August’s Buzz:

TWO PEAS IN A POD: AVOIDING CLICHÉS IN CHARACTERIZATIONS

Part 1 of 2

(Copyright 2002)

By
Kathryn McCullough

Certain situations, characters and jokes are used over and over again in films. They are stock. Formula. Cliché. When you use a cliché, you employ characters and conceits that thousands of other writers have used before you. By the time these hackneyed elements reach your script, they are tired, boring and ultimately damaging to your story.

It is easy to resort to a cliché, because it is usually the first thing that comes to mind. It is familiar; it is the obvious choice. This is due to the fact that clichés often have a basis in reality. For example, there really are mobsters who are Sicilian. There are blondes who are dizzy. There are kids who are precocious. However, by caving in to these generalizations you risk offending or annoying your audience, and even worse, you short-change your story, by robbing it of the original point-of-view that only you can bring to it.

After you complete a draft of your screenplay, look closely at your characters and see if their actions are the result of the unique personality you have created for them, or if their behavior is simply what you would expect because you’ve seen it before. Every character in your script should receive this attention. In BODY HEAT, for instance, Ted Danson played a police detective, and Lawrence Kasdan could easily have made him just the typical rough and tough wise-cracking cop. Instead, the character was given a lyrical side, and often broke out in Fred Astaire-type dance. He was a minor character, but this trait made him intriguing and memorable.

The best way to break through clichés is to constantly study the people you meet and know. Everyone has at least one thing about him or her that doesn’t fit the puzzle. A scholarly, introspective person will suddenly display a talent for balloon animals. A giggling party girl will be an expert on horticulture. These unexpected traits give a character depth and credibility. In reality, no two people are exactly alike, and therefore no two characters should be alike either.