Boogeyman: moral dilemma ?

Randall_Oelerich

Randall_Oelerich

Veteran
I am trying to come up with the moral dilemma for my protagonist for a feature horror screenplay I am structuring. Somewhat similar structure as Boogeyman (2005). Would you say the moral dilemma for the protagonist in Boogeyman is to choose courage over fear, confront his internal demons from being traumatized witnessing the boogeyman's taking of his father when he was a child? (the dilemma being choosing to confront the fear and revisit his childhood home which presents internal and external dangers but could resolve his fears and help him live a better life, versus not confronting his fears but then not living a full life with satisfying relationships etc). Just trying to work out a moral dilemma for my main char, seems like it could be similar to that of the protag from the Boogeyman, if I understand that story. My story of course will have a different plot line, different worlds, different backstory, etc. Any help or thoughts appreciated.
~randall
 
If I remember correctly, he had no choice towards the end. He was marked, and the boogeyman was coming back for him anyways, so it was a matter of do him before he does you. Of course, I may have this slightly confused with at least one other movie. What may have scared him in the past was still scary, but it wasn't going to stay in the past anymore. It was going to have a much stronger impact on his future than just living in fear. The saying goes, a coward lives a thousand deaths, the brave man dies just once... but at least the coward gets to see tomorrow.
 
i think he inherited the house or something like that, or comes back to his abandoned childhood home, from the city. So he could choose not to return to the house, but he does. On a more general note, it seems to me that in the horror genre it is difficult to come up with a moral dilemma that has universal appeal, perhaps universal identification (fear versus face your fear), but in horror it seems to almost always be about facing internal (fear) and external (the monster) demons. I like what you quoted-- "The saying goes, a coward lives a thousand deaths, the brave man dies just once... but at least the coward gets to see tomorrow."

Capt Quirk said:
If I remember correctly, he had no choice towards the end. He was marked, and the boogeyman was coming back for him anyways, so it was a matter of do him before he does you. Of course, I may have this slightly confused with at least one other movie. What may have scared him in the past was still scary, but it wasn't going to stay in the past anymore. It was going to have a much stronger impact on his future than just living in fear. The saying goes, a coward lives a thousand deaths, the brave man dies just once... but at least the coward gets to see tomorrow.
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Whatever happened to good ol' nonsensical and amoral horror flicks? :)

Well, whatever your character is feeling on the inside - scared, worried, anxious, horny (this is a horror flick after all) - externalize it. Try taking whatever it is that makes him feel those emotions, think of the greatest possible manifestation of that thing and work with it (eg. scared of abusive father = boogeyman, hot for english teacher = succubitch, lol). Don't be afraid to go to extremes and remember that evilness comes in all forms and that there is a phobia for just about everything.

Hope this helps. :)
 
Courage is not a moral dilemma, its a character trait. You character may become courageous which is character growth, but that's different from facing a dilemma.

A dilemma may be saving a child who you do not know or your own elderly mother. It is a specific choice. You do not choose to become courageous.

Bob
 
What would you say is the moral dilemma for the protagonist in the film The Boogeyman (2005) then, or is that story element absent from the film?

Bob Gruen said:
Courage is not a moral dilemma, its a character trait. You character may become courageous which is character growth, but that's different from facing a dilemma. A dilemma may be saving a child who you do not know or your own elderly mother. It is a specific choice. You do not choose to become courageous.

Bob
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All courage is, is doing what you don't want to, when you don't want to, and trying not to give it too much thought. You have somebody chasing somebody else. After 6 blocks, the chasee stops running from the chaser. Is it courage, or just the fact that this running stuff sucks, I'd rather kick his ass than run? In my case it would be the latter, I hate running.
 
I also do not really think a chance from fear to courage is a moral dilemma, seems more like just a character arc. I do not know I even see a moral dilemma in the story (Boogeyman), maybe there isn't one? Maybe moral dilemmas are less common in horror than in other genres? I really do not know, just posing the question. Anybody? Thoughts?

Capt Quirk said:
All courage is, is doing what you don't want to, when you don't want to, and trying not to give it too much thought. You have somebody chasing somebody else. After 6 blocks, the chasee stops running from the chaser. Is it courage, or just the fact that this running stuff sucks, I'd rather kick his ass than run? In my case it would be the latter, I hate running.
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Have not seen the movie, but what you are describing sounds like a character arc to me. Maybe ask, Why does he become courageous ? Maybe that will give you something. :beer:
 
I disagree on the idea that courage is not moral. I say courage is a virtue of Moral character, and therefor is moral. Morality is not a lifeless abstract thing sitting on the shelf to be talked about once in a while, rather it is something which is brought into existence and defined by the actions of real people engaged in life's challenges. Morality is built upon the concept of life. What gives and sustains life is Moral, or what we call Good, while that which offers death and destruction is immoral, or what we call Evil. The ultimate moral choice is to live or die. To survive we must think. This is because we are a species that is not preprogrammed to know how to survive. We must learn everything. Animals are much better prepared for life than a human is. We must learn what is good and what is evil. This can be a difficult task and a deadly one if we are wrong in our calculations. Sometimes we choose evil due to not being able to see the long term effect or we are guilty of using faulty reasoning, and at other times we fall into the hands of evil.

When confronting evil we can either succumb or resist. In many situations resisting evil takes great courage because this evil can make promises of more life, and that is tempting even if we know it's a lie. Fear and Hope is what made the Jews obey the Nazis even though they they knew they were heading off to their execution. Hope sometimes causes us to hang on and endure endless suffering. It takes courage to step out of the fear and hope that hold us hostage. It takes courage to make a bold leap into Chance; chance of injury, loss, even death, and chance of freedon, chance of life.

My friend's father survived the Battan Death March in WWII and ended up in the concentration camps, survived the horrible boat ride to Japan, worked as slave laborer in the mines and even survived the firebombing B-29 attacks of his fellow Americans. He told me of how the Japanese soldiers would use Americans for sword practice, bayonet practice and just something to torture in order to break the boredom. What really struck a chord with me was when he said, "you can't imagine what you'll do to survive. You have no idea what men will do to see another day." he repeatedly emphasized this to me over and over. He knew first hand, from years of experience, what he was talking about. Our human will to survive is so great that we will do most anything. We will eat trash, bugs, crawl through human waste and endure brutal pain. We will even turn against our own values, friends, family, etc., so that we might see another day. For some, the anxiety was too much. There were those who went mad and threw themselves at the Japanese and were slaughterd; a sort of berserk form of suicide. Others found courage but sacrificed their lives needlessly; they stood up for their values and were reduced to pieces of meat. Still there were others who waited and were prepared for fortune to provide them with an opportunity for life. Some took the chance and made it to liberty while others couldn't risk a step forward. Courage is a requirement for life, freedom and happiness.

We hold Heros in esteem because they embody the moral courage to confront and triumph over evil. Hero's are symbolic of life, that is why they naturally command our respect. They have been tested through unimaginable hardships and have prevailed. They are proof that we, all of us, are capable of meeting the challenge and can triumph over death, slavery, injury, poverty and determine for ourselves our own destiny if we have courage.
 
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By moral dilemma, are you referring to:

1) the decision a character must make near the end of the movie (after his self-revelation) between two equally difficult courses of action.

2) the theme or "moral" of the story.

3) the character's moral need. A character with a moral need is always hurting others in some way at the beginning of the story. He must overcome this moral flaw and learn how to act properly toward other people.

I saw that movie, but don't remember it very well. Sorry.
 
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My book on "The Moral Dilemma" should arrive in a day or two, I am anxious to read it to better understand this concept as a story element, see if I can decipher if and what the moral dilemma is in The Boogeyman (to apply to similar horror stories). Easy for stories like Lifeboat, but seems harder in a supernatural horror story.
 
Sometimes run-of-the-mill horror films do not have a protagonist with a significant Ghost (past event that still haunts him), Need (psychological & moral)--or flaw. The characters are only interested in survival, self-preservation--and usually undergo devolution to accomplish this.

Better horror films have protagonists with a need, a desire, a ghost, etc.--the laundry list of things that John Truby describes at great length.


Here are some other important things to remember with horror screenwriting:

FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN—plays on unconscious psychological elements
Predation, death
Frailty of the human form
Threat of physical harm
Sense of the chase

Horror is set in an IRRATIONAL WORLD. Pull the rug out from underneath the viewer immediately so he feels as if there’s no way to predict what might happen in this world.

Usually a NON-LINEAR PLOT, one more meandering than a drama. More unsettling, more disturbing.

Uses PERSONAL FEARS, not societal fears (e.g. the fear of corporations in the 1980's).

MAN vs. HIMSELF is the major dilemma. Protagonist must change or die! Elevates the stakes.

Use expectations of the viewer. Their…
Frame of reference
Cinematic expectations
Genre expectations
Narrative expectations

You first acknowledge their expectations, then deviate from them; this allows you to set up REVERSALS.

Have a POV CHARACTER who asks questions for the viewer—his curiosities.

1. Curiosity hypothesis: The theory of events that happened in the past. The viewer constructs this, and therefore the writer must satisfy it.

2. Suspense hypothesis: The theory of events that will happen in the future. Writer gets the viewer to ask what will happen next, mostly by open ended questions.

How? Open a GAP. Ask a narrative question; cause the viewer to wonder about something. This creates TENSION. Hook the viewer at the beginning with a huge question. Do this with shorter story arc questions for each sequence and each scene. MUST HAVE TENSION.

Mislead or guide viewer away from the answer, deny the answer. Do this by verbalizing an open ended question, which activates the viewer to go inside himself for the answer. “If this happens, then what will happen next?” A closed question has an either/or answer. Suggest an answer (e.g. Beheaded or gang raped then killed with poison). Or hide the actual answer and use a third unknown possibility (e.g. Torture by electricity).

Primacy effect: The concept that first impressions last. Set up a red-herring. The initial mood/tone, character actions, world rules, etc. all lead to and set viewer expectations.

Rule of three’s: creates causation and meaning. Repeated elements on the third time create expectations, so deviate to create surprise and TENSION!

Establish early the rule set. Be explicit. Use existing expectations.

Control POV of viewer.

Unreliable narrator.

Two ways to align—audience POV with character OR audience POV with antagonist (surprise element)


5 ELEMENTS OF HORROR

1. Exile (isolation)
· Physically or psychologically separate space
· Characters alienated from reality (by special traits, i.e. Psychic powers, telekensis)
· Antagonist is the ultimate outcast (lives on the fringes of society)

2. Externalize fears and weaknesses

· Fears (interiors, experiences; perhaps by amount of darkness or light for mood). Motif such as recurrent dripping H20; sound FX; externalize the character’s emotions. Activate all the viewer’s senses. Color red in The 6th Sense.

· Weaknesses (and strengths, as well as antagonist’s weaknesses and strengths). Part of the rule set. “Snakes, I hate snakes.” Then, later, he must confront his fear. “Snakes, why’d it have to be snakes!”

3. Expose viewers to unconscious fears
· The unknown
· The darkness of human nature (greed, corporate man)
· Frailty of the human form (blood and guts)
· Terrible and horrific danger (mortal, grave danger)

Do this by use of open ended questions.

4. Exceed reality

· Use tone to keep the viewer on unfamiliar ground. Setting is a character, has a presence. Keep the reader off-balance by shocking them with unreal events.
· Antagonist should have exceptional power (mystical or magical)
· Protagonist discovers similar untapped strength or power (Confronts his own fears)

5. Express expectations (so you can deviate to create surprise and INCREASE TENSION)

· Explain plan
· Express timeline (ticking clock)
· Signpost the hypothesis
· Be explicit about bonds, alliances and promises

If there are expectations, you can do reversals. Must have something new every couple pages.
 
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