This month is Power of Love month, but this week takes a slight detour because of the biggest movie of the year so far- a true cultural phenomenon.  Black Panther features examples of both the light and dark side of Power of Conscience, and it tackles themes of what is right and who gets to decide that issue.

Black Panther

Black Panther tells the story of T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman), the recently coronated king of the fictional African nation of Wakanda. Built around the world’s rarest metal, Wakanda is the most technologically advanced nation on earth, and centuries ahead of everyone else in every respect. At its heart, it’s a story led by Power of Conscience character.

Power of Conscience Characters follow their own moral code and expect others to do the right thing. They operate on their own level of justice and think solely about what is right and what is wrong. Most importantly they are compelled to tackle in injustice and correct what they perceive as wrong-doing.

T’Challa’s Moral Dilemma

T’Challa must compromise his moral code to become the leader that his country needs.  He is challenged by a Power of Conscience antagonist that is the seeming opposite of everything he stands for. He learns to become the kind of leader who makes decisions that are for the greater good, despite opposition.

I will try to avoid spoilers for those of you who haven’t seen the movie- Go see it yourself!

Too Good To Be King

“You’re a good man, with a good heart — and it’s hard for a good man to be king.”

One of the central dilemmas that faces King T’Challa in Black Panther is whether he should cooperate with the rest of the world and share with them what Wakanda has to offer. Many in the nation he now leads believe that the world is not ready to interact with Wakanda.

Throughout the film, T’Challa does the right thing no matter the cost. Members of his family and his heads of security disapprove. When he learns of his father’s dark past, and his connection to film’s lead antagonist, Erik Kilmonger (Michael B. Jordan), he sympathizes with Erik and realizes he must lead Wakanda in a different direction to his ancestors.

T’Challa’s journey is going from being an uncertain man who does not feel ready to carry out what he knows the be right, to a King who has conviction in his actions.

Mirror Image

Erik Kilmonger (Michael B. Jordan) represents the dark side of Power of Conscience. Some people have already compared T’Challa and Kilmonger’s approaches to that of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X respectively. He is an outsider to Wakanda, determined to use Wakanda’s resources to benefit others. However, his vision is far more violent than T’Challa’s.

Erik takes it upon himself to take revenge for the injustices that the world has perpetrated on all his African forebearers. He believes that Wakanda has an obligation to help the oppressed outside of the nation. He is willing to shed blood to make sure that they rise up against inequality.

Erik shows how far Power of Conscience Characters will go to do what they believe is right. Although his intentions are noble, T’Challa knows that it will result in a scenario of endless bloodshed where no one truly wins. Erik is so blinded by his moral code that he becomes the kind of villain he wants to destroy.

Doing The Right Thing

Black Panther features both ends of the spectrum for Power of Conscience Characters. The film shows how far people are willing to go for the greater good, as they percieve it.

T’Challa becomes a better man when faced with constant challenges to his authority and beliefs. Erik is so blinded by rage and tragedy that he believes the ends justify the means. He goes too far in his attempt to conquer Wakanda and wage war on the world for past oppression.

Power of Conscience

Power of Conscience Characters provide plenty of opportunity for conflict in drama. They work well in serious or comedic stories. For more examples of Power of Conscience characters, check out my eBook about this Character Type at the ETB store.

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It’s that time of the new year where everyone is doing their round-up of the best and worst of the previous year. Well, if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em! I’ve been able to consume a lot of media this year, so I thought now would be a good time to start an annual tradition where I let you know what movies, TV shows, plays, musical, books and people made an impression on me, for better or worse. So, without further ado, it’s time to announce the winners of the 1st Annual Lauries!

Best Film of 2017

Paddington 2

What a wonderful antidote this was to a year full of nastiness in the news. We could all use a reminder that essentially, everyone is decent. Paddington brings out the best in us, and this sequel was even more funny, inventive and touching than the first. I’ll be going into more detail about the character Of Paddington himself further down.

It was so refreshing to see a simple, stripped-down film that was gentle-humoured and charming. It wasn’t trying to be a spectacle, and the stakes were low. The whole film revolves around a pop-up book that Paddington wants to buy for his Aunt Lucy.

This gives us time to just enjoy the wonderful characters, especially Hugh Grant as a washed-up flamboyant actor, and the ludicrous scenarios, like Paddington being falsely imprisoned only to turn the jail into a victorian-style tearoom. No matter your age, it’s hard to think of someone who wouldn’t love Paddington 2, both as an exercise in good writing and just an all-round enjoyable film.

Worst Film of 2017

Detroit

I have real issues with Katheryn Bigelow’s Detroit, especially after her brilliant work on films like The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty. Whilst Bigelow focused more on atmosphere than story, which is not necessarily a bad thing but one I’m not personally keen on doing, everything about the film is exaggerated. Every character is a caricature.

The antagonists are violent and racist but we never really understand their point of view. The protagonists are seen as helpless victims and nothing more. It never earns its shocks, its violence or its tension because we never care about what is going on or who it is happening to.

Detroit could have been something special. Instead, its troubling for all the wrong reasons.

TV show of 2017

Mindhunter

The latest Netflix drama directed by David Fincher is a real slow-burner, and has tested the patience of many a viewer. I, however, loved it. It features a winning combination of Power of Truth and Power of Reason characters, as the series depicts the formation of the FBI’s behavioral science unit.

Whizzkid Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) interviews some of America’ most notorious serial killers under the weary gaze of gruff older agent Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) and academic Wendy Carr (Anna Torv). These are truth-seekers and mystery-solvers attempted to unravel the twisted logic of those who believe that their victims deserved to die, and that the world should bend to their set of rules. As a tale of Power of Truth vs Power of Reason, it made for the most engrossing TV of the year.

Power of Ambition Character of 2017

Boris Johnson

Power of Ambition characters will do whatever they have to in order to gain power and influence. They will change face at a moment’s notice, and stab others in the back in order to command respect and admiration.

This year, no one has undermined his own leader, and his own cabinet, like Boris Johnson. Rumour has it that his own colleagues are sick of him attempting to usurp Prime Minister Theresa May and take over as Prime Minister himself, an ambition he has held for years but will likely never achieve. What could once have been seen as strategic and calculating has now become embarrassing.

The one thing he has been consistent in is behaving like a Power of Ambition character should.

Power of Conscience Character of 2017

Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) in The Punisher

I will be publishing a much more in-depth article about Netflix’s Power of Conscience show The Punisher soon, but its titular character is a brilliant demonstration of how far a Power of Conscience character can fall to the dark side. Driven to extreme vengeance following the brutal murder of his family, “The Punisher” doles out his own brutal judgment upon everyone he believes has done wrong. Few are left alive or without lasting injuries.

Frank Castle is a tragic character, bolstered by Bernthal’s heartbreaking performance, and it’s refreshing to see the darkest side of Power of Conscience. This Character Type can be more dangerous than even Power of Will when they are pushed too far, and truly believe their law is above everyone else’s. He is surrounded by other Power of Conscience characters, but he is at the furthest end of a spectrum. He is a great anti-hero, and a good way to judge how far you think a Power of Conscience character could go when you’re writing them.

Power of Excitement Character of 2017

Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant) in Paddington 2

Another entry from Paddington 2, for a character portrayed by an actor commonly associated with the Power of Excitement Character Type. Hugh Grant has played so many Power of Excitement roles in his career- womanizers with rakish charm and carefree thrillseekers who are the life and soul of the party. Although the wonderful Phoenix Buchanan is a variation, he is a classic entry into Grant’s canon.

Phoenix Buchanan is willing to let an innocent Paddington rot in jail so he can pursue his ancestor’s treasure hunt, with a prize that will finance his endless pursual of his lavish lifestyle, where he can indulge his own enjoyment. His motivation is quintessentially Power of Excitement, and he ultimatelt gets what he wants- all eyes on him, as he becomes the centre of attention.

Power of Idealism Character of 2017

Alexander Hamilton (Jamael Westman) in Hamilton

The hit American musical Hamilton, a hip-hop retelling of the life of Founding Father and Secretary of the treasury Alexander Hamilton,  recently arrived in London, with Jamael Westman playing the titular lead character.

Hamilton is all about the creation of a nation, and the sacrifices one must make for legacy and achieving a destiny, often at the cost of family, friends and morals. Alexander Hamilton, as he is depicted in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical, is a brilliant example of a Power of Idealism character as their best and their worst. His striving for the best helping shape The United States of America as we know it, but also brough him unspeakable tragedy and eventually led to his own death.

Hamilton is Power of Idealism in its extreme. Even listening to the soundtrack by itself will demonstrate how far this Character Type will go for that next high, or to embrace that exaggerated drama that they crave in their life, or to acheive their grand destiny. Nobody believes in grand destiny like Alexander Hamilton, who constantly reminds us that he is “not throwing away [his] shot”.

Power of Imagination character of 2017

Paddington Brown (Ben Whishaw) in Paddington 2

Power of Imagination are commonly young naïfs who have adventure unwittingly thrust upon them and have to rise to the occasion. Paddington, star of my favourite film of the year, is a great example of this Character Type.

Another trait of Power of Imagination characters is that they often bring people together for a common good. Paddington 2 goes to great lengths to show us how much his neighbours rely on Paddington to help their street to run smoothly. When he is falsely imprisoned, his charm and good manners win over an entire jail full of hardened criminals. His adoptive family, The Browns, aren’t quite the same without him. He is the glue that holds everyone together, and they will do anything for him in the same way that The Fellowship of the Ring would do anything for Frodo Baggins, or The Rebellion would do for Luke Skywalker.

Paddington works as a character because he takes the extraordinary situations he gets involved in, and tackles them head on in the only way he knows how, no matter how out of his deapth that he feels. We could all learn something for Paddington, perhaps more than any other Power of Imagination character.

Power of Love Character of 2017

Mija (Seo hyun-Ahn) in Okja

Okja is another Netflix production, but this time a feature film. It is a great Power of Love story that may at times seem like a Power of Truth story, once it veers into a group of environmental activists trying to uncover the wicked acts of a global corporation, but at its heart, it is a love story between Mija and her bizarre giant friend, Okja.

Mija, in theory, ruins a lot of lives and breaks a lot of hearts in her pursuit of her kidnapped animal companion. She is relentless in her mission to regain Okja, whether or not Okja’s return to the city is the best thing for her or not. For a selfish journey that is ultimately selfless, Mija is this year’s best example of a Power of Love character because of her unwavering belief that Okja belongs to her, and her love is the best thing no matter who gets in her way.

Power of Reason character of 2017

Robert Mueller

Robert Mueller is a classic “G-Man” for the FBI, a conservative with traditional values who is loyal to the Bureau and has always upheld its core beliefs. He is not Power of Truth, despite his detective-like behavior uncovering inciting documents and damning evidence during the Russia investigation.

Mueller is meticulous, as he was trained to be, and his approach to the investigation has been typically Power of Reason. He is only interested in the facts, as well as cold, hard statistics. He is cool, calm and collected. This year he has proved to be someone totally neutral and only interested in finding out the truth. He is not paranoid, or unsure of himself- he has more conviction than any Power of Truth character could.

Power of Truth Character of 2017

Peter Maldonado (Tyler Alvarez) in American Vandal

My favorite Power of Truth story this year was the Netflix spoof American Vandal, who parodied true-crime documentaries like Making A Murderer and Serial so perfectly that it became every bit as good as them. At the heart of the story was its narrator, student filmmaker Peter Maldonado, who is making this “documentary” to uncover the truth behind “Who Drew The Dicks?”.

Peter displays all the flaws of a classic Power of Truth character. He doesn’t trust anyone and loses friends because of how far he is willing to go to uncover a conspiracy and solve a mystery that may not even be there. It’s surprising how a show that makes fun of the tropes from detective stories and crime investigations would provide such a great example of a typical Power of Truth character.

Power of Will Character of 2017

Tommy Shelby (Cillian Murphy) in Peaky Blinders

Gangsters are typically Power of Will characters, and Tommy Shelby is no exception. He might just be the greatest Small Screen Gangster since Tony Soprano. For non-British viewers, Peaky Blinders is essentially The Godfather set in early 20th-century Birmingham, UK. War veteran Tommy is the patriarch of his crime family, keeping everyone in check, from his reckless brothers to the Prime Minister and King of England themselves.

Tommy is ruthless and violent but in an intelligent way. Gangsters all have different styles of management, and Tommy uses violence only sparingly, preferring to use intimidation, and controlling people through legitimate business and official channels. His methods work, and as the show has progressed Tommy has become increasingly powerful. He is an incredible success Power of Will character, and for that, he is my favorite example of this Character type from last year.

Moment of the year

#MeToo

It’s hard to choose one specific moment, because there’s been so many notable events this year. What has been happening in the real world in 2017 has been so volatile that it’s far more dramatic than something any TV Show or Film could have mustered up.

So this year, which has been so relentlessly bleak, I’m awarding Moment of the Year to something hopeful. The #MeToo movement, which was also Time’s Person of the Year. Brave women (and men) came forward and exposed an abusive culture that is long overdue to be eradicated. It’s only the start, but it’s a start nonetheless.

So to those of us who have been harassed or assaulted, the rise of #MeToo was a Moment that will define this year more than any Film, TV show or politician.

I’ll be continuing Power of Conscience month with an examination of Whistle Blowers this Thursday, much like the instigators of #MeToo who spoke out because it was the right thing to do. A great example of Power of Conscience behavior working for the better.

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I’ve just discovered a wonderful website Difference Between. Here is their take on Influence vs Power.

Lawrence of Arabia is a classic example of a character who had absolutely no power but had tremendous influence. He basically remade the Middle East. Gandhi is another example of a character who also had no power but remade India.  Both where the subject of Oscar-winning motion pictures.

Here is the article from the Difference Between website.

Power and Influence are two terms between which a number of differences can be identified. Both Power and influence are attributes that we come across very early in our lives. You must have heard interviews of celebrities where they talk about the person who held the greatest influence on their lives. Surprisingly, for a vast majority, the person having the greatest influence turns out to be either father or mother. But fathers or mothers are certainly not very powerful, are they? This means that power and influence are separate entities contrary to common perception. Though many times it looks like the person with authority is influential because of his power, but often it is vice versa. There are differences between power and influence though their ultimate purpose or objective is the same, and that is to control others or to get them to do things you want them to do. This article attempts to highlight the differences between the two terms while elucidating each term.

What is Influence?

Influence can be defined as the ability to create an impact on the beliefs and actions of an individual. Influence evokes respect. Unlike Power, influence contains such a magic that those under the influence keep working in the desired manner even in the absence of the influential person. Influence is a desirable trait in any leader. No secretary of state has been more powerful than Dick Cheney in US. This was because of the influence he had over the then President George Bush. Mahatma Gandhi was the most influential personality ever to have breathed in India. All the power, he had, was derived from his influence. He had no post, no power from the top. He had hundreds of thousands of followers who were ready to die for his cause or obeyed him blindly. This highlights that Influence is a very powerful quality.

What is Power?

Power can be defined as the authority to get something done through an individual. This usually evokes fear. Both power and influence can be used to achieve a particular goal such as the completion of a task. However, since power is often associated with fear, there is a tendency for the task to be completed poorly. Especially, when the person, who uses the power, is absent, the quality of work decreases. Power is imposed from the top as when your boss asks you to do a job. You do it in time and the manner that your boss has asked you to do, but you do it more out of fear than any love or respect for him. You do the job because it is your duty, and you are fearful that you might get reported if you do not complete the job. Some people are powerful because of their influence. However, most derive their power from the post they have got. In the modern society, we see people abuse their power merely to get things done. This abuse of power is not only immoral, but also harms the entire society. What leaders need to cultivate is to accumulate both power and influence, and learn to use both judiciously and appropriately. They must realize that misapplication of either can result in the loss of both.

At the heart of any character’s inner conflict is change or transformation. The rage and divide in US politics is all about the perception that the country is changing. “It’s not the country I know anymore.”

Demographics are changing. Social mores are changing. Moral taboos are changing, Resistance to these changes is summed in the theme song of the television hit All in the Family.

In a story, someone or something provokes some kind of shift or change in the character or the character’s world. Change is disturbing because what comes next is uncertain. “You are no longer who I expect you to be. You are not predictable.”

Studies have shown that people would rather get a predictable electric shock (pain) now than maybe be (unpredictably) shocked (or not) later.  People show greater anxiety when waiting for an unpredictable shock (or pain) than an expected one. The Joker says: “Because it’s all part of the plan.”

Writers are always advised to write what they know. What writers (and all other human beings) know the most about is change.

Living, by definition, is to change. Nothing in life is static. Change and transformation are all around you. Both impact you every day. You live in an unsettling and constantly changing world. That is especially true today, with the backtracking, outright lying, and whiplash-inducing policy and personnel shifts in the White House.

The world is (and always has been) full of political uncertainty, evolving relationships, personal and professional ups and downs, and, conflicting responsibilities, loyalties, commitments, and desires. Your characters should experience their world in exactly the same way.

You know how painful change and transformation can be. You have experienced extreme, dramatic and, sometimes excruciating change. Your life has been full of unexpected reversals, complex dilemmas, and difficult growth experiences- and so should the lives of your characters. (And there’s no reason why all this turmoil, chaos, and pain shouldn’t be hilarious. Great comedians know: “If it doesn’t hurt. It isn’t funny”.

One of the downsides of the awesomeness of human consciousness is the ability to worry about the future. We know the future exists, but we don’t know what’s going to happen in it. In animals, unpredictability and uncertainty can lead to heightened awareness.

What’s unique about humans is the ability to reflect on the fact that these future events are unknown or unpredictable,  This uncertainty itself can lead to a lot of distress, anxiety, and pain. And that is scary.

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In the war between emotion and reason, emotion always wins. Always.

Why? Emotion leads to action but thinking leads to conclusions.  If you want to motivate people you must engage their emotions.  You don’t need them to think.  You need them to GO!

This is something the Democrats will have to accept and utilize– again.  Hope, President Obama’s slogan, is a powerful emotion. It drove a wide and varied electorate to the polls and changed history.

Anger and fear are also powerful emotions. Donald Trump’s slogan “Make America Great Again” implies the country is no longer great and it is, in fact, slipping away.  Outsiders are flooding in.  Social values are changing. “Real” American citizens are being marginalized and pushed out of positions of power.

Those feelings drove unhappy, mostly white, voters to the polls to reclaim their superiority and assert their privilege. They wanted to change history back before the truly marginalized got “uppity” and forgot their place. They wanted a “strong man” to bully and aggressively “put down” those who want social change.

Power of Will characters, like Donald Trump, divide the world into aggressors and victims, hunters and prey, and the strong and the weak. They believe it is better to be feared than to be loved. They never want to be seen as “soft” or vulnerable. They show no mercy to anyone.  But, in the end, it’s all about their own survival.

Power of Will Characters will throw anyone under the bus if it comes down to a threat to their own survival. This is something Trump’s family might want to keep in mind. Love doesn’t figure into the equation.

Tony Soprano, another Power of Will Character, proved this with chilling dramatic effect.  Christopher Molisante is arguably one of the people Tony loved most in this world.  During a time when Christopher relapses and starts taking drugs again, he and Tony get in a car accident.  Christopher is babbling and Tony, afraid his secrets might be betrayed, kills Christopher with his bare hands.

In an earlier episode, Christopher says, “That’s the guy Adrianna, my uncle Tony. The guy I’m going to hell for.” Little did he know Tony would personally send him there. Love is ancillary, promises are meaningless, assurances are worthless, as we’ve seen over and over in Trump’s White House.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6t08B37ugA

Both Tony Soprano and Donald Trump share the characteristics in the infographic below.
The only way to defeat a Power of Will Character is with integrity.  It’s kryptonite to bullies.  Watch Robert Mueller quietly building a case. No leaks. No showboating. He is slowly assembling the evidence. True integrity will win out. I believe in what Theodore Parker said before the Civil War.  I believe in hope.

We cannot understand the moral Universe. The arc is a long one, and our eyes reach but a little way; we cannot calculate the curve and complete the figure by the experience of sight; but we can divine it by conscience, and we surely know that it bends toward justice. Justice will not fail, though wickedness appears strong, and has on its side the armies and thrones of power, the riches and the glory of the world, and though poor men crouch down in despair. Justice will not fail and perish out from the world of men, nor will what is really wrong and contrary to God’s real law of justice continually endure.

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Valdimir Putin,  the President of Russia, has been much in the news lately, specifically regarding the Russian invasion/annexation of the Crimea.  The New Republic magazine has an interesting analysis of Putin’s personality and goals.  He is described in the magazine and in other news reports as a classic Power of Will character.

Putin, sees the world according to his own logic, and the logic goes like this: it is better to be feared than loved, it is better to be overly strong than to risk appearing weak, and Russia was, is, and will be an empire with an eternal appetite for expansion. And it will gather whatever spurious reasons it needs to insulate itself territorially from what it still perceives to be a large and growing NATO threat.  New Republic Magazine

From the LA Times this week:  Across a resurgent Russia, Stalin lives again, at least in the minds and hearts of Russian nationalists who see Putin as heir to the former dictator’s model of iron-fisted rule. Recent tributes celebrate Stalin’s military command acumen and geopolitical prowess. His ruthless repression of enemies, real and imagined, has been brushed aside by today’s Kremlin leader as the cost to be paid for defeating the Nazis.

As Putin has sought to recover territory lost in the 1991 Soviet breakup, his Stalinesque claim to a right to a “sphere of influence” has allowed him to legitimize the seizure of Crimea from Ukraine and declare an obligation to defend Russians and Russian speakers beyond his nation’s borders.

Power of Will characters believe that expanding their power base, extending their territory, protecting and defending what is rightfully theirs (according to them) and swiftly avenging any wrong (or perceived wrong) is how one gets along, gets ahead and stays ahead in the world.

These characters take what they want, fight for every inch of turf, refuse to show any weakness themselves and pounce decisively on the weakness of others. They have a kill or be killed framework for everything. They believe absolutely in the Law of the Jungle and divide the world into aggressors and victims, hunters and prey, and the strong and the weak. They believe it is better to be feared than to be loved. They never want to be seen as “soft” or vulnerable. They show no mercy and they expect none.

Power of Will characters fear showing any sign of weakness or vulnerability. They fear that remorse, compassion, empathy, compromise or forgiveness leaves them soft and open to possible attack by others. These characters believe there is no mercy in the jungle that is the world. There is only survival of the fittest. The biggest, toughest, meanest dog wins. Might makes right. Speak decisively and back it up with big guns.

For more on the Power of Will character visit the ETB Screenwriting Shop.

Valdimir Putin,  the President of Russia, has been much in the news lately, specifically regarding the Russian invasion/annexation of the Crimea.  The New Republic magazine has an interesting analysis of Putin’s personality and goals.  He is described in the magazine and in other news reports as a classic Power of Will character.

Putin, sees the world according to his own logic, and the logic goes like this: it is better to be feared than loved, it is better to be overly strong than to risk appearing weak, and Russia was, is, and will be an empire with an eternal appetite for expansion. And it will gather whatever spurious reasons it needs to insulate itself territorially from what it still perceives to be a large and growing NATO threat.  New Republic Magazine

Power of Will characters believe that expanding their power base, extending their territory, protecting and defending what is rightfully theirs (according to them) and swiftly avenging any wrong (or perceived wrong) is how one gets along, gets ahead and stays ahead in the world.

These characters take what they want, fight for every inch of turf, refuse to show any weakness themselves and pounce decisively on the weakness of others. They have a kill or be killed framework for everything. They believe absolutely in the Law of the Jungle and divide the world into aggressors and victims, hunters and prey, and the strong and the weak. They believe it is better to be feared than to be loved. They never want to be seen as “soft” or vulnerable. They show no mercy and they expect none.

Power of Will characters fear showing any sign of weakness or vulnerability. They fear that remorse, compassion, empathy, compromise or forgiveness leaves them soft and open to possible attack by others. These characters believe there is no mercy in the jungle that is the world. There is only survival of the fittest. The biggest, toughest, meanest dog wins. Might makes right. Speak decisively and back it up with big guns.

For more on the Power of Will character visit the ETB Screenwriting Shop.

In folklore, a Golem is a huge being drawn from inanimate matter.  The word Golem does occur in Scripture and means an unshaped form. It is commonly means an uncultivated being or a brainless hulk created to do another’s bidding.  (This is not Golum from The Fellowship of the Rings.  Different spelling and different kind of being.)

In folklore, the Golem’s purpose is usually  to fend off attackers or defend against maurauders. This being does in fact turn back or destroy those who would attack the community.  The problem is that eventually the monster turns on its creators and does terrible violence to those who raised the being from the unformed mass.

This story of the Golem reminds me of Tea Party and the Republican party. Fox News and the Koch brothers largely drew the Tea Party from an inchoate mass of distrust, anger, and fear in certain parts of the population. Now this Golem is turning on the Republican party it was meant to defend.

Tea Party candidates have run against mainstream Republicans and have defeated more moderate elements of the party. These more extreme Tea Party candidates are causing untold problems for Republicans who believe in cooperation, moderation, and reaching across the aisle to get things done.

The budget and debt limit crisis the latest and most extreme example.  The Tea Party is pushing the party further and further to the right when Republican candidates must appeal to a wider audience of independent voters in the general election, an audience who doesn’t share their extreme views.  Even traditional corporate allies and big business lobbyists are finding the Tea Party extremists impossible to work with and unwilling to make practical compromises.

It will be interesting to see how this particular Golem story plays out.  Will the Tea Party destroy the Republican party it was created to defend?  Or split the party into two wings?  Polls seem headed in a growing unfavorable Republican direction.  It will be interesting to find out whether politics follows folklore.

It has always seemed to me that one of a President’s primary responsibilities is to be a storyteller. We all know the importance of narratives, of stories; they are part of the reasons our brains are so damn big. We need stories, we thrive on them, stories are how we shape our universe. Tolkien could have been talking about the power of stories when he described his One Ring: stories rule us, they find us, they bring us together, they bind us, and, yes, they can pull us apart as well. If a President is to have any success, if his policies are going to gain any kind of traction among the electorate, he first has to tell us a story.

All year I’ve been waiting for Obama to flex his narrative muscles, to tell the story of his presidency, of his Administration, to tell the story of where our country is going and why we should help deliver it there. A coherent, accessible, compelling story—one that is narrow enough to be held in our minds and hearts and that nevertheless is roomy enough for us, the audience, to weave our own predilections, dreams, fears, experiences into its fabric.

Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2010/01/one-year-storyteller-in-chief.html#ixzz0dekBOJ4P

Power of Imagination Profile
President Barack Obama

“Out of (Obama’s) perceptiveness comes a distinct way of seeing the world. Obama emphasizes the connections between people, the networks and the webs of influence. These sorts of links are invisible to some of his rivals, but Obama is a communitarian. He believes you can only make profound political changes if you first change the spirit of the community. In his speeches, he says that if one person stands up, then another will stand up and another and another and you’ll get a nation standing up.”

Fictional Character Examples

Three Factors of Character Type

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A Character Type is made up of three key factors:

1. Immediate Tactics: This is how a character reacts to a specific challenge, opportunity or threat (often unforeseen). It is a character’s immediate tactical response or actions in dealing with a problem or obstacle in the short-term.

2. Long-term Orientation: This is how the character views the world, sees his or her role in it and is what a character believes is true about life and love. It is a character’s overall personal philosophy and view of self and others.

3. Strategic Approach: This is how a character goes about leading or getting things done over the long haul. It is how a character works with others overall. It is how a character plans, takes charge or commands others to achieve a larger goal. Strategy deals with the art of of obtaining a grand overarching longer-term objective.

Each of these key factors results in fight, flight or embrace/submit response.  Character is action. There are the three possible actions a character can take in any given situation or circumtance. He or she can confront the challenge, opportunity or threat (fight). The character can withdraw from it (flee/flight) perhaps to regroup or do reconnaisence. Or a character can embrace something (submit) and perhaps co-opt, cajole or cooperate with the adversary.

As Power of Imagination character, President Obama consistently acts in the following manner.

Immediate Tactics

Power of Imagination characters embrace an immediate or unexpected opportunity, challenge or threat as something to be communicated to or with others. These characters are compelled to embrace others and ask them to share their perceptions as well. They want all parties to embrace the common good inspired by their vision.

That’s why President Obama constantly sees “teachable moments” in difficult unforeseen situations and circumstances.  During his candidacy, he responded to charges of anti-white racism on the part of his pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, with a long thoughtful speech on racism, exploring the distrust and anger on both sides.  When another issue of racism came up during his presidency his response was to invite the white police officer (Sgt. James Crowley) and the black professor (Dr. Henry Gates) involved over to the White House to share a beer.

His automatic response to most unforeseen situations is to try to improve communications.  In his own words, regarding the U.S. financial melt-down he said in an interview on CBS’ Sixty Minutes on March 22, 2009:

“One of the things that I have to do is to communicate to Wall Street that, given the current crisis that we’re in, they can’t expect help from taxpayers but they enjoy all the benefits that they enjoyed before the crisis happened. You get a sense that, in some institutions that has not sunk in. That you can’t go back to the old way of doing business, certainly not on the taxpayers’ dime. Now the flip side is that Main Street has to understand, unless we get these banks moving again, then we can’t get this economy to recover. And we don’t want to cut off our nose to spite our face.”

Notice President Obama’s use of “on the one hand and on the other hand” discussion of the financial crisis— trying to see the issue from all sides, harmonize, unify and bring the two sides together for the greater good.  He is consistently criticized for this kind of rhetorical balancing act.  The conservative Heritage Foundation called attention to and took issue with this Power of Imagination speaking style in President Obama’s Nobel acceptance speech on December 10, 2009, saying:

“In many ways, the speech was typical Obama, a masterpiece of one the one hand, on the other hand… On the one hand, President Obama, appropriately defended the use of force in the interest of national security – as in Afghanistan — and correctly referenced the just war concept. On the other hand, he stretched the term security to include prosperity and welfare, not simply freedom from harm.”

Long-term Orientation

“People of the world – look at Berlin, where a wall came down, a continent came together, and history proved that there is no challenge too great for a world that stands as one.  In this new world, such dangerous currents have swept along faster than our efforts to contain them. That is why we cannot afford to be divided. No one nation, no matter how large or powerful, can defeat such challenges alone… That is why the greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another…  The walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic cannot stand. The walls between the countries with the most and those with the least cannot stand. The walls between races and tribes; natives and immigrants; Christian and Muslim and Jew cannot stand. These now are the walls we must tear down.”

“Consider the president’s leadership style, which has now become clear: deliver a moving speech, move on, and when push comes to shove, leave it to others to decide what to do if there’s a conflict, because if there’s a conflict, he doesn’t want to be anywhere near it.

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Health care is a paradigm case. When the president went to speak to the Democrats last week on Capitol Hill, he exhorted them to pass the bill. According to reports, though, he didn’t mention the two issues in the way of doing that, the efforts of Senators like Ben Nelson to use this as an opportunity to turn back the clock on abortion by 25 years, and the efforts of conservative and industry-owned Democrats to eliminate any competition for the insurance companies that pay their campaign bills. He simply ignored both controversies and exhorted.

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Leadership means heading into the eye of the storm and bringing the vessel of state home safely, not going as far inland as you can because it’s uncomfortable on the high seas. This president has a particular aversion to battling back gusting winds from his starboard side (the right, for the nautically challenged) and tends to give in to them. He just can’t tolerate conflict, and the result is that he refuses to lead.”

Strategic Approach

A Power of Imagination character’s overall method of working with others toward a goal is to step back or withdraw for the good of the group. These characters don’t want to impose themselves on others too stridently. They are extremely patient and are willing to work through thorny problems or difficult issues by listening to all sides. These character don’t particular seek individual credit. They much prefer to be subsumed in the team.

Their challenge as leaders is to step forward decisively and make the hard and potentially divisive decision on their own. President Obama doesn’t personally exhibit a lot of passion, a sense of urgency or boldness. He is known as “No Drama Obama” and is famous for his patience calm personal style.

His Power of Imagination Immediate Tactic: Embrace along with his Long Term Orientation: Embrace combined with his Strategic Approach: Withdraw creates a measured approach which is directed at building consensus rather than taking a principled stand that may be divisive or cause conflict.  The leap of faith required from this kind of leader is to stand up and do the right thing regardless of what turmoil, disruption or animosity it might cause.  Taking that kind of personal stand is President Obama’s biggest challenge as a leader.

Power of Conscience

In contrast to The Power of Imagination, a Power of Conscience leader is fearless about taking a divisive personal stand.  In the excellent film, Invictus, Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) seeks to over turn a democratically arrived at and popular decision to disband the Afrikaner rugby team the Springboks.  In the film, Mandela says: “In this instance the people are wrong… The day I am afraid to tell them that is the day I am no longer fit to lead them.”  Power of Conscience leaders are always striding ahead of the crowd to do what is right regardless of the controversy or conflict their decisions may cause.  These Character Types have their own challenges and must make their own very different leaps of faith.  Read more about Power of Conscience leaders Nelson Mandela (as portrayed in Invictus) and Queen Elizabeth (as portrayed in The Queen) on my blog.

As a final note, no Character Type makes an inherently good or bad leader.  Each Character Type leads from his or her own world view and beliefs about what a good leader is or is not.  Each kind of leader has strengths, weaknesses and faces specific emotional challenges.  Each type of leader is called on to make a leap of faith in order to be truly great.