MAID – I’m late to the party but let’s talk subcharacters. Now streaming on #Netflix. No Spoilers.
MAID is the perfect example of subcharacters only existing to push the protagonist’s story forward either through helping or hurting.
Paula (mom): Hurt
Sean (BD): Hurt
Nate (wannabe BF): Help
Hank (dad): Help from Hurt
Regina (client): Hurt then Help
Denise (DV leader): Help
Your subcharacters can be fully dimensionalized and complex people with wants, needs, fears, flaws, and goals that equal their own storylines. But if those storylines never affect the protagonist, then that subcharacter should be their own protagonist in their own story.
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Critique:
Alex, even in depression, never really hit rock bottom. There was always someone there to catch her. Always someone to bail her out of her biggest problems. Always a man willing to show mercy. It made me wonder if none of the writers had ever been in a situation where they had absolutely no one to turn to. Where perfect strangers weren’t throwing help their way at every turn. Or did they just imagine that that couldn’t be Alex’s life? That she is loved even in a f*cked up way.
Lastly, all of the other characters are so flawed that Alex was perfect. Perfect characters aren’t as interesting so Paula and Sean often pulled focus. Alex was never the cause of her own problems. Your character’s flaws are what gets them into sh*t. Their skills are what get them out. 💚
Written By: Shannan E. Johnson