2.4 Craig Robertson
Craig Robertson touches on a similar theme in discussing likeability.
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Transcript
CRAIG ROBERTSON
When it comes to likeability of villains, I guess there's two questions. One is, do you worry that people don't like them, and do you worry that they do? And I think the answer to both is the same, is you have to write the character for who they are, and not get yourself bogged down whether people are going to be on their side or not, because people will take different sides, and that's OK.
I’ve written characters, the main character from my first novel, it was written from first person, from the point of view of the killer. Now, he’s not meant to be likeable, but there is questions of empathy. And I know that readers took either side of that, and that’s OK. There is no right or wrong answer here. So the character has to be who they are, and that’s key. And you cannot veer away from that. And worrying about the likeability would be a mistake.
It’s not like going to school and want everybody to be on your side. It’s treat them as they are. I think if readers don’t form a relationship with my characters, our characters, then we’re really not doing our job, and the book will not work. There has to be a symbiotic relationship from writer to character to reader.
Again, they may not like them. That’s OK. Many characters are meant not to be liked. They’re meant to be hated or feared. But there has to be a relationship there. The reader has to be immersed with the character, involved with the character. They can root for them, or they can boo them. But if they ignore them, then we’re lost.
So whatever message we’re trying to get across, whatever story we’re trying to tell, it’s vital that readers are invested in the characters. Likeability very much a second option, but they have to have a relationship with them. If they ignore them or don’t care about them, the book’s not going to work.
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Craig asks an insightful question and worries as much that people will like his villains than as they may not. As he notes, a book will not work if the readers do not form a para-social relationship with the characters even if this relationship is characterised by fear or hate. As Lin noted, relationships can be both positive and negative, and both types can be useful in revealing something about ourselves.
You will return to explore how forming para-social relationships with villains might actually have some benefits next week. In the next section you will explore the nature of para-social relationships in more depth by looking at how research in this area has developed.