Mad Men won its fourth statuette in a row for Outstanding Drama Series at the 2011 Emmy Awards. The show is set in the world of advertising; a world of illusion, sleight of hand and outright deception.

It is a quintessential Power of Truth story and is anchored by a wonderful Power of Truth protagonist, Don Draper/Dick Whitman (Jon Hamm). Surface laughter, glamour and the sophisticated tinkle of ice in a cut-glass tumbler of scotch obscures the dark and tangled subterranean underpinnings of the man, the profession and the era. All is not well in the American “Camelot” and its aftermath.

In addition to issues of perception, illusion and deception, Power of Truth stories are also about the nature of loyalty and betrayal. These stories ask: What exactly is loyalty? What is betrayal? How do we betray ourselves? How do we betray others? Can you be loyal to someone and betray them at the same time? When should you let go of old loyalties and move on?  How is the ground shifting beneath you?  Who or what can you trust? When does loyalty look like betrayal?  When does betrayal look like loyalty?

Those questions swirl around another 2011 Emmy-nominated drama, The Game of Thrones.  Issues of loyalty and betrayal consume Emmy winning Best Supporting Actor, Peter Dinklage in the role of Tyrion Lannister.  Tyrion has suffered (and will suffer) staggering betrayals in the story.  Like his powerful father, Tyrion also has a talent for political maneuvering, sabotage, conspiracy, treachery and betrayal.

Power of Truth characters inhabit a story world that is a potential minefield, filled with explosive secrets, concealed enemies and unexpected pitfalls. This character’s philosophy might be stated: “Things are never what they seem.” “Trust no one.” “Question everything.” “Everyone has a hidden agenda.”

These story themes could also describe The Good Wife and protagonist Alicia Florrick.  Julianna Margulies won the 2011 Emmy for Best Actress in Drama for her role as Alicia in the series.

Can she trust her husband?   Can she trust herself?  Who is betraying her? Who is she willing to betray?  Who is really an ally and who is really an enemy?  Secrets, lies, and lack of trust all play key roles in the plot twists for each episode.

On a personal level, Power of Truth protagonists are all hyper-aware of shifting alliances and are always on the lookout for possible falseness, duplicity or treachery in any relationship or situation. These characters are very imaginative and perceptive and that creativity and sensitivity can also get them into trouble. They can spin disaster scenarios or conspiracy theories inside their heads that have no basis in reality.

But then again, as Woody Allen famously said:  “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t really after you.”  Power of Truth character often sense something is amiss in the world before others do.  They just can’t prove their suspicions– yet.

The Power of Truth character asks, “What does society demand, expect or value?”—and then often sets out to debunk or disprove the answer. These characters are compelled to uncover the concealed nature and (often rotten) underbelly of things.

A character driven by the Power of Truth is often the protagonist in mystery stories, conspiracy stories, suspense stories, mistaken identity stories, investigative stories and detective stories. In an ensemble cast, these characters are frequently secret keepers, strategists, counselors or advisers. In whatever role they play, they look beneath the surface of things to discover what lies below or is hidden from view.  They ask: “What don’t those in charge want you to see?”

Power of Truth character Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) on The X Files voices his frustrations and the futility of nailing down the ever shifting truth in these kinds of stories: “Why is it that every time I think I know the answers, someone goes and changes the questions?” Nothing is quite what it seems in Power of Truth stories.  Nothing is certain.  The ground keeps slipping from beneath the protagonist.

But not every conspiracy story, mystery, suspense story, thriller or detective story is a Power of Truth story.

Erin Brockovich, To Kill a Mockingbird, Silkwood and The Insider are suspenseful stories all involving some kind of criminal conspiracy.  A crime is committed.  Evidence is falsified or covered-up.  The protagonist wants to expose these crimes and stop or punish the real wrong-doers.  But these stories are not Power of Truth stories.  Why?

Each of these stories deal with the Power of Conscience.  In each case, the protagonist is clear about what has happened (or is happening) and what is morally right.  The story struggle is about what to do to right the wrong.  How much responsibility can or should the protagonist take in the situation?  These stories ask, “If I am my brother’s keeper how far must I go on his behalf?”

The Power of Conscience character’s answer to the above question is:  ”All the way.”  Once the character has decided to right the wrong, the question then is how to prevail.  This character’s pursuit of justice costs him or her dearly.  This protagonist often gives up or loses his or her job, family or other important relationships or suffers other personal losses on the story  journey.

These stories are about law vs. justice, answering the call to one’s higher duty, standing up for one’s moral code, and taking responsibility for and sacrificing for another’s welfare.  At the 2011 Emmys, Kyle Chandler (Coach Taylor) on Friday Night Lights, plays a Power of Conscience character and took home the award for Best Actor in a Dramatic Series.  (He plays a high school football coach and is not involved in a crime story.)

The Devil’s Advocate, Wall Street, Catch Me If You Can and The Talented Mr. Ripley all involve crimes and cover-ups to a greater or lesser degree.  Active deception is involved in all four stories.  But these films are not Power of Truth stories either.  Why?

Each of these stories deals with the Power of Ambition. Each protagonist knows what he is doing is wrong or illegal.  Each proceeds anyway in order to achieve or maintain the approval, prestige, status, or position he so desperately craves.

These stories are about how far a protagonist is willing to go for material or social gain. Power of Ambition characters let their moral scruples go one-by-one as they  lie, cheat or steal to get ahead.  They are keenly and acutely aware of their social standing and are willing to use any kind of fraud, trick, deception or cover-up to maintain their illusion of social or material success.  All they want is to be liked and to be admired.

At the end, when these characters have nearly lost everything that matters on a human scale, they often reform their ways and “do the right thing.”  If the story is a tragedy they continue in their illegal or illicit ways until they and everything that truly matters is hollowed out or destroyed.

The protagonists in The Shield, Scarface, The Last Seduction and The Sopranos all involve criminal activity, the suppression of evidence and the elimination of anyone who interferes.  But not one of these are Power of Truth stories.  Why?

These are stories are about strength vs weakness.  Each of these Power of Will protagonists does whatever is needed to survive, to expand territory or to conquer others.  There is no ambiguity or uncertainty in their actions. Might makes right.  The Law of the Jungle prevails.  Win or die.

Never showing any sign of weakness is key to every decision a Power of Will character makes and every action he or takes over the course of the story.  These characters say to themselves and others: “I had no choice. I had to protect myself, my empire or my family.”

They sacrifice tenderness, kindness, a sense of mercy and forgiveness to dominate and forcibly control the situation.  These actions lead inevitably to the loss of their humanity, their soul, and often their lives.  Those who live by sword tend to die by the sword.  (A key difference between a Power of Will character and a Power of Ambition character is that a Power of Ambition character really wants to be liked.  A Power of Will character would rather be feared.)

The Sherlock Holmes mysteries, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Professional and In the Bedroom all involve crimes and cover-ups. But none of these stories are Power of Truth stories either.  Why?

These are Power of Reason stories about logical deduction, the mastering or attempted elimination of emotion (emotion being the enemy of objectivity) and some profound alienation from society.  Dr. Gregory House, the medical detective and master diagnostician in the television series House, is a television example of a Power of Reason character and story.

Dr. House investigates each medical case with keen penetrating powers of observation, a ruthless razor sharp logic and cold rational deduction. He is alienated from others and usually manages to alienate everyone around him.  The patient is more of a puzzle to be solved than a human being to be nurtured and healed.

In Power of Reason stories ambiguity and deception might be hiding the solution to the problem or crime, but the protagonist is absolutely clear-headed (often to the point of near inhuman dispassion).  There is little personal investment in the investigation, merely a difficult puzzle to be solved.  At the 2011 Emmys, Jim Parsons (Sheldon Cooper) on The Big Bang Theory plays a comic Power of Reason character who took home the award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.  (He is a scientist involved in research rather than in any kind of criminal investigation.)

I recently watched the film adapted from the play Equus.  A young man inexplicably blinds six horses at the stable where he worked as a caring and responsible stable hand.  He is committed to a mental institution where an experienced psychiatrist tries to solve the mystery and heal the boy.

This isn’t a Power of Truth story either.  The psychiatrist/investigator is a disillusioned Power of Idealism character.  He wonders if healing the boy of his passion and madness, only to send him into a stupefyingly mundane world and a dull ordinary life, is a noble thing to do.  This film is about the intensity of passion and whether pain is the price of being truly alive, even if for only a horrifyingly insane moment.

The trick to all of this analysis is to determine what the situation and story journey brings out in the character. What is at the root of the crime, the murder, the conspiracy, the unusual phenomena or suspenseful situation?  What does the solution, and how it is obtained, say about how the character views the world, his or her philosophy and essential human struggle?

Power of Truth stories wrestle primarily with certainty vs uncertainty, illusion vs reality, loyalty vs betrayal or truth vs lies or deception. In these stories the protagonist can’t fully trust anyone—not even him or herself.

My new book discusses exactly how to create a rich compelling plot for a Power of Truth story, how to use suspense and reversals to keep the audience engaged and guessing at every twist, how to develop fresh original characters and how to make this kind of story your own.

The book will be available for a short time at a discount to readers of this blog and newsletter.  Send an email to etbscreenwriting (at) gmail (dot) com to get on the list.

Power of Reason characters see the world as a series of intellectual, practical or scientific problems, dilemmas or puzzles to be solved. They believe anything and everything can be explained rationally or solved logically. They examine the situation carefully, consult other expert opinions or past experiences and put their minds to the issue in a thorough and objective fashion.

These characters cannot abide deviation from their systematic and orderly approach to the world. They tend to discount or ignore emotional or spiritual (or supernatural) factors in a situation or a problem.  If they can’t see it, measure it, categorize it or quantify it they don’t believe in it.

Power of Reason characters don’t believe in getting personally involved or emotionally entangled in any issue. They always try to maintain a sense of cool detachment and personal objectivity.  They are good listeners but deflect or avoid any intimate questions about themselves and are extremely private about disclosing anything they consider to be personal. They are excellent problem-solvers and experts on matters technical, scientific or arcane.

Character Examples

Sheldon Cooper in The Big Bang Theory, Mr. Spock in Star Trek; Dr. Temperance Brennan in Bones; Agent Scully in The X-Files; and the title characters in Dexter, Monk and House are television examples.  For more television example see  the Power of Reason blog posts.

Film examples include: Ripley in Aliens; Father Damien Karras in The Exorcist; Dr. Matt Fowler in In The Bedroom; Andy Stitzer in The 40 Year Old Virgin and Melvin Udall in As Good As It Gets. For more film examples see the Power of Reason blog posts.

Power of Reason eBook

The Power of Reason Character Type eBook explains how these characters are alike and how each character is made individually distinct. It Reason help you develop unique, original, evocative and authentic Power of Reason characters that fully explore all the contradictions, reversals and surprises of a fully formed human being.

Discover the Power of Reason character’s specific goals, unique emotional obstacles and very distinct responses and reactions to any opportunity, challenge or threat. Create this character’s Immediate Tactics, Long-term Orientation and Strategic Approach in a way that is recognizably “true” at every step of the story and during every moment of screen time. The audience Reason instantaneously recognize and relate to your character because your character is complex, three-dimensional and “feels real.”

This eBook is thorough analysis of the Power of Reason Character Type in his or her many guises and roles as a protagonist or a member of a larger ensemble. It is packed with numerous examples from film, television and even real life! Examples from scores of scenes and dozens of quotes from film and television characters clearly illustrate this character’s motivations and psychological dynamics in a story.

Comprehensive Analysis

The Power of Reason Character Type eBook illustrates exactly how to create and differentiate this character based on his or her:

(1.) World View (beliefs about how the world works) What are the essential core beliefs that motivate a Power of Reason  character’s ordinary actions?

(2.) Role or Function (position in the story or role in the ensemble) What do the other players look to a Power of Reason character to do or provide in the story?

(3.) Values in Conflict (competing values that push the character to extremes) What opposing choices or goals establish the Power of Reason character’s moral code? What is this character willing to fight, sacrifice or die for? And why?

(4.) Story Questions (emotional journey in the story) What personal issues, dilemmas and internal conflicts does a Power of Reason character wrestle with over the course of the story? What does this character ask of him or her self? What is this character’s Leap of Faith in an emotionally satisfying story?

(5.) Story Paradox (emotional dilemma) What is the duality or the contradiction at the heart of a Power of Reason character’s story struggle? How is the character’s internal conflict expressed in actions.

(6.) Life Lessons (how to complete the emotional journey) What must a Power of Reason character learn over the course of the story to make a clear, satisfying personal transformation? What actions lead to this character’s emotional salvation?

(7.) Dark Side (this character as a predator or villain) What happens when a Power of Reason character’s actions are driven entirely by fear? How might or how does the story end in tragedy?

(8.) Leadership Style (what defines and qualifies this character as a leader) How does a Power of Reason character convince others to follow? How does this character act to take charge and command?

(9.) Film Examples (the Power of Reason character as a protagonist)

(10.) Television Examples (the Power of Reason character as central to an ensemble)

(11.) Real Life Examples (historical Power of Reason figures on the world stage)

The reason each of these shows is successful is the clarity and consistency of the major characters. Each protagonist is written with authenticity and “feels real.” The storylines track the characters’ major life questions and the audience is compelled to watch how the drama unfolds.

Here’s a brief synopsis of the Emmy nominated shows and protagonist Character Type.

Big Love is the story of Bill Henrickson (Bill Paxton), the head of a polygamist family of three very different wives (and three sets of children). Bill is a decent God-fearing man who tries to be a good husband and father. He is a quintessential Power of Conscience character. Bill’s stoylines and the dramatic throughlines of the show revolve around questions of “what is the higher duty,” “what is right, just and moral” and “how much wrong-doing is permissible in pursuing what is right.” Bill is caught in circumstances where he must continually decide who and what to put first in a long list of conflicting demands and duties. His nemesis has been Roman Grant (Harry Dean Stanton), a Power of Will character who will stop at nothing to expand his territory and control of the Juniper Creek “family.” Bill is challenged to uphold his own moral standards and personal integrity while fighting Roman.

Breaking Bad follows protagonist Walter White (Bryan Cranston), a chemistry teacher diagnosed with Stage III lung cancer. He is given two years to live. Walter “has a brain the size of Wisconsin” and uses his scientific expertise to cook and sell crystal meth. He is a Power of Reason character. Like the title characters in Dexter and House he is alienated from his career, his family and his life. He is filled with a sense of his own superiority and a bitter contempt for others. Even after an improvement in his diagnosis he still seeks the release and intensity of feeling that comes from his criminal activity.

Damages tracks the relationship of a young lawyer, Ellen Parsons (Rose Byrne), with her brilliant but ruthless boss and professional mentor, Patty Hewes (Glenn Close). The setting is the law firm Hewes runs in New York City and various cases the firm handles involving double-dealing, duplicity and conspiracy. Ellen is a Power of Truth character and the series is about “who can you trust,” “what is really going on” and “who is betraying whom.” Nothing is what it seems and it is folly for Ellen to fully trust anyone.

Dexter revolves around the life of Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall), a serial killer who is also a crime scene forensic expert specializing in blood spatter patterns. Dexter is brilliant but alienated from his feelings and doesn’t even feel completely “human.” He is a Power of Reason character and continually wonders if he is a “man or a monster.”

House chronicles a brilliant, superior and very alienated Doctor House (Hugh Laurie). He is an unparalleled expert medical diagnostician. House is a Power of Reason character like Dexter and Walter White. He is contemptuous of humanity in general and dismissive of any sentimentality or warm human feelings toward others. Others on the show quite frequently wonders if House is a “man or a monster.”

Lost is about a group of people marooned on an island after an airline crash. The survivors, led by Dr. Jack Sheppard (Matthew Fox), try to make sense of their predicament. The island is filled with mysterious forces that can’t be explained and which erupt at unpredictable moments. It is chaos. Jack is a Power of Reason character, a man of science. The survivors defer to his expertise. Jack starts the show alienated from his wife, his father and the patients in his practice. His stoylines and the dramatic throughlines of the show revolve around questions of “How can I make sense from a world gone mad?” “Do I have enough information to understand the situation?” “How can order be restored from chaos?” “Will I be overwhelmed (emotionally or otherwise)?”

Mad Men follows protagonist Don Draper (Jon Hamm), a man with a shadowy past who stole another soldier’s identity at the end of World War II. Don is a Power of Truth Character. He is an ad man, a master illusionist, twisting words and images to suit clients’ sales pitches. He has trouble discerning the truth about himself, his wife and his target marketing audience: (“What if women want something else? Inside. Some mystery wish that we’re ignoring?”) He works in a cutthroat environment where duplicity, betrayal and infidelities are everywhere. He doesn’t fully trust anyone including himself.

That’s a quick line up of the Emmy Nominees. Each show has a clear, sharply defined protagonist at the heart of its story. That’s the key to success in any series or feature film. Each character in the nominated shows is a complex fully formed human being. Each character “feels real.” Each character is true to his or her type. Defining Character Type is a first step in creating great characters.

Ferrell stars as discredited has-been scientist Dr. Rick Marshall. He has written a book on “quantum paleontology.” This new branch of science is a way to explore and find energy sources in an alternate dimension in which past, present and future mix. In an appearance on The Today Show, Matt Lauer reports that respectable scientists think Marshall’s ideas are mad. Like who? ” Marshall asks. “Stephen Hawking,” Lauer replies. Marshall goes nuclear: “You promised you wouldn’t mention that!”

Dr. Marshall is a Power of Reason character like scientists Dr. John Nash (Beautiful Mind) Dr. Gregory House (House), Dexter Morgan (Dexter) or Mr. Spock (Star Trek). Marshall is an expert in his field, even if it is a seemingly crack-pot area of inquiry.

Power of Reason characters tend to be portrayed as extremely intelligent. Dr. Marshall doesn’t have the usual penetrating insight, incisive wit and intellectual firepower present in those other character examples. What’s the lesson here?

Intelligence, like altruism or the capacity for evil, exists on a continuum in each Character Type. Any character, regardless of type, can be an idiot, of average intelligence or a genius. Any character, regardless of type, can be a force for good, apathetic or outright evil.

Seemingly idiotic or “mad” Power of Reason characters, like Dr. Rich Marshall, are often crack-pots whose theories just happen to be right. These characters usually work alone in a field no one is interested in, has dismissed, is discredited or is of dubious value. In Marshall’s case his social awkwardness and inability to read the subtleties of social or cultural situations combined with his arrogance and superior attitude (typical Power of Reason problems) tend to make him look even less intelligent than he is (and provides much of the humor in the film).

On the drama/horror side, Dr Jekyll (Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde) is another Power of Reason character. He works alone in his lab mixing up chemical cocktails that will help him explore the nature of evil. He is warned against pursuing such a “mad” area of inquiry. Likewise, Dr. Frankenstein (Frankenstein) works alone on theories about the origin and transferability of human life. His work is held in contempt, distaste and ridicule by other scientists of the day.

When pressed about his “mad” ideas, Dr. Frankestein explains: “Where should we be if no one tried to find out what lies beyond? Have your never wanted to look beyond the clouds and the stars, or to know what causes the trees to bud? And what changes the darkness into light? But if you talk like that, people call you crazy. Well, if I could discover just one of these things, what eternity is, for example, I wouldn’t care if they did think I was crazy.”

Issues concerning the boundaries of sanity, the limits of order or of reason, the genesis of evil, the ever-present potential of chaos of time or nature and the perils of technology are very much at the center of all Power of Reason films, even comedic ones.

The Power of Reason eBook explains these characters in great detail. It discusses how all the character examples above are alike and how they are made distinctive or different.