Red or Blue?

Monday we started a series on what Rani learned and the movies (I do enjoy slipping into the third person...) -- I hope you enjoyed part one!

For those of you who haven't seen the films in question, I'm doing my best to keep things where you'll still understand my points, and I'm not giving away any spoilers. I promise. :)

Today...

The Matrix

Remember that scene at the beginning of The Matrix, when Morpheus gives Neo the option between the red pill and the blue pill?

The blue pill will make Neo forget, make him go back to not knowing anything about the matrix, and living his life as he'd always been.
The red pill will take Neo out of the matrix, into the real world, and he'll "see how deep the rabbit hole goes."

Which one would you take, if given the choice?

For me, this makes an interesting character study. It's one of the questions that I ask of my characters, when I create them. If given the choice between remaining in their dream world or finding out the truth about the matrix, what would they do?

This is what asking that question of your characters will teach you:

1. Their adventure level

A little obvious, but no less important. By asking your characters between the red pill and the blue pill, you'll find out how adventurous they are. Just by asking this one simple question, you'll find out if Sally Joe would be willing to run away from home to find a better life for herself, or if Franklin Bobby would cower in the corner and never want to leave his room again.

This, in turn, tells us how our characters will act given certain circumstances that are sure to turn up in their story. After all, something bad has to happen to them for there to be a story at all. 

2. Their ability to see beyond themselves

This one, though a little harder to measure, helps us to understand how our characters will respond given life and death situations that do not concern themselves. Neo takes the red pill because he wants to know the truth about the matrix, to aid the people trapped inside, and to save Zion.

If your character would take the red pill, ask them then why. It'll teach you something about how they view the world, about what they see in those around them, which helps us to know how they react given large-scale dilemmas, in particular.

3. Their level of dedication to life

Again, a little tricky. But if Neo had taken the blue pill, I would say that he'd more dedicated to the notion of living. Even though there wasn't much to his life, though he was pretty much a sidelined nobody before Morpheus came along, if he'd taken the blue pill he would've been choosing to stay in that life and be a part of it.

If your character would take the blue pill, they might just be the same way. Or they might be delusional and okay with it. That's a question you'll have to ask for yourself.

[love]

{Rani D.}