True to life

How characters are developed in a story is many times the breaking line between good stories and great ones.  The writer has to keep in mind her or his purpose in writing, balance the action of the character with that of the conflicts involving the entire mix of the other characters, figure where the character needs to start in order to reach the end of the story in the condition the character needs to end up, and remain static and true to her or his colors or change in accordance with the dynamic required by the purpose, setting, and overall direction of the action.

In the movie St. Vincent, the main character has been smartly and intricately developed.  Vincent, called Vin throughout the movie, starts out as a man who has accepted his place in the great scheme of things.  He is portrayed with habits that would normally be unacceptable to “decent” people.  He smokes – a lot- and drinks to excess when the occasion calls for it.  He is used to caring for himself without the help of others, which is depicted when he falls to the floor in a drunken stupor.  After a few hours, he picks himself up, goes out to challenge movers who have destroyed his fence, yard and tree, and eventually cleans and bandages the cut to his head from the fall.  That doesn’t bode well for the rest of the movie.

Soon after this episode, Vin is seen driving home a prostitute and paying her for her services – at least partially – telling her he would be good for the rest of the money soon.  The scene is constructed to indicate that this behavior is routine.  Not long after that, Vin goes to the race track to bet on his winning horse.  But, of course, he loses.  And on top of this, character from the track hits him up for debts owed to him, which, naturally he couldn’t pay.  So, the character threatens him and extends his time by two weeks.  There is nothing redeeming about the character created.

And where does the writer want the character to wind up by movie’s end?  The same place… partially.  In the last scene of the movie, Vin goes outside to relax in his chair in the backyard.  He’s still smoking, the prostitute is still with him, but not as a prostitute.  She has become his live-in partner.  He still owes money for his debts, but the debt has been temporarily suspended, maybe permanently so.  He still drinks at his favorite bar.  So, what did the author do in the part of the story where all the action builds to a climax if he didn’t change the character?  Did the writer write a script for 90 minutes of action just to depict what people can see around them every day, that is with nobody changing.  You can’t change the stripes on a zebra, right?  No, people go to the movies to see characters who inspire, challenge, push through, and dare us to be better, not to show us the pathetic quality of human nature.

This brilliant writer wanted to show us subtly the true make-up of a hero.  Not the kind that saves the world in one fell swoop.  Not the kind that sacrifices his or her existence.  Not the kind that gives everything (s)he has to cause good to happen.  And not the kind that models the perfect life for others to follow.  Not at all. 

He constructs a character that rolls with the punches of life.  He has a few of those.  His wife has Alzheimer’s and has to live in a memory home.  So, Vin visits her 3 times a week to show his love and care for what there once was.  He honors a commitment when he doesn’t have to, and he does it without fanfare.  He takes on keeping a young man after school until his mother comes home even though he doesn’t want to nor did he plan to.  He even takes money in order to do it.  But, the boy learned lessons about life from Vin, all of them, both “good” and “bad.”  The prostitute brought Vin the sexual satisfaction he needed.  When she turned up pregnant, Vin didn’t ever ask who the baby belonged to.  The prostitute just chose Vin to help her give food and shelter to her new addition.  Vin didn’t hesitate to provide.  He knew he needed her and willingly made the accommodation.  And, even when the mother who left her child to his safekeeping learned from Vin that she needed to be a better parent by spending more time with him.

 

So, Vin gave, but he also took.  When he had to recover from his stroke about 2/3 of the way through the movie, he did so with the help of those whose lives he had given to.  It was a beautiful give and take.  Give a little, take a little.  So, the character that Vin started as is the character that he ended with… basically… but he learned something in between.  He learned in between about the give and take of life.  Nothing earth shattering, just something that moved an inch a year until he began changing.  It was subtle.   And, that is so true about real life.  We all change over time… an inch a year… until at the end we are essentially the same – yet somehow fuller, richer, better for the wear.  It will probably be a while before I see a movie where as true-to-life a character as Vin will appear again.