Film Courage: What is dilemma?
Jen Grisanti, Speaker/Story/Career Consultant, Author: Dilemma is something that I can't believe.
I didn't know the value of dilemma when I was an executive. I cannot believe in all the
scripts I analyzed over 12 and a half years that I didn't have it termed. I think I loosely understood
dilemma in terms of story and conflict however I it wasn't until after I left the studio and dived
into story in every way imaginable that the word dilemma came into my realm. I understood dilemma
through a structuralist Jeff Kitchen yes that that I first took one of my very first structure
courses from when I became an executive and when I left the studio I re-looked at what I learned
from Jeffrey kitchen and dilemma somehow just came to me in this way that changed how I see story and
that became everything for developing my brand and looking at the value of dilemma I feel like
so many story people skip over or don't define dilemma and dilemma is everything to setting up
a story when we feel how the character is caught between a rock and a hard place and we for me
I think the aha moment that went beyond what I learned from Jeff was the recognition that
the choice the character makes in the dilemma is what defines the external pursuit so that was my
big aha moment that helped me I think there's so much that we learn from everybody who's studying
story I've been analyzing story for 30 years now and when I look at my counterparts who think in
alignment like Jeffrey Kitchen like Michael Hague like John York they're they're when you
have people wear Dara Marks that are seeing story in a similar way and you kind of look at like what
is their terminology versus my terminology and what what is aligning and what is missing and
how do you redefine something so that the writer can grasp it more is dilemma the same as problem
dilemma I feel like is something that everyone in life understands because we all face dilemmas
continuously so I think the difference between a dilemma and a problem a problem is more of like an
obstacle versus a dilemma is creating a pursuit so a problem or obstacle is more something that
happens to a character on the way to a goal versus a dilemma is a trigger event that was another
thing that I added to dilemma was the recognition that a trigger event happens to the character
before they face the dilemma so that was something that was missing and what I understood of it
before as well and that was something that I was like ah that's what was missing so when there's a
trigger event that leads a character to a dilemma then the the choice that they make in that dilemma
defines a pursuit so that's what differentiates a dilemma from a problem and some of that is is
set up before the actual the story starts because it's a childhood wound yes yes I have come to find
in the way I teach and see story that the stories that are hitting at the highest level are stories
where it's almost like a math equation it's it's almost like you're looking at the trigger
event that happens in childhood then you're often looking at a trigger event that happens before we
enter the story and then the inciting incident or series trigger and dilemma in TV will split
open those two wounds and then you're developing the character from those three places as a way to
add depth to the character how does a character's backstory influence their goals and their dilemmas
when you look at in life and we think about like I think a TV show that I feel like perfected the
idea I think when loss first started and it looked at memories in our life it looked at because the
way that loss developed characters at first was the idea of going back to a specific moment
in a person's life and kind of arcing that out and then when I think about the way it evolved
was a recognition that the flashback sequence was recognizing that it isn't just one moment
in the arc of that moment that influences our choices in the present it is a series of moments
from different life traumas or Joys or failures that inform choice so by going to different life
places then then we feel what is influencing why the character is choosing the way they are
how do past wounds hold a character back I like to think that when you look at the past wound
you're looking at starting with the childhood wound you're looking at something called a
negative narrative that we can all identify with the voices we hear in our head that tell
us I'm not enough I'm not good enough I'm not worthy of this that starts with the childhood
wound and then progresses from that negative narrative in the mind that goes into a flaw
and when you go into the flaw the flaw is what's holding a character back and again we all identify
with flawed Behavior we all have flaws and we all become conscious of our flaws does not mean
we heal our flaws we become conscious and story is the opportunity for the character to become
conscious of that flaw and decide if they want to acknowledge the flaw or if they want to resist
working or processing through that flaw in order to get to the goal have you seen it where writers
make their characters too perfect or too flawed both yes both I feel the the the characters that
are too perfect are characters that we can't identify with by characters it used to be
that when you read scripts and you would read a character description you would read oh she's
beautiful or he's handsome and it started sounding like rubber like you you can't tell anything
about a character from that description and I think writers have gotten to a place where they
recognize the value of describing a personality trait is going to bring you much deeper into
that character and understanding that character how many dilemmas should a main character face
in this story there are two pivotal places for the
dilemma the two pivotal places are in the inciting incident setup or in the climax
the value of having a dilemma in both places is a tremendous value because it shows you
is the character going to transform or not when you look at the the structure that I've seen
shows and films do where you have the character often facing a similar dilemma in the climax that
they faced in the inciting incident then the question becomes did they learn through going
through action obstacles and stakes did they learn what the flaw was that was holding them
back and through that recognition are they able to move forward so if the writer puts a dilemma
in the opening and the climax as well as setting up if you're doing streaming setting up what's
coming next as a cliffhanger then there those are are three places that there is tremendous
value in using a dilemma but the opening and the climax are great places for the dilemma
how much does the viewer really want the character to change I mean in real life most people don't
really change that much yeah you know they might work on themselves but we're still kind of all who
we were at seven years old so how how much do we really want to see our favorite characters evolve
it is a great question in film the transformation is everything because we want to know that the
character evolved from how they thought in the beginning to how they think in the end
and there's something that with the format of the beginning mental end that fulfills us if we
can feel that transformation versus in say like when you look at The Sopranos and people would
say well Tony Soprano is never going to change so I think that's where it comes to advanced writing
when you recognize all right there are certain parts of a person that won't change however within
the conflict involved in each story you do want to feel like the character is taking a step of
awareness that is causing even a slight change it's not going to change the character trait
of the dominant flaw however the awareness has a universal effect for the audience to become aware
of what is holding them back and when you see a character who can move through that block then
it helps the audience to think if they can do it I can do it well I haven't watched the second season
of White Lotus but yes I don't know if I really want to see Jennifer Coolidge's character [Tanya
McQuoid-Hunt] change too much I like the way she is yeah because I enjoy watching she's kind of a
lovable hot mess yeah and I don't know if I want her to become perfect you know in season two she's
a lovable hot mess oh good okay okay oh yes that's very well put in that description she is a lovable
hot mess in season two she I feel like Mike White is very authentic to the recognition of
what the strengths of that character is and plays into that season two is brilliant oh
great I'm looking forward to watching you like season one you are going to love season two.