Being John Malkovich | How to Pick A Characters’ Job
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If you watch movies, you might have noticed some professions pop up a lot more often than others. Some honorable mentions are detectives, bank robbers, politicians, and musicians. Is it better to use underrepresented jobs for your main characters, so it seems original? Or go based on what you know has been working in previous films? I have a theory that one way you can choose your character’s profession is base on the story and not the plot. What do I mean? In Seth Rogen’s interview in the off-camera show, he explains Plot vs. Story. In Superbad, the plot is about high schoolers trying to lose their virginity before going to college. However, the story is about an end of a friendship because they’re taking different paths in life. High schooler supports the plot. In Spike Jonze’s Being John Malkovich, written by Charlie Kaufman, I was fascinated by how much was squeezed out of the characters job. So how did Being John Malkovich pick the character’s job to reflect the plot and story ?
Plot vs. Story
In Being John Malkovich, we follow Craig Shwartz, a struggling puppeteer; who takes a job as a filing clerk. Craig finds a door while working that leads to the mind of John Malkovich. He uses the portal to John Malkovich’s mind as a business scheme with Maxine and eventually uses his puppeteer skills to control John Malcovich for his personal endeavors. That’s for the plot. In Being John Malcovich, I realized Craig being a puppeteer is chosen for a poetic purpose. The poetic metaphor for being a puppeteer is we get to escape who we are; being under someone else’s skin, thinking differently, moving differently, and feeling differently. There are five characters in the film whose story reflects the puppeteer metaphor: Craig, Lotte, Maxine, Captain Mertin, and John Malkovich.
Craig
Craig’s story is that he is unsuccessful in life; he uses puppeteering to fantasize about succeeding in his life’s failures. The woman he loves, who is not his wife, Maxine, does not find him attractive, and no one is willing to pay attention to his puppet craft. Only through puppeteering does Craig find success. He puppets John Malkovich and becomes a genius, completely revolutionizing culture. Craig also begins a relationship with Maxine. But just like his fantasy I mentioned before, when he gives up puppeteering, he’s back to his life’s failures, losing the career he built and losing Maxine.
Lotte
Lotte’s story is about a character whose identity is lost. She doesn’t seem to take care of herself and is obsessed with having pets. Lotte becomes Malkovich and realizes all along she wants to be a man. Lotte’s pet obsession is about is her filling that void inside of her of wanting to be a father, which she ends up being in the end. As well as taking care of herself now that she becomes what she felt she was the whole time.
Maxine
Maxine’s story is about a character who knows who she is. The only person not to get tempted to enter Malkovich’s mind. Her life’s philosophy is very sure of herself. The person everyone desires and knows how to get her way in life.
Captain Mertin
Dr. Lester confesses to Lotte that he is Captain Mertin; the person in the VHS tape who made the 7 1/2 floor. His story is about a person who fears death, preying on the youth to increase his longevity.
John Malkovich
Lastly, John Malkovich: representing the satire in the common misconception of being a celebrity. Most people imagine being a celebrity’s life as magical and grand compared to them; however, when the characters in the film become John Malkovich for fifteen minutes, his life is as boring as ours. What I found hilarious is that even though realizing that they’re no different than celebrities, everyone had this psychedelic transformative experience. This story shows that we should love who we are, and not to waste time fantasizing about being someone else because no person is better than the other.
So, how do we pick our character’s job like Being John Malkovich? Two ways you can go about this: One, find out what your story is about, is there a profession that reflects that story, and can you build a plot around that profession? Two, find a profession; what is the poetic metaphor of that profession that you can create a story that reflects it and build a plot around that.
