8. Beware Of Upstaging Your Protagonist
I'm sure there are a lot of screenwriters that would say that this doesn't matter, but I'm a firm believer in strong protagonists, and believe that they should always be front and centre, leading the action and driving the story. I do understand, though, how lots of movie protagonists seem to fall by the wayside and find themselves overshadowed by secondary character - secondary characters are easier and more fun to write, after all. In the case of
Django Unchained, I think QT lets Django slip away from the centre of the story, and that, I believe, comes from the fact that he obviously had such a great time writing Dr. King Schultz. Thing is, in the confines of the screenplay, Django is certainly pinned down as our main protagonist. But for most of the movie he serves passively - he does what Dr. Schultz tells him, and Schultz leads most of the events. That's fine, because the classic hero's journey is often defined by a period of mentorship, where our protagonist comes under the wing of a wiser, tougher or more self-aware character. But Django ultimately feels kind of boring compared to King Schultz, doesn't he? And though it's certainly not Christoph Waltz' fault that his character is inherently more interesting, it does affect the film somewhat. That's to say, Django must've been a difficult character to write (his arc is huge), so it's fairly understandable to see QT's plight. But there are just too many larger than life characters circling our former slave at all times that he does feel constantly upstaged. So much so, that when Django emerges as a badass at the end of the movie, the transformation seems a little forced. We've spent so much time aweing at Calvin Candie and Stephen and Dr. Schultz that Django feels a little lost amongst it all. He doesn't fit as naturally as everybody else. This, I think, could've been helped by adding a few extra scenes with Django leading the proceedings in the first half of the movie - and preferably alone. I mean, we never get to spend that much time with our protagonist on his own, do we? The first time he talks, he's with Schultz, and it stays that way then on in. But even
Star Wars' arguably twerpish Luke Skywalker (who is later mentored by Obi-Wan Kenobi in a similar fashion) feels more rounded as a protagonist, because we get to know him for fifteen minutes at home (and in sequences that set him up as our main character). The movie is called
Django Unchained, after all, and - for most of it, anyway - it feels more like
Dr. Schultz Unchains Django, don't you think?