The People Mix - Anthropology in the Film Industry

Character development – values and attitudes

by Cilla Lowen Newsletter 1.1

With the growing demand for African stories, developing authentic characters becomes even more of a challenge for screenwriters as the People Mix diversifies and expands.

For screenwriters from African origins this may be easier, but may also prove even more problematic depending on whether they are able to be objective about character diversity, or if they will simply apply broad strokes, or stereotype, based on their own personal experience, and so jeopardize depth of character.

Then add to the People Mix, factors like socio-economic and educational differences, different races and religions and their interaction with each other, and profound political experiences like Apartheid.?

All countries have dynamics that contribute to character variance.?Take for instance Dubai, a bustling metropolis and world leader in scientific innovation, and Ajman, a mere 40 kms away, with a far more conservative society, where citizens strive to uphold and preserve their traditional culture and values.

Character development demands cultural sensitivity to navigate the realities of our multicultural societies.?The skill is to know the underlying principles that help analyse the People Mix, their cultures, attitudes and values, and the dynamic between respective cultures in order to develop complex, authentic characters in your script.

Consider for instance, language.?Language like material elements of a culture or group, is easy to adopt.?Conversely, values, attitudes and beliefs are adopted more slowly, and selectively, or maybe not all.?What you see is not necessarily what you get.?Values, attitudes and beliefs go deep, are more hidden; they affect behaviour and relationships.?Subtext is a useful method to give insight into a character’s values, attitudes and beliefs.

With the pull towards urbanization being stronger than the rural, character development is indeed a complex process.?In our urban mix settings, with cultural juxtapositions and overlaps, we assimilate and discard cross-cultural influences as it suits us.??

Consider where on the continuum from totally traditional, or orthodox, to being fully urbanized, your character’s transition lies.?Even characters who on the surface look fully urbanized may still hold deep-rooted beliefs, for example, in witchcraft.?

Stereotyping creates misconceptions, for instance in the generalization: ‘African people avoid eye-contact because it’s considered rude’.?That may be true for many, but does it apply to all African people on the acculturation/urbanization continuum??Does it apply more to women, than to men? To weave an authentic story, developing credible characters is vital.

Cilla Lowen is an applied anthropology consultant, screenwriter and writer.?She consulted for several major South African companies, assisted with projects in UAE, wrote for international magazines and conducted applied anthropology fieldwork in South Africa, Namibia, Egypt and Israel.[email protected]