Saturday, 7 December 2013
Warning this post contains very violent scenes!
(also a video at the bottom of the page might start automatically)
This post is sort of a
brain map post of my analysis of angry within media from what I’ve experienced over the years and with knowledge gained from the course so far.
So what is Anger?
A dictionary
definition states that angry is “someone feeling or
showing strong annoyance, displeasure, or hostility; full of anger.
For this project we’re
to interpret the script in any way we see feasible, to help portray the idea of
an angry character. Somebody whom is angry could be for a number of possible
reasons. They could be a genuinely miserable person who’s pissed of with life,
the job their working in, their family and so forth, or they could be a protagonist
whom is out for revenge over the killing/abduction of their loved ones using
violence as a means to question those involved. Or even an antagonist trapped
in a protagonist’s body displaying a sort of bi polar split personality with
the protagonist being a polite kind person, but could switch into an angry
violent abusive personality at any given moment.
So to piece together
my own personal experience of seeing how angry characters are represented in
different genres, here are some examples of angry characters to help get an
idea of how they’re portrayed in the roles they’re playing as either the
antagonist or protagonist.
For this research I’ve
categorised each character into sections such as:
- Protagonist
- Antagonist
- Protagonist & Antagonist
- This could be a character whom has conflicting personalities
- On a path trying to find themselves but is filled with anger hate and revenge
- Could be evil but then changed into a good person, but still have their angry personality
Protagonist characters
Happy Gilmore
In this film, Adam Sandler portrays an agngry character that doesn't have a pleasing attitude towards things that cause him problems leading him to use violence as a means to overcome it.
Karen Hill in Goodfellas
Karen Hill, wife to Henry Hill, played by Lorraine Bracco is a character whom is initially troubled by Henry's criminal activities, but is soon seduced by his glamorous lifestyle. They start the film off as love birds, but throughout the film you can see the stress and anger getting to her as she's fed up with Henrys absence in the house and the affairs his having. Her role in the film, is a brilliant example of the journey through anger.
King Leonidas in 300
King Leonidas Played by Gerard Butler in the film 300 shows his anger through passion for his cause to refute the idea that the spartans will surrender to the Persians
Goku Dragonball Z
Goku is known for his cheerful, energetic personality and his love of competition (specifically sport fighting and eating). He has remarkable intuition at seeing the good in others in spite of their actions, though his capacity for forgiving his enemies has occasionally been criticized as excessive; Goku, for the most part, only fights to win, and spares his enemies after defeating them only for them to attack him when his back is turned. Goku can feel incredible anger in cases of extreme turmoil, such as the death of a close friend/relative, or when someone murders many innocents needlessly(taken from wiki)
"I am the hope of the universe. I am the answer to all living things that cry out for peace. I am protector of the innocent. I am the light in the darkness. I am truth. Ally to good! Nightmare to you!"
— Goku as a Super Saiyan toward Frieza in "Explosion of Anger"
— Goku as a Super Saiyan toward Frieza in "Explosion of Anger"
Antagonist Characters
Joe Pesci
One of my favourite actors of all times, whenever theres a role for an angry mobster short guy, Joe Pesci is the man, he always plays his roles perfectly!!
Joe Pesci
One of my favourite actors of all times, whenever theres a role for an angry mobster short guy, Joe Pesci is the man, he always plays his roles perfectly!!
Casino
In this film Joe Pesci is playing the role of an angry mob man called Nicky Santoro
Goodfellas
Jules Winnfield in Pulp Fiction
Jules Winnfield played by Samuel L Jackson in Pulp Fiction
This character has also been used outside the of the Pulp Fiction film to be Hockey coach, still portraying the same angry characteristics
Sully Top Boy
Sully, played by Kane Robson (KANO) in the Channel 4 series Top Boy based in London, is an aggressive, angry, modern 'road man' thug that you would find in everyday life in and around london.
Unfortunately i couldnt find many good clips on the web of him showing this but in these episode you can get a rough idea of his character
Protagonist & Antagonist
Tyler
Durden Film in Fight Club
Tyler Durden, played by Brad Pitt in Fightclub, has conflicting ideologies which happen throughout the film, kind of like a split personality. One half of him represents the normal everyday working office guy and the other half of represents an oppressed beast waiting to be let loose fuelled with rage, anger, violence and other primal aggressive needs.
“You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of you wallet. You're not your f**king khakis. You're the all-singing, all- dancing crap of the world.” quote from the film
Vegeta aka Prince Vegeta Dragonball Z
On introduction to the DBZ series he was an evil character and slowly as the series progressed towards the end he became a good guy. However, in the series he is portrayed as a arrogant, angry, power hungry, and because of his hunger for power this is what makes him more angry as he bares a grudge against Goku whom is stronger than him, to which Vegeta having lost to Goku before wants to prove his strength and beat him
Vegeta is extremely aggressive and cold-blooded. Since his childhood, Vegeta has proven himself a ruthless killer, merciless like most Saiyans.
Vegetas Grudge against Goku is what makes him a very angry person.
other characters i've seen whom fit in this category but i'm not going to expand to much on are also
Uma Thurman in Kill Bill (2003) whom changed from an Antagonist to a Protagonist and for doing so her husband to be got killed by 'Bill', which made her go on a rampant anger fuelled revenge
Jugo from Naruto
An outcast, Jūgo's rage made him a danger to anyone around him, as they stood little chance of survival should he lose his temper. At one point, he became so angry that he destroyed a village and all of its inhabitants. This has caused others to label him as the "Scales", where anything could tip the balance.
Conclusion
Even though this is a
journey through anger, as we can see from this research, anger can be portrayed
in many different ways. I could have an emotional good or evil character; whom
could get angry at any given moment for a number of reasons, or could be angry
24/7. Hopefully this research will help me towards building a better character
that conveys the idea that their angry.
