The Humble vs. Arrogant Hero
In every good story, your hero changes. In most cases, your hero starts off as a timid, uncertain person who gradually gains confidence in themselves to achieve a major goal. Humble heroes appear in the following movies:
- “Back to the Future” – Marty doesn’t think he’s any good as a guitarist.
- “Rocky” – Rocky feels like a bum.
- “Little Miss Sunshine” – Olive is afraid she’ll be a loser if she doesn’t win a beauty pageant.
- “Star Wars” – Luke lacks confidence in himself.
- “Legally Blonde” – Elle thinks she needs a man to define herself.
Humble heroes eventually learn new skills and gradually gain confidence as they enter a new world and put on a false face where they deceive others. However, to change into another person, the hero must struggle. Watch this scene form “Miss Congeniality” where the hero is forced to undergo multiple beauty treatments to prepare her to go undercover as a beauty pageant contestant.
Notice that during their transformation, a humble hero feels inadequate and must be largely coerced into becoming a different person with the help of a mentor. What changes the hero is their gradual realization that they’re actually succeeding as a new, stronger person. Watch this scene form “Miss Congeniality” where the hero realizes she can compete in the beauty pageant.
On the other hand, arrogant heroes already think they’re perfect. They need to change by learning to be humble and to do that, they must be forced into seeing the shortcomings of their own arrogance. Some examples of arrogant heroes are:
- “Tootsie” – Michael thinks he’s such a great actor he can feel people into thinking he’s a woman, and he does.
- “Die Hard” – John McClane thinks his way of seeing the world is the only way.
- “Top Gun: Maverick” – Maverick thinks he can disobey orders without consequence.
What makes this difficult is that the hero’s arrogance often gives them success. Because arrogant heroes initially succeed, it’s much harder for them to realize they need to change because their arrogance works for them (at least initially). Watch this scene from “Tootsie” where Michael’s arrogance gets him so angry and motivated that he winds up auditioning and getting a role on a soap opera.
Since an arrogant hero initially succeeds by being arrogant, the only way they can change is when they realize their arrogance is keeping them from what they really want. In “Die Hard” this occurs when John McClane realizes his arrogance is what broke up his marriage with his wife. In “Tootsie”, this occurs when Michael falls in love with his co-star and realizes she’ll never love him back as long as she thinks he’s a woman.
Whether heroes are humble or arrogant, they eventually get forced into making a tough, irreversible decision that will change their lives forever. This decision can only succeed when the hero combines the best features of their old self with the new persona they developed over time. In the following scene from “Miss Congeniality”, the hero uses his fighting skills as an FBI agent (her old self) with her new self as beauty pageant contestant to stop the bomb threat.
Arrogant heroes must finally admit their own arrogance because that’s the only way they can get what they really want. In “Tootsie” this revelation occurs when Michael unmasks himself on live TV.
Notice that if you watch these three scenes of either “Miss Congeniality” or “Tootsie” you can see the gradual transition of the hero from humble (or arrogant), to seeing success, to finally revealing who they really are.
This is how heroes change. In your own screenplay, ask yourself whether you have a humble or an arrogant hero. Then you can plot their gradual transition from who they are in the beginning to who they become in the end.
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