TuesdayTips196

Relatable, Not Likeable.

Welcome to this week's #TuesdayTip.
I recently heard someone use a phrase that really stuck in my mind. Compelling characters should be relatable but they don't need to be likeable. The sentiment has also been expressed in some of the early reviews for The Aftermath.
As writers, one of our key aims is to make audiences connect with our characters. To do that, we have to understand their choices. We don't have to agree with those choices. We don't have to like their choices. But we do need to understand where they are coming from. We have to recognise that they have goals and objectives (laudable or heinous) and their actions needs to stem from those desires. Furthermore, a small part of us has to be able to say 'if I was in their position, maybe I would consider doing the same'. It might not be a serious contemplation, but for a brief moment we could see how that course of action might solve a problem.
Take the case of a person caring for an elderly relative. They have money worries and are constantly exhausted. Even the most virtuous person might think - however briefly - 'you know, it would solve a lot of problems if they just passed away and left me my inheritance'. Most right-thinking people would be repulsed by the thought and perhaps even feel guilty and ashamed for thinking it. But when we hear about someone in that position who did do the unthinkable and ended the life of someone, we can relate to that action. We don't agree with it. We don't condone it. But we understand it.
One of the best things on TV in recent years is HBO's Succession. The tale (allegedly loosely based on the Murdoch media empire), charts the scheming and plotting of the four children of media tycoon Logan Roy - played magnificently by British actor Brian Cox - as they tussle to be his successor. There are many, many reasons to recommend this programme (warning: it is replete with foul language and sexual themes), from the eye-watering dialogue, the intricate scheming and plotting and the laugh-out-loud dark humour. But what stands out for me is the characterisation. Not one of the siblings, Logan, or the many other secondary characters are likeable. Even those who start off nice are consumed by avarice as the series progresses.
Yet they are relatable. Everything they do - no matter how unpleasant or wicked - has motive and is understandable. We watched each episode with mounting horror at just how far these characters would go, and how low they would stoop. Yet even as we did so, we could see why they were doing what they did. We might not agree with them - you'd have to have some pretty sociopathic tendencies to consider many of their actions acceptable - but we could relate.
The behaviour of most of the characters in The Aftermath pale beside the Roy clan, yet they all do morally questionable things, even those who aren't evil. Yet I hope that readers can still see that they do it for valid reasons.
And that's what makes them relatable.
Where do you stand on relatable not likeable? Do you love a pantomime villain, or do they have to have at least some redeeming features?
Feel free to comment here or on social media.
Until next time,
Paul
If you are a writer with a tip to share, or fancy writing a fictional interview between you and one of your characters, please feel free to email me.