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Newsletter
# 1
The Emotional Journey In A “Horror” Film
Three Very Different
Films –
Three Similar Emotional Journeys
By
Laurie H. Hutzler  What
do the films: THE EXORCIST, IN THE BEDROOM and THE DAY AFTER
TOMORROW have in common? On the surface they would seem to have
little relationship. If we look at the emotional core of the
protagonist, however, we see they all are similar
Father Damien, Dr. Matt Fowler and Dr. Jack Hall are characters
driven by the Power of Reason. Although the plots and settings
of the films are each different, each protagonist is the same
type of character emotionally. Each has a similar psychological
profile. Each wrestles with core issues of alienation and connection.
Rather than look at genre (which often is
just setting) let’s
consider what happens to a character emotionally when reason is overrun by chaos. As in the above films, this chaos can be
caused by an invading supernatural or alien force, an act of
sudden inexplicable violence or an epic natural disaster. Reason
overwhelmed by an unstoppable or incomprehensible outside force
plunges a character down a very specific emotional path.
Three Possible Journeys
This newsletterlooks at the three possible ways this journey
can play out. In THE EXORCIST, Father Damien (Jason Miller) connects
with the innocent child and completes his emotional journey successfully.
IN THE BEDROOM, Dr. Matt Fowler (Tom Wilkinson) fails to connect
with his wife and becomes increasingly alienated. His emotional
journey ends in tragedy. In THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW, Dr. Jack
Hall (Dennis Quaid) has an emotional journey that is flat and
not clearly delineated.
THE EXORCIST was a tremendous commercial and critical success.
Today it is considered a film classic. IN THE BEDROOM was also
a critical and commercial success, though on a smaller scale.
It was nominated for five Academy Awards ®. THE DAY AFTER
TOMORROW was neither a critical nor a commercial success. How
did the development of the emotional core of these film protagonists
impact the success or failure of the projects?
Let’s take a closer look at the reason-driven character
and how his or her journey plays out in a horrific setting.
Protagonist Profile
A protagonist motivated by the Power of Reason is usually some
kind of expert. He or she is withdrawn, an outsider or a professional
observer, often a scientist, researcher, doctor, journalist,
or technician. This character is smart, aloof, alienated from
others and cold, and/or distant emotionally.
This protagonist understands, processes, and views the world
very rationally. He or she believes there is a logical explanation
for everything. This character appreciates calmness and order
and abhors the chaos of messy relationships and the uncontrollable
emotions involved in intimate personal interaction.
Horror Happens
Into the logical order of things there is a sudden intrusion
of the strange, the mysterious, the perverse, the irrational
or the unexplainable. The protagonist tries to understand and
solve this problem using his or her Power of Reason.
The character’s first instinct is to withdraw—to
study the situation further, learn from past precedents, and
gather more facts, information or data. The situation gets worse
during this delay. The protagonist then tries to tackle the problem
sensibly and systematically.
He or she imposes a rational solution based on the common sense
application of what has worked previously. This attempted solution
always fails. The monster, the virus, the aliens, the madness,
the natural phenomena or the mysterious force doesn’t respond
to logical solutions.
Facing the Fear
The worst thing that can happen to this protagonist is to realize
that his or her careful theories and ideas about the world are
incorrect. The character must then face the perverse, irrational
and uncontrollable. He or she must make a leap of faith against
reason and common sense and act intuitively or from the heart.
What this protagonist fears most is being overwhelmed—by
dark forces, by love, or by over-powering emotion. In the best
stories this is exactly what happens. This protagonist’s
successful emotional journey is one from withdrawing to embracing—from
alienation to connection. This journey is painful but ultimately
rewarding.
The monstrous problem in the film is ultimately “solved” through
the protagonist’s relationship with someone else. It is
by reaching out to another that the character finally finds the
solution, completion and/or salvation.
Film Example: THE EXORCIST
In THE EXORCIST Father Damien is very much a man of the mind.
He’s an expert— a psychiatrist. “The best they
have,” according to his superior. Early in the film, he
meets with his superior and requests a transfer. It is denied.
Father Damien argues that he has to quit his job because the
problems the other priests bring him aren’t just mental
health issues—they are issues of faith and vocation. He
says he can’t help these men because he’s lost his
own faith.
Father Damien is also overwhelmed by his feelings of loss and
guilt over the recent death of his immigrant mother. He feels
completely alienated and alone at the start of the film.
Character Example: Father Damien
What Father Damien wants is to withdraw. He is troubled and distant
and wants to retreat from his vocation. Then, into his rational
world of the mind comes a little girl possessed by a demon.
Now, intelligent modern mental health experts know that mental
illness isn’t caused by “demons.” It’s
a matter of synapses and brain chemistry, etc. Rational logical
Father Damien is given stunning visual proof the impossible is,
indeed, possible. Unexplainable dark forces are loose in his
world.
Father Damien first looks to past precedent. He calls in another
expert. The traditional by-the-book exorcism doesn’t work.
The older priest dies. Father Damien is left to deal with the
problem alone.
By now he has taken pity on and bonded with the child. He wants
to help but nothing he does works. The demon appears to be unstoppable
and unbeatable. It defies reason and logic.
In a leap of faith, Father Damien is inspired to call the demon
out of the child and into himself. He embraces the demon and
throws himself out the window to save the child.
What Father Damien needs is to embrace. The price is his life.
He embraces the overwhelming darkness and “Fears Not.” Father
Damien completes his emotional journey successfully—although
he loses his life, he regains his faith and his sacrifice is
his salvation.
Film Example: IN THE BEDROOM
The film, IN THE BEDROOM, is a similar type of story that ends
very differently. The protagonist in this film is also an expert.
He is a doctor. Into his rational orderly world comes the “monster” of
the sudden and irrational violence that kills his son.
The doctor first tries the rational solution—the legal
system—but it doesn’t work. The killer remains free.
The doctor can’t make a leap of faith toward forgiveness.
He and his wife can’t connect and embrace one another in
their grief.
In this film, the doctor fails to complete his emotional journey
successfully. Instead, he falls to the dark side. He plans to
murder his son’s killer. However, before he can get the
killer to the designated place the doctor is overwhelmed by his
own irrational urge to kill. He shoots the killer abruptly and
impulsively.
The doctor has now become as much of a “monster” as
the killer. After the killing, the doctor and his wife retreat
deeper into their alienation and we sense that whether or not
they remain in the same house their marriage and their life together
is over. The film ends in tragedy.
Finding a Balance
Dr. Howard Suber, film structure professor to generations of
UCLA students, taught that films that are classified as horror
films usually deal with finding some kind of balance between
the order and chaos of life. Resolving this issue is fundamental
to human existence. We all can see ourselves in the protagonist’s
struggle to impose reason on a world gone mad.
The protagonist wants to withdraw into a neat and secure world
where he or she can be safe, knowledgeable, independent and self-sufficient.
The protagonist needs to be plunged into the chaos of dangerous
overwhelming emotion, the messiness of intimate relationships
and paradox of both the monstrous and miraculous in life.
Horror films, in fact, closely mirror what happens as a child
enters adulthood. That’s one of the reasons these films
are so incredibly popular with young audiences. Raging hormones
transform the body. Wild mood swings overwhelm the mind with
chaotic emotions. The safety and security of childhood gives
way to a much more dangerous, complex and ambiguous world of
adulthood. The usual experts (parents and teachers) don’t
seem to have the answers. The forces causing these transformations
come out of nowhere and are completely unstoppable.
The only way to handle the horror of growing up is to simply
endure and survive the process, reach out to others and embrace
the totality and interconnectedness of life in all of its chaos,
ambiguity, and seeming anarchy of good and evil. That’s
also the only way to handle the horror of grief. The film IN
THE BEDROOM resonates so powerfully with adult audiences because
it is a horror story that could happen to any parent.
CLICK HERE for a step-by-step analysis of why THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW didn’t
work as well as THE EXORCIST or IN THE BEDROOM.
Consulting Services
If you need help finding your story’s emotional focus let
Laurie Hutzler’s unique interactive problem-solving sessions
center the power of your story and clarify your character’s
inner truth. Whether working on a television program or feature film
production, Laurie helps writers, producers, story editors, and creative
teams get to the heart of a story. She offers a set of practical
methods to create the emotionally satisfying programs audiences love.
Contact: Laurie@EmotionalToolbox.com
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