JUDGEMENT
Posted: Oct 14, 2010 10:59 pm
From what I understand the main character judgment of good or bad is determined by whether the main character is in a better place at the end of the story. I believe I have heard Chris say in many podcasts that if the MC is in a better place than the judgment is good and if not then the judgment is bad. I was wondering though, who judges whether they are in a better place or not. My instinct tells me it is the audience that makes the judgment which means that the main character doesn't necessarily have to realize that they are in a better place or not.
For instance an MC with the problem of faith who changes to disbelief. At the end of the story the MC realizes that she can no longer blindly trust people and while the audience has been waiting for her to make this leap and is glad when she does, though the audience is happy for her, she personally doesn't feel better off for it, as now the world seems a scarier place. Of course by changing to disbelief her life will eventually get better, but by the end of the story she might not feel great about it.
So to rephrase it shortly, is judgment based on whether or not the main character's life has changed for the better or whether or not they are happy about the change?
For instance an MC with the problem of faith who changes to disbelief. At the end of the story the MC realizes that she can no longer blindly trust people and while the audience has been waiting for her to make this leap and is glad when she does, though the audience is happy for her, she personally doesn't feel better off for it, as now the world seems a scarier place. Of course by changing to disbelief her life will eventually get better, but by the end of the story she might not feel great about it.
So to rephrase it shortly, is judgment based on whether or not the main character's life has changed for the better or whether or not they are happy about the change?