IC as Protagonist?

questions
#1

In the story I’m working on, it seems like my IC is actually the Protagonist. She is the one driving the plot, where my MC is a Be-er that’s trying to get out of the situation (and can’t because, well, he’s a Be-er) until the final act, where he Changes, embracing the situation instead of trying to run away from it. The IC ups the stakes for the MC, causing the Change.

I was wondering if anyone could come up with examples of movies with this arrangement (especially IC as Protagonist) in the action-adventure genre that I could look to for ideas and inspiration.

NOTE: I used “situation” with a small S because my MC is actually in the Fixed Attitudes Domain. His Fixed Attitudes about the situation are his problem, not the situation itself.

#2

The movie The Client is a thriller that fits most of your parameters. The young boy Mark is the protagonist IC and his attorney is the Change MC Be-er. The analysis is part of the Dramatica examples shipped with the software.

Body Heat has some of the elements you speak of, with the IC as Protagonist (she’s a schemer), though it’s more of a noir film and the Change MC begins as a Do-er instead of a Be-er:

http://dramatica.com/analysis/body-heat

Eastern Promises is a thriller with the IC protagonist and a Change MC, though she is a Do-er. As a thriller, it’s a bit tricky to see what’s going on objectively until you’ve seen the whole story. Here is a link to the story analysis online:

http://dramatica.com/analysis/eastern-promises

Inside Man is a caper thriller with the same elements as Eastern Promises: IC protagonist & Change MC Do-er:

http://dramatica.com/analysis/inside-man

The Matrix: Same setup but more of an actioner – IC protagonist & Change MC Do-er:

http://dramatica.com/analysis/the-matrix

The Thomas Crown Affair: Same setup as above:

http://dramatica.com/analysis/the-thomas-crown-affair

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#3

Ah, The Matrix. I had thought about this movie early on, but for some reason forgot about it. Neo is pretty much along for the ride (sometimes literally) for most of the film. He only really springs into action once Morpheus is captured.

The Thomas Crown Affair is interesting. Does the original follow the same storyform as the remake?

I will see if Netflix has any of these for streaming. I own the DVD of The Matrix, but I’ve seen it enough times to know what’s going on. Green means go, red means stop, blue means lots of talking.

Anyway, thanks. I will continue to trudge along.

EDIT: Of course, none of these films are available for streaming on Netflix.

#4

I found a fairly recent IC-as-Protagonist film last night: Oculus. It’s obvious that Kaylie is the Protagonist, but her brother Tim is whom the audience is seeing everything through. Kaylie has an elaborate setup to prove the malevolence of the mirror, which has to be explained to Tim, who is sketpical of the whole thing after years of psychotherapy has given him other explanations for the events surrounding their parents’ deaths. This makes Kaylie the IC, since she has to re-convince her brother of what really happened.

On top of that, I think Tim is a Change Be-er and Kaylie is a Steadfast Do-er.

It’s also interesting in that the movie jumps between the present and the past. To me, it looks like the past segments make up more of a Tale than a Story, merely there to show backstory in an interesting way.

#5

Would The Producers be an example of IC as Protagonist? It’s pretty clear that Max is running the show, and that Leo is only a partner because he’s needed to doctor the books, which we don’t even really see him doing.

In The Producers, the MC seems to be a Sidekick or even a Skeptic, and in Oculus, the MC starts out as a Skeptic but becomes more of a Sidekick towards the end. They both also seem to have aspects of a Reason character. Leo comes to the logical conclusion that one could make a fortune on a flop if they oversold the play enough, and Tim offers reasonable explanations to every weird event Kaylie attributes to the mirror. Both MCs are also Change Be-ers.

It’s a very interesting dynamic.

#6

Yes, Max is the IC and the Protagonist.

#7

I’m pretty sure that Oculus is a tale. Once they start introducing the flashbacks, the filmmakers make it impossible for the protagonist to move forward because everything after that point is totally false or at least untrustworthy. They become pawns.

#8

I’m not too sure about that. It’s obviously a Failure-Bad story, since beyond a certain point the characters are trapped by their own untrustworthy perceptions and there is no escape once that happens, but that doesn’t stop them from trying. Each attempt to escape the mirror is prevented by another of the mirror’s tricks. They aren’t pawns so much as they are trapped by an antagonist that holds all the cards. The entire exercise was doomed from the start, but the characters didn’t know it and made earnest attempts to escape their fate.

Here’s the way I’m looking at the Throughlines currently:

OS Throughline: Situation – all the characters, past and present, are trapped by the mirror.
MC Throughline: Activity – Tim is trying to cope with the disturbing deaths of their parents.
IC Throughline: Manipulation – Kaylie has a plan to show how the mirror manipulates the people around it.
SS Throughline: Fixed Attitude – Kaylie is positive the mirror is responsible for the deaths of their parents, but Tim needs convincing, having quite different explanations fed to him over the past eleven years.

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#9

You may be right about your breakdown. Once I felt that the movie had no more forward momentum, I kind of wrote it off.

#10

The way I see it, there definitely is a point of no return, but the characters keep trying. They don’t realize they can’t get anywhere because the mirror is in control at that point, but it’s the MC’s action that brings about the end of the story. He tries to do what he thinks is best, but unfortunately, he’s been set up.

In that respect, it’s kind of like Arlington Road, where someone with good intentions is led into doing something bad because he is missing key information.

This brings up an interesting point about characters moving forward vs. thinking they’re moving forward, though. As I see it, though the OS is doomed to end in Failure, there’s still a chance for the MC Judgment to be Good, because the MC is still trying to work through his personal issues despite the fact that in the OS, he isn’t getting anywhere.

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#11

Just watched Oculus on Netflix and came up with the same breakdown as you. Just wondering if anyone went further with the analysis?

I have OS Issue: Destiny (the characters are locked in by the mirror’s spell).