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do you want to know what i find most
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interesting about squid games pilot it's
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how the protagonist gihon at the
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beginning is shown to be nothing but a
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total loser like it opens with his
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mother telling them that he's forgotten
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that today's his daughter's birthday and
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then he immediately whines about how she
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needs to give him more money and then
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when she says no he steals her credit
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card for getting her birthday too as he
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tries to guess her pin and then he
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gambles it all away on the horse tracks
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that is our introduction to this show's
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protagonist like if you were to ask
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around if that was a good way to open
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your show most people would tell you
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that you're an idiot you can't open a
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story like that that would make your
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protagonist unlikable and no one will
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enjoy your story then however squid game
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is the most popular show netflix has
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ever had so clearly they had to be doing
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something right here by all means the
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guy does show some likable qualities as
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the show goes on like he turns out to be
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a nice enough guy but how do we
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reconcile with how this show gave us
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such an unpleasant first impression of
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its protagonist well i'll answer that
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mystery later in the video but firstly
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there's something vital that every pilot
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episode must do it has to convince an
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unconvinced viewer that your show really
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is worth their time fundamentally your
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pilot isn't just the beginning of your
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show it's also its trailer in the same
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way a movie trailer gets the viewer
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excited to go to the cinema a tv pilot
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has to get the viewer excited to watch
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episode two in the recent spider-man
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trailer when we see those mechanical
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arms come up and then we get
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hello peter the internet exploded
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because this right here isn't just a fun
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reveal it's the pitch for the movie and
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it's a bloody good one what if tom
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holland's spider-man has to face down
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the villains from sam raymie's trilogy
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it's an inherently exciting pitch for a
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superhero film when you boil it down
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this right here isn't storytelling it's
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pure marketing and when you're writing
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the pilot to your show you need to do
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exactly this what is your hello peter
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moment you've got to ask the question
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where in my pilot will i pitch what the
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show will be about and crucially is that
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pitch exciting enough
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the walking dead for example pretty much
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had its pitch be the opening scene we
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see a gritty looking apocalypse then our
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protagonist faces down a zombie he
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shoots it and that's it that's the
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entire pitch right there it's telling
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you exactly what the walking dead is
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going to be about this might seem like a
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pretty weak pitch for a show but it
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genuinely wasn't because back in 2010
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when this pilot came out which that
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makes me feel a bit old to be honest um
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this was a fantastic pitch because the
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public's brief but enthusiastic
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obsession with zombies was just on the
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rise if you were making a pilot in 2010
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simply having the pitch for your story
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be it's a grim tale about the zombie
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apocalypse would have been enough to
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sell millions of people on your show but
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now after being so oversaturated with
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zombie stories what was once a strong
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pitch is now a fairly weak one you can
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look at invincible too as the audience
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sees the first episode they think well
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this is just another generic superhero
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story but then the tables turn and the
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show gives us its real pitch when
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omniman does
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well
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what he does i won't show the details
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here because according to my analytics
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children are watching and i'd prefer not
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to be demonetized
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and of course squid game's pitch moment
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is when we finally enter the first game
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that bloke gets shot and it's
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immediately establishes an interesting
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premise what if hunger games had a
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crossover with a game show you know what
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if mr beast did a video except everyone
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whose hand leaves the lamborghini gets
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shot it's an inherently exciting pitch
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for a show and even better we then spend
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the next 10 minutes exploring it as we
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see the first game play out giving the
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audience an appetizer delivering the
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goods on the pitch they just made and
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they deliver on an already exciting
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pitch so well it's a lot like lightning
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in a bottle as the viewer physically
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can't turn their eyes away it creates
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the kind of pilot that has the potential
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to be catapulted into international
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popularity the kind of pilot when it's
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over the viewer feels a really strong
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urge to watch episode two but back to
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the initial question of this video how
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did squid game get away with having such
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an unlikable protagonist in its
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beginning well i think the big point to
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make here is that likability is a total
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myth no way not this time is totally
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made up pure fiction
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it's false like seriously if you're
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creating a protagonist and you're asking
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how can i make this person more likeable
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you're asking the wrong question but
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what is the right question how do you
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give your shows pilots a great
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protagonist well it isn't actually
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likability that matters here instead
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it's relatability when you boil it down
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every great protagonist the kind where
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you just can't help but want them to
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succeed the reason behind it all is that
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that character is relatable from geekin
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to walter white to mr incredible but
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this begs a really interesting question
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because how are these three characters
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relatable like what is the quality they
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share that binds them together i
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remember watching the incredibles when i
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was about 10 and despite the fact i
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didn't work a boring office job at the
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time and wasn't going through a mid-life
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crisis i still cared about bob's
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character and that is mental because how
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the hell is it possible that children
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can relate to protagonists going through
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a mid-life crisis or i mean look at
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gehun from squid game like his two
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biggest character flaws at the start are
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tremendous dishonesty and a crippling
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gambling addiction like you might have
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none of those character traits yourself
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but you probably felt compelled by
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gehun's character where the hell is all
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of this relatability coming from well
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i've been giving this one a good thing
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because it's admittedly a pretty tricky
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question and the other day i think i
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realize what the key is here it's
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something that all of you psychologists
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out there will be familiar with and i've
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only just realized how crucial a role
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this plays when creating characters in
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fiction it's maslow's hierarchy of needs
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what that is is a pyramid that was
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proposed unsurprisingly by a guy called
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abraham maslow in 1943 and it lays out
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all of the things a human wants for in
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life i've begun to realize that when
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you're crafting a character's motivation
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this pyramid right here is perhaps the
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most useful tool you can have at your
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disposal the way this works in real life
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is if you watching were to reach a point
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where every level of this pyramid is
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fulfilled you should in theory want for
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nothing you know you'll look at the
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mirror from harry potter 1 and see
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nothing but yourself exactly as you are
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it goes without saying that that's a bad
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thing for your protagonist to do because
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they must want something otherwise
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where's the story but admittedly this
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does look pretty complex how do we
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digest this pyramid into something we
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can understand and apply well let's give
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a few examples to break it down let's
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look at walter white from breaking bad
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breaking bad kicks off showing walter
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going about his everyday life which by
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the way is something nearly every
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successful story begins with as when you
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show protagonists everyday life it gives
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you a wonderful opportunity to not just
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give exposition on who they are but
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importantly to demonstrate the whole in
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their life it's this hole in their life
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that must motivate the character and
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drive the story forwards for walter he's
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got the first level of this pyramid
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covered basic physical needs you know
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food and shelter he's got all that no
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problem he has the next one up security
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you know there aren't any assassins out
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there gunning for him he also has the
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next one up too was he's got a wife and
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son who love him but everywhere above
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this he's lacking he has no status nor
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respect and he's constantly demeaned by
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everyone around him hey mr white
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make that style shine huh oh my god
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and to top it all off walter is not
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achieving his potential and our
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investment in his character the reason
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why walter is so compelling to follow in
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the early episodes of breaking bad is
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because the holes in his life stem from
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such universal relatable problems from
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the hierarchy of needs and crucially as
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well as the pilot goes along we see
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walter get a taste of what it's like for
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the holes in his life to be satisfied we
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see that when he goes from being
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powerless to beating up a bully for
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insulting his son or how nobody respects
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him not even his family but upon
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breaking bad and making meth he finally
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finds the admiration he's always wanted
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this is pure glass
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you're a goddamn artist and back to the
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incredibles believe it or not walter
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white and mr incredible are identical
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characters in this respect because sure
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bob's having a mid-life crisis but
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that's not the core of why he's
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relatable and it's not his boring office
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job either rather it's how he feels like
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he isn't realizing his potential which
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again is a hole that stems from right at
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the top of the hierarchy of needs
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therefore every human being alive can
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relate to him if you want to come up
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with a relatable character motivation in
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a story or screw it if you just want to
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have a good protagonist referring to
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maslow's hierarchy of needs is a really
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like shockingly effective way of
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achieving both of those things you can
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have it come from the top like walter
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white and mr incredible or you can go
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all the way down to the bottom and have
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a character's motivation be them dying
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of thirst in a desert and they're
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hunting for a glass of water doing this
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will ensure they have the kind of
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motivation that everyone everywhere will
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be able to relate to from them being a
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10 year old kid all the way to living in
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a totally different country not knowing
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your language and so needing to watch
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your show in a rather bad dub do you
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know where your son happens to be now on
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business in the united states uh i'm
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afraid that mr cho song woo has a
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warrant out for his arrest
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huh if he were to break down gee hun
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from squid game his motivation stems
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from these two areas in the pyramid love
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and safety needs he's in crippling debt
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that's so bad it's at the point now that
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the loan sharks are beating him up in
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the bathrooms he has no security and to
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top it all off he's on the brink of
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losing his daughter as his ex is about
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to move with her to america two
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different holes in his life stemming
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from two levels on the pyramid and what
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is the cause of both of them not having
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enough money and so when the squid games
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start and we see that piggy bank descend
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from the ceiling just like walter white
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does when he starts stealing drugs just
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like mr incredible does when he sees
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that opportunity to relive his glory
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days giehun gets a glimpse of what it
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might be like for the holes in his life
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to be filled and because the first half
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of the pilot did such a good job at
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establishing the relatable problems of
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gehun's life when the last half kicks
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off with him joining the squid games the
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audience can't help but want him to
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succeed the audience can't help but be
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compelled by his character despite how
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he's been a pretty bad father lies
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steals and in general does some very
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unlikable things but by all means having
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a likable protagonist really can work
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effectively i think of marta cabrera
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from knives out right the fact she's
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surrounded by some really just quite
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detestable people it contrasts with how
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likable she is and that only makes us
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want her to succeed in the end more
00:11:06
however saying to yourself i must have a
00:11:09
likable protagonist is a lot like saying
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i'm only going to buy a house if it's
00:11:13
already painted white by all means
00:11:15
you'll probably find some good houses
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painted in that color but you're
00:11:18
tremendously limiting yourself as a
00:11:20
house buyer you're limiting yourself as
00:11:22
a storyteller because before you've even
00:11:24
begun you've cordoned off so many other
00:11:27
fantastic ways to craft your protagonist
00:11:30
if you do what squid games does with
00:11:32
presenting what's lacking in their life
00:11:34
then begin a plot where they get a taste
00:11:35
of what it's like to not have that issue
00:11:37
anymore that's enough that's the key to
00:11:40
introducing your protagonist whether
00:11:41
you're doing a pilot a movie or a novel
00:11:44
squid games pilot while not the best
00:11:46
pilot of all time did a phenomenal job
00:11:49
at doing what any pilot must do not
00:11:52
hooking the audience that terms too
00:11:53
vague so vague it's downright useless
00:11:56
instead pitching what the show will be
00:11:58
about while simultaneously establishing
00:12:01
a protagonist with a relatable enough
00:12:02
motivation that anyone from any culture
00:12:05
can get behind and when you're writing
00:12:07
your own stories don't fall for the trap
00:12:10
of keeping all of your thoughts in a
00:12:12
messy document without any kind of
00:12:13
organization i've made that mistake
00:12:15
before and trust me it's a right pain
00:12:17
let's look at the word count of my
00:12:19
unorganized notes for a novel series
00:12:21
i've been planning and it's
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jesus
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painful to look through and downright
00:12:28
impossible to reference when i need to
00:12:30
find the specific notes i'm looking for
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anyway thanks for watching don't forget
00:13:59
to hit that like button and i'll see you
00:14:00
guys next time on the closer look