Antagonist or Protagonist? Exploring the Psychology of Morally Complex Characters in Film

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Posted by Aisana Abylay, community karma 27

Aissana Abylay

10th grade, ISA

June, 2025

Antagonist or Protagonist? The Psychology Behind Morally Complex Main Characters in

Cinema

How does the portrayal of morally complex main characters in films reflect the societal

ethical dilemmas and psychological concern in modern society?

We see different main characters in films, books, literature. But why do we sometimes support

killers, liars, cheaters or criminals – as long as they are the main character?

Morally complex characters have a huge impact on the viewers perception so that these

characters can dominate modern cinema. These characters kill, cheat, lie, hurt – but we watch them

with interest, sometimes even with admiration. Why do audience feel connected to characters who

are psychologically instable and emotionally hurt? Through the characters film directors show the

audience modern relevant ethical dilemmas and social problems. This Research paper is very

relevant now because it explains why the audience have interest for dark characters. This paper

explores the question: How does the portrayal of morally complex main characters in films reflect

the societal ethical dilemmas and psychological concern in modern society? Exploring this

question will help to people understand their perception impacted by the psychological

circumstances of main character. It is known that story is always around the protagonist of the

film. They are the characters with whom audience can connect and root through background of the

personal story. (Fiveable, 2024).

So why we are interested in complex protagonists? This is because authors usually show the

viewers protagonists Achilles heel. Achilles heel is the vulnerable point of the character. His

childhood traumas, phobias, failures and fears. This shows the readers that the character is also

realistic. If the reader sees the vulnerable points of main character, it makes him seem more real

and alive. Questioning about how the character will win his traumas and phobias make the fictional

story more interesting. (Heyward, n.d). The main thing that affects to audience is that how

character reacts to different situations and experiences in his life. Every personality has its own

beliefs, preconceptions, prejudice, biases. That is why every character will react differently to their

lived experiences. It makes the characters look more realistic because they have their own

emotions, mindset and significance. Two different people will percept one situation oppositely, so

that characters also do. Protagonist – is the interface of transformative changes in society and

environment. The role of the main character is to show audience change of moral principles,

transformation of the society’s beliefs. The story has no value if audience couldn’t tell what

happens to the psychology of protagonist and what factors affect his mindset. (Maggs, 2022).

However, for modern society, “traditional protagonists” became boring. They show only real

heroes, idealistic and perfect. These characters can not have a connection with audience because

they don’t have their personal story that helped them to grow as an individuality with its own

strong and weak sides. In past, audience got used to always see superheroes and villains that always

make conflicts. However, Cinematography is rapidly improving and started to create complex

characters with their internal conflicts. In reality, we have many factors that affect to the human.

It can be death of loved ones, power, society pressure, self-destruction, depression, mental healthnot just conflict with the “villain” in our lives. Conflicts can be inside the human, where they argue

with themselves. It shows the realism of self-damage of people and how they get rid of these

problems. By showing and uncovering morally complex characters, audience can feel similarities

with themselves, they can feel emotions and worries of the protagonist. The most important, some

of the people sees their personal story in the story of protagonist. It makes them feel that they are

not alone and see what they can do to heal from their fears or traumas. For example, Joker is a

tragic character with mental disorders, fears and his own phobias. He is morally complex

protagonist because in the movie audience can see what factors affected to him. Also, movie

“Godfather” touches the theme of morally complex characters like Michael Corleone who was “a

good son” but turned into cruel mafia. It also shows us that characters can transform depending on

their environment. Or “Enola Holmes”, where the actions of main character are non-standard and

independent. Or in the ‘Hunger Games”, where Katniss Everdeen’s personality is developing

through hard decisions and war circumstances. It means that as much the author is identifying the

story or character, the individuals take the character's point of view, shares the character's

knowledge and protagonists’ experiences and its reaction to different situations so that they can

understand characters goals and mindsets. (Zhou, 2022). The main important is that Moral

conflicts connect all of these characters.

But how does ethical dilemmas are shown through movies and films? First of all, all he characters

have their own internal conflicts. Like in Joker (2019) Arthur’s descent into violence is a reaction

of deep psychological instability caused by untreated mental disorder that led to ethical

breakdown. The second factor is social criticism – the mirror of characters behavior. Why is

protagonist being sociopath? Because of publics opinion. Why protagonist did this choice?

Because of that he wants to reach his goal. But when did they face this ethical dilemma?

1. They want something (success, love, revenge) but for that they should hurt someone or

sacrifice something

2. Ethical ambiguity – when main characters define good or bad by themselves. They define their

own rules and start to follow it.

3. Choices – every ethical dilemma causes consequences – every choice can lead to loss,

sacrifice, transformation and other. Characters decide by themselves who they are going to be.

Overall ethical dilemmas in films happen when character starts to decide who they going to be.

At that moment they are usually forced to choose between two opposite values like survival and

justice, truth or lie for safety. Ethical dilemmas in films shape characters psychological mindset

and moral ambiguity.

Why do we sometimes support “bad” characters like killers, liars? Here is the answer: we cannot

support them if we don’t know their background story. We don’t know their background story and

their motives if they are not protagonists. That’s why it’s very important to add details about mental

health of the character. In films we can see the causes why they did it: and they are all different.

But a study of top-grossing movies from 1985 to 2010 found that 90% of films showed that a main

character was involved in violence. It means that the psychology of characters is very vulnerable

in young ages, especially in their childhood. However, in some situations, the background

childhood story cannot excuse the actions of these characters, making only the motive being

understandable.

Overall, morally complex characters face the ethical dilemmas where they have the choice of

“good” and “evil”

. Through their internal conflicts, relationships with ither characters, choice

struggles these characters reflect deep psychological concerns and mirrors the societal behavior in

modern society. Films like “Joker”

,

“Hunger Games”

“The Godfather”

,

, encourage viewers o start

questioning about what good and evil means to that character. By exploring the childhood traumas,

injustice, and social pressure of characters, filmmakers create a strong version of realism in

characters behavior. The portrayal of these protagonists shows the audience how cinematographyis a powerful instrument to explore humans’ mental health and complexities of morality in a

modern world. By focusing on the psychology of protagonists, we can inform viewers about

empathy, personality, personal values, human nature. Even if the protagonist will choose

transforming into a villain or a hero, or something in between, it reveals how cinema industry

developed from simple morals to psychologically valuable and worthy perspectives. Cinema and

filmmaking remain a powerful way of reflecting ethical dilemmas and moral social problems

through creating interesting and non-standard characters. As a viewer, I find characters with mental

disorders not just interesting, but also deeply relatable. These protagonists remind audience that

they are not alone and everyone carry his own internal conflicts. The creativity of film industry

rapidly grows, making filmmakers crate new interesting stories for the protagonist that reflect the

public social condition. Exploring the main characters in various films connects fields like

psychology, journalism and film, where understanding human behavior is essential for creating

strong social communities.

REFERENCE LIST

1. Fiveable. (2024, August 20). 2.1 Protagonist and antagonist – Craft of Film Writing.

https://library.fiveable.me/the-craft-of-writing-film-focus/unit-2/protagonist-

antagonist/study-guide/1et9g1nO5PmX6EEJ

2. Stan Heyward, (n.d) What exactly makes complex characters interesting or engaging in

fictional stories? Quora. https://www.quora.com/What-exactly-makes-complex-

characters-interesting-or-engaging-in-fictional-stories

3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Maggs, D., & Chabay, I. (2022). The algebra of the protagonist: sustainability, normativity

and storytelling. Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research, 36(1), 59–

70. https://doi.org/10.1080/13511610.2022.2062304

Alex Woodson, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs. (2023, February 1).

Ethics on film: Discussion of “Avatar: The Way of Water.”

https://www.carnegiecouncil.org/media/series/ethics-on-film/avatar-way-of-water

Ethical dilemmas in movies | ACCA. (n.d.). https://www.accaglobal.com/gb/en/study-

with-acca/blog/ethical-dilemmas-in-movies.html

Zhou, S., & Shapiro, A. (2022). Impacts of character morality on egocentric projection

and identification. ScienceDirect, Volume 95.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304422X22001139

B, Aneka. (2024, November 17). Ethical Dilemmas in Films: A Comprehensive guide -

Aneka B. - Medium. Medium. https://medium.com/@anekabdot/ethical-dilemmas-in-

1 day ago