Situations 9&10
FLIGHT AND PURSUIT

“Fate leads him who will, him who won’t they drag.”

–LUCIUS ANNAEUS SENECA

Flight

Flight is the act of running away. It is to flee, to escape, or to make a hasty departure.

As I stated previously, I have renamed Polti’s Pursuit as Flight because I feel this better describes what he wrote. Polti was speaking of the person who was running away as being the Main Character, not the pursuer. Therefore, the focus is on Flight, not Pursuit. The opposite situation is better served by being called Pursuit.

Flight is similar to the previous vengeance situations in that you have someone who is accused of doing something wrong (he may or may not be innocent) who is being pursued. Flight differs from the previous vengeance situations in that the Avenger doesn’t play a role here.

The interest is in the Fugitive alone. He seems to be a victim of fate, and the audience sympathizes with him to some degree because we are all afraid of being in the wrong place at the wrong time. If he is guilty of his crime, there is a valid reason he committed the crime, so the audience can sympathize with him—he is the Main Character, after all.

This situation requires a Punishment and a Fugitive. The police may be after him but they are not personally out to get him as an Avenger would. They are just doing their job and may even grow to respect the Fugitive—think of Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks in Catch Me If You Can.

There are three types of Punishments: Just, Injust, and Unjust.

Just Punishment occurs when the Fugitive has done something wrong. It is the upholding of what is just and due in accordance with the law. In this case, the Fugitive has committed an illegal act or crime and should be punished, but his actions are excusable. Again the audience must be able to identify with this character.

In Catch Me If You Can, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character commits the crimes Tom Hanks’ character is chasing him for, but we come to realize it was Leonardo’s father who caused him to become a criminal. In scene after scene, we see that this is really a good kid who didn’t receive the parental love and support he needed to become an upstanding citizen. He barely had a chance. His desire to “get out” of his life of crime and live somewhere out of the country also tells us that he is sorry and is trying to change—albeit too late.

In Thelma and Louise, the Main Characters just want to get away and start new lives somewhere after they commit a crime. We know how hard their lives have been and that Thelma killed a man, but it was in self-defense. This makes them sympathetic characters even though they are guilty.

Injust Punishment occurs when the Fugitive has not done anything wrong but is still punished. An injustice is in violation of another’s rights or of what is right. In this case, the audience identifies with the Fugitive right away because he’s innocent. As long as he doesn’t commit a major crime while he flees punishment, he will be a likable character. Think of Harrison Ford’s character in the film The Fugitive.

This type of Punishment brings out two types of Fugitives—one who wants to set things right and one who wants to just escape and save himself. If he wants to set things right he is determined to save his name, avoid capture, and find those who are guilty. If he just wants to escape he won’t care at all who committed the crime he’s accused of. He just wants to get away and leave it all behind him.

Unjust Punishment occurs when the Fugitive is fleeing a power in authority. It is a want of justice not received. In this case it is the Punisher who commits a crime against the Fugitive.

Perhaps the Fugitive didn’t agree with the Power in Authority and was going to:

• expose their illegal practices

• publish his negative opinion about their products

• show people how to get by without this power figure taking care of them

Or the Fugitive was just in the wrong place at the wrong time:

• She couldn’t care less about this power in authority but for some reason they think she’s a threat and want her out of the way.

• The power in authority could be after one of the Fugitive’s friends and come after her to find the friend.

• Maybe the Fugitive saw something she shouldn’t have seen and is now considered a threat.

THE PUNISHMENT

The Punishment literally is what’s at stake in the story. It motivates the Fugitive to flee in the beginning and then pushes her to endure any obstacle set in her way. Her goal is to be free from Punishment.

Punishment is a loss. It can be the loss of time as in jail, the loss of dignity as in a scandal, the loss of physical health as in torture, the loss of mental health as in scare tactics being used, or the loss of emotional health as in family and friends being harmed.

Whatever the Punishment, it is strong and compelling enough to make the hero flee. Show how important time and freedom are to the hero and then threaten her with jail. Show how important family is to her and then take away her child. If we first see who the hero is and what is important to her, we will be able to sympathize with her when Punishment is wielded.

THE FUGITIVE

The Fugitive has something to lose by not running. She is a resourceful person who has enough self-confidence to flee and think she will be successful. She knows the law cannot help her and that doing things through traditional channels won’t get her anywhere. She has to take things into her own hands and is willing to risk everything to try. She feels she doesn’t have much more to lose.

She may become so wrapped up in what she is doing that her whole personality changes, and she won’t be the same person by the end as she was in the beginning. She gains self-esteem, learns a lot about survival, and delves into a new “underworld” while she’s on the run.

She may meet people from a social class she considered to be much lower than hers. This will make it harder for her to go back to life as normal with her old friends. Her ordeal may force her to look at what she has been doing wrong in her life. Is there someone, or a whole group of people, she punishes on a daily basis for being different?

Whether Flight is used as a plot, subplot, or incident, the elements of the beginning, middle, and end are the same:

BEGINNING: A crime or injustice occurs and the potential Fugitive is present. She is either guilty or innocent of the act and may just be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

• Which type of Punishment is she fleeing—Just, Injust, or Unjust?

• Is she upset by what happens? Is it personal for her?

• Is anyone there to witness it?

• How will you foreshadow things to keep the second act of your story interesting? (Add some intrigue; throw a couple of other characters into the mix who can cause some trouble for the Fugitive.)

• Is there anyone on the Fugitive’s side?

• Will the Fugitive get a taste of Punishment? (Think of The Fugitive—the character was already in prison for a while when he escaped.)

MIDDLE: The Fugitive is on the run. Punishment follows right behind her.

• What type of Punishment will she suffer if she is caught?

• Will she seek aid from someone?

• What resources does she have?

• Will she face a few major obstacles or many small ones? How fast is the story pace? (This is a chase, so keep it moving!)

• Will there be any detours on her path? Is there any unfinished business she has to take care of? (Perhaps a friend passes away and she wants to attend the funeral.)

• Has her personality started to change? (Stress can have that effect.)

• How often will you show the Punishing Force?

• How many times will this Force get close to capturing the Fugitive?

END: The Fugitive faces the Punishing Force and gets away.

• Is the Fugitive guilty? Will she get away with it by dying (think Thelma and Louise) or by giving up something like citizenship as she moves out of the country?

• If the Fugitive is not guilty, is the Punishing Force proven to be wrong and exposed? (Think about Russell Crowe’s character in The Insider.)

• How dramatic will the ending be?

• How much has the Fugitive changed? Will she be able to go back to her former life?

• Will the Fugitive die in the end? Will justice be served?

“When your dreams tire, they go underground; and out of kindness that’s where they stay.”

–LIBBY HOUSTON

Pursuit

Pursuit has three meanings—the act or an instance of chasing or pursuing, the act of striving for something, or an activity (such as a hobby) engaged in regularly.

In this situation, the Fugitive becomes the Pursuer. She is striving toward something whether it’s a person, an activity, or her own education. She has a goal to better her life by bringing something into it. The antagonist in this case is anything that stands in her way of achieving this goal, whether it’s a lack of education that prevents her from getting a good job or a parent who doesn’t want her to change. Many “chick lit” stories fit in this category where the heroine is up against her own shortcomings.

She is the hero who chases her ex-boyfriend all across the country, trying to win him back because she realizes she made a mistake in leaving him. Think My Best Friend’s Wedding with Julia Roberts.

She is the hero who wants to make a better life for her family so she works two jobs to pay for a college education.

Whether Pursuit is used as plot, subplot, or incident, the elements of the beginning, middle, and end are the same:

BEGINNING: This type of situation focuses on the hero and her noble goal of bettering herself.

• What is it she wants to change? (Let’s see the bad habit or situation at work here.)

• Why does she want to better herself?

• What is she pursuing?

• Does someone want to stop her? Why?

• What is at stake for her if she changes?

• What is at stake for her if she doesn’t change?

• Is there a time period in which she must reach her goal?

MIDDLE: The second act is about how she handles obstacle after obstacle toward this goal.

• What types of obstacles will she face? Physical, emotional, mental, or spiritual?

• Will the obstacles get worse, testing her resolve?

• How will the obstacles change her? By overcoming them, does she feel stronger?

• Is she pursuing someone? If so, why does he keep running?

• Has her goal changed at all? (It usually changes for the better because rarely do we go for the gold and then change our minds half way to go for the bronze instead.)

END: In the end she may or may not attain her goal, but it is the Pursuit that makes it all worthwhile.

• Will she attain her goal? Why?

• What does she learn from her Pursuit? How did she grow? How will you show this?

• Would she do it again?

• How do other characters feel about her now? Are they jealous?

• Is there a concrete ending or a sense that she will continue to pursue her passion and continue to learn?

EXAMPLES

The Fugitive, ANDREW DAVIS

FLIGHT AS PLOT—Wrongly convicted of murdering his wife, Dr. Richard Kimble escapes from a prison bus and tries to find out why she was killed and who the murderer really was. He is fleeing a U.S. marshal while pursuing the truth.

Thelma and Louise, RIDLEY SCOTT

FLIGHT AS PLOT, PURSUIT AS SUBPLOT—Thelma and Louise decide to break out of their normal routine and take a road trip. Their journey turns into a flight when Louise kills a man who threatens to rape Thelma. They decide to go to Mexico, but soon they are hunted by American police.

My Best Friend’s Wedding, P.J. HOGAN

PURSUIT AS PLOT— When Julianne’s long-time friend says he’s getting married, she realizes she loves him and sets out to get him.

The Bachelor, GARY SINYOR

PURSUIT AS SUBPLOT AND INCIDENT, FLIGHT AS INCIDENT— A commitment-phobic man has to get married in one day in order to inherit his grandfather’s 100-million-dollar estate. When he botches up a proposal to his girlfriend, she flees to Greece and he pursues many women in an effort to find a bride.