Every story, no matter how short or unconventional, needs at least one likable main character. This character doesn't have to be perfect—he can actually be quite flawed—but there has to be someone for the viewer to "root for" and live vicariously through.
I figured this out recently. My first novel, Starving in the Company of Beautiful Women, did not have a likable main character. In fact, the main character dies on page 1, and then the book is all back story. While it's hard to cheer for a guy who's already dead on page 1, this might have worked if I'd made him a little more likable. The cult film Liquid Sky has no likable characters.
| www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwOHKKJxrgA&feature=related (URL 2.3) |
| www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9-n9gpFVpk&feature=related (URL 2.4) |
It's a very interesting movie otherwise, especially visually and sonically, and probably would have had a wider audience if there had been someone to root for. But the characters don't even care about themselves, so why should we care about them?
The need to have a likable character is even seen in nonfiction coverage of stories with characters you can only despise. In every news show that covers the brutal murder of a family in a home invasion, they always interview the crying surviving relative. That's the person you root for in that story; they're likable because you feel sad for them.