeah no I'm cool you know a female is working on my engine that's because of the absence of a strong need on the other hand you have a film like Manchester by the sea it's filled with emotional scenes a dysfunctional character with a tremendous need but the plot is lacking a clear want we follow Casey Affleck's character around for two hours and nothing much happens his character is reactive and not proactive in achieving a goal which a want would have given him and when a movie doesn't have either a want or a need well you got Tammy partly job so great films are able to marry these two concepts into one creating both an emotionally and captivating film but let's dive a little deeper specifically with the need a need is of particular importance because it's complex it's part of our psychology as Jon Truby writes in the anatomy of story the knee is what the hero must fulfill within himself in order to have a better life it usually involves overcoming his weakness and changing or growing in some way in Tootsie Michael must overcome his weakness of being an arrogant selfish liar towards women in order to become a better person and how does he do this it's only by becoming a woman can he realize the error of his ways and change in Silence of the Lambs Clarice's weakness is that she is inexperienced suffering from haunting childhood memories she's a woman in a man's world her want is to stop Buffalo Bill but her need is to overcome the ghosts of her pasts and gain respect as a professional in a man's world want and need even though they have a lot of differences shouldn't be distinct from one another they are one interconnected web of desires and conflict bouncing off one another in the end coming together as a unified whole creating a satisfying story but the importance of want versus need goes beyond film it says something about ourselves about humanity it can teach us about our own wants and desires so back to rocky when I was a kid I wanted nothing more than to see him win but as I grew older I learned that's not what I really needed stories are more than the good guy winning all the time they speak universal truths it's about learning something greater than the story itself that what we really need might be in front of us but you just haven't visualized [Music] hey if you liked what you saw make sure to LIKE subscribe and check out the other videos below [Music]

Channel: Think Story

Views: 417,155

Rating: 4.9671922 out of 5

Keywords: want vs. need, want versus need, want vs need, want and need in film, truby, screenwriting, strong characters, building strong characters, character arc, character arcs, character want, character need, weiland, writing interesting characters, how to make us care about a character, writing characters, character development in writing, character development, how to write a character, how to write characters, how to write a good character, how to make a good character

Id: Zci-54NbeMo

Length: 8min 2sec (482 seconds)

Published: Thu Dec 28 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/ForBblloonnddee]

This is awesome! Great analysis!

[u/ummmmmmmmmmmmmno]

You had me until you tried to make the argument that Manchester By the Sea is somehow a flawed film because "nothing much happens". That's such a reductive and boring perspective on cinema.

[u/This_The_Last_Time]

What bothers me a bit in the video, is that it seems to be "The Anatomy of Story by John Truby: Illustrated". I have read the book, as many others have, and the video seems to just say exactly what Truby also says. Even the examples are straight from the book, down to exact quotes. Truby is a smart man, but the video seems a bit lazy by piggybacking on him so much.

YouTube has a ton of great video essayists and it's hard to stand out. So I'd say to the creator that keep digging to find your own voice.

[u/Hiimacosmocoin]

Great job thanks for this!

[u/onex7805]

The Matrix

Great Protagonist

Umm...

[u/WaywardWriter]

I adore the Matrix, but I've never found Neo particularly interesting as a character.

[u/GriddyFilms]

I used to think one of the only reasons to read Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat was for his chapter on this topic. But this goes into much more detail and doesn’t treat the audience like idiots the way Snyder tends to. I just subbed on YouTube and am looking forward to going through more of these videos.