Spider-Man, Ocean's 8, and the Struggle of the Protagonist

So, for #LightTheWorld last week, I did in fact end up giving platelets. And, when I give platelets, I get to watch a movie.

This week it was Ocean's 8. A heist movie. I finally saw it. Took me long enough, considering I love heist movies, but I had been warned that this one wasn't that great. Not bad, just not great.

The warnings were correct. When I left the movie, I just felt, meh.

I, being who I am, started analyzing why. The actors did a great job and were well-cast, I thought, on the whole. The plot itself was interesting enough, although I felt like the twist at the end wasn't as well set-up as it should have been. But then I realized something:

The movie had no conflict.

Seriously. No conflict. Or, at least, none that mattered. Sure, I get that the whole plot was for revenge and lots of money, and there were some tense moments. But I didn't see any inter-character conflict, or major problems with the scheme, that would force the characters to change or grow in any way. The characters were the same at the beginning and the end, and they didn't seem to learn or improve in any way. They didn't overcome.

I watched a film about a bunch of intelligent, professional women pull off a perfectly planned heist with no major hiccups, and then leave. So why should I care about any of that? Where's the struggle, the growth? The ending was pretty much the beginning but with more money.

Fast-forward to Friday night when I saw Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

In a word, this movie is amazing. Absolutely stunning. The animation style is used well and fits the tone of the movie, writing is hilarious, and they strike a good balance between serious and silly (I swear I'll get to that post someday). But most importantly, the characters struggle.

So many characters have character arcs, to start. Miles does, for sure, as the main character (something Sandra Bullock's Debbie Ocean doesn't seem to), but so do two other Spider-people in the group, and Mile's dad, and his uncle, and while the villain doesn't have an arc, he does have motivations that make sense and humanize him. The motivations, and these arcs, are shown through them all struggling and dealing with matters that they're not already equipped to handle. I watched this movie rooting for the characters (villain excepted) and really feeling it when they fall, but loving it even more when, understanding their struggles, I see them get up again. There was a point to the movie, and to their challenges. Guys, this film was a tightly-written heart-filled blast of a superhero movie and you should all go see it. (And stay for the end credits scene.)

But, the point of both of these reviews is that I thought about what it means to have a protagonist in your story.

A "protagonist" is "the one who struggles." Without that struggle, the story doesn't matter much. If a character can easily get what they want, there's no story. In Ocean's 8, the fact that the diamonds are so difficult to get gives it a little more interest, but when the plot goes so smoothly, I'm left feeling unfulfilled. I wanted to see them overcome.

 In Spider-Man, I saw that. Again and again. A major theme of the plot was what it means to struggle and overcome. And that left me feeling a lot more fulfilled. I left the movie satisfied and wanting to see it again, whereas I didn't really care one way or the other with Ocean's 8.

The protagonist needs to struggle. I would even go so far as to say a story is only as good as a protagonist's struggle. I can't root for someone who doesn't have the possibility of failure; they don't need a cheerleader. I need stories where the heroes face odds that are daunting and because of that challenge, have to change and grow and rise to face it and overcome it.

Because that's what stories are really about: characters. How they develop, and meet challenges. Without that struggle, I really hope the character found twenty dollars, because the rest of the story seems somewhat moot.

So, this is likely going to be my last post for a few weeks. I'll be out of town and away from the internet next Monday, and after that, it's still the holiday, so, we'll see.

And, this coming week for #LightTheWorld is Light Your Family. I don't know exactly what I'll do for this one, but considering that I'm going to see a lot of my family this week, I'll figure something out, and tell you about it when I get back to posting.

Happy holidays, everyone!