False protagonists
The movie Sicario starts out and seems to indicate Kate is the movie’s protagonist. We see the story start to be revealed through her eyes. But we experience people, operations, and goals that are confusing and often very violent – what is going on? As Film Thought Project points out – it’s because she is actually NOT the protagonist. This storytelling method is meant to draw us into a familiar story in a very different way. Instead, we find out she is brought in almost as a piece of necessary but meaningless equipment so that others can do the things they want – started long before she was involved. The movie isn’t even sympathetic to our, or her, confusion and as the real story comes out.
This method of following someone who is really in the dark to only to later figure out they are minor or even unimportant to the real, much bigger story is about something I first saw in 90’s era Japanese anime. I remember how many times it unsettled and confused me. American movies almost always follow the plucky young protagonist’s adventure as they grow through the challenges in the story. I think that’s why many people find 80’s and 90’s era Japanese anime so confusing. What’s going on seems arbitrary and things change and twist with no seeming reason.
I remember thinking that besides the bigger story arc it tells, this kind of storytelling mechanism shows you the experience of being a person who is a cog. I think this mirrors the average person’s experience in many highly authoritarian cultures. Many Asian cultures have extremely strong social norms about following and not questioning superiors or orders – even if they cost you your life. Leaders do not ask your opinions or input, invite you to the planning meeting, nor do they bother wasting time to explain themselves or the goals. Your job is to carry your orders and job out at peak efficiency – for good or ill.
Only later do these people even sometimes brush elbows with the real people in power when the plan fails or succeeds. Neon Genesis Evangelion, Berserk, Psycho Pass, and many other anime fit this bill. I remember realizing this was what was going on as a college kid who loved watching anime. There’s a sense of disillusionment, not unlike when K finds out he’s not the protagonist in Blade Runner 2049. It was very different.
How Stories Work with Jay Sherer shares how the story works from a writer/director’s perspective. When you see how well these narrative structures and writing are done – you see why most modern movies (superhero movies, cheap series cash grabs on Star Wars, Star Trek, Aliens, and Preditor series for example) are so bad.
