§ RESOURCES / TOPICS / Moral Complexity
Moral Complexity
Every episode covering Moral Complexity.
"The truth really pierces through because he’s been lying the whole movie and... it’s actually like the most intimate the the two men have been, emotionally and physically."
KEY IDEAS
Multiple Antagonistic Forces Aligned
"And in that way, it's more simple than Rebel Ridge or Sinners that has clear contrasting and conflicting sources of antagonism. This has multiple sources of antagonism, but they're all aligned in what they're trying to do."
— Chas Fisher (01:14:31) · DZ-122: Escalating Antagonism Across Genres
DZ-123: Flawed Characters in Noir
What can Film Noir teach us about character arcs and audience engagement?
AI✦Mel and Chas show how these films never endorse the crimes their characters commit but still make you want them to get away with murder, a trick that works because the characters operate from codes (loyalty, pragmatism, a little man in your stomach telling you when something’s wrong) that audiences recognize as genuine even when applied to reprehensible acts.✦
Listen if you want to write morally compromised characters without endorsing their choices.
▶ More Info
In this two part series, Mel and Chas use Noir (the genre) as a lens to interrogate flawed characters. How can characters doing reprehensible things still engage audiences? How can you ensure representation isn’t endorsement? And whether these characters undergo transformative arcs, or simply reveal their true natures… →
DZ-122: Escalating Antagonism Across Genres
How can you apply horror ideas to action and comedy?
AI✦Chas and Kim spend considerable time on REBEL RIDGE’s corrupt cops, noting the storytelling goes to great lengths to say corruption is the only way to exist in their broken system, complicating whether redemption is earned or a cheat.✦
Listen to learn how thinking of your hero as the horror (for your villains) makes your script dynamic.
▶ More Info
In this episode Chas, Stu and guest Kim Ho continue their exploration into the power(s) of antagonism and how focusing on them can develop story… →
DZ-103: Game of the Scene 2 - Triangle of Sadness, The Favourite
How can games elevate dramatic scenes?
AI✦The distinction between rule makers, rule breakers, rule lawyers, and referees creates moral gradations in how characters operate within social systems, which Stu and Chas trace through the social satires they analyze.✦
Listen to understand how games force characters to interact and reveal themselves (through competency, decisions, and rule-breaking)
▶ More Info
In part two of this two parter, Stu and Chas go further into the game (of the scene) and look at how games force characters other than the protagonist to interact. We deep dive into the wonderful social satires of TRIANGLE OF SADNESS and THE FAVOURITE… →
DZ-66: The Mandalorian and The Rise of Skywalker - Audience Knowledge vs Character Motivation
How does audience knowledge affect your character's motivations?
AI✦The analysis of Kylo and Palpatine touches on how motivations become morally ambiguous when audiences bring external knowledge and fan investment to character choices.✦
Listen to understand how fan service weaponizes external knowledge against character logic.
▶ More Info
By Order 66: Chas and Stu are joined by special guest - filmmaker Mel Killingsworth - to talk all things Star Wars. Well. Focusing on The Mandalorian and The Rise of Skywalker and wherever else our tangents take us… →
DZ-119: Final Character Choices & Great Endings
How do you dramatise a protagonist's internal journey through their final decision?
AI✦Michael Clayton and Promising Young Woman anchor the discussion as films exploring ’the cost of moral compromise’ and whether characters actually escape the consequences of their choices.✦
Listen if you want to understand how to better dramatise a character's internal journey
▶ More Info
In this episode, Stu and Chas focus solely on the final choices made by protagonists and how that reflects their character journey and successfully, or not, dramatises the internal… →
Films:
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023)
, Finding Nemo (2003)
, Michael Clayton (2007)
, Promising Young Woman (2020)
, Talk to Me (2022)