MovieChat Forums > A Long Way Down (2014) Discussion > Why do characters in films never have an...

Why do characters in films never have any friends?

posted 8 years ago by otr91
6 replies | jump to latest

This is a criticism aimed at many film characters who are reasonably nice, normal people...

Is it so that we're supposed to feel sorry for them and identify with their story more? It just annoys me because it seems unrealistic. Even *beep* and bores have friends

These four seemed to have no (or very little) friend and family support and it irked me!! Also Jess is well attractive - why was no one hitting on her at the Tenerife bar?

"I...drink...your...milkshake!"

[–] cool-smith 8 years ago

i have no friends and im pretty normal so!

[–] 8 years ago

[deleted]

[–] raf-33 8 years ago

Ditto, adulthood is different from school I've noticed, there's a lot more involved in friends. I think you have to put a lot of effort in to making friends and I've never gotten around to weighing up the energy put in against possible benefits got out. I've had friends in the past but they would turn up unannounced to yammer on about asinine stuff at times that I would consider good for sleeping or eating, so I put an end to that mischief.

Properly read, the Bible is the most potent force for atheism ever conceived. -Isaac Asimov

[–] bdbj_7 8 years ago

Depression causes you to separate yourself from family and friends. That is what happened in my life. All of these characters are very depressed.

[–] Theodor_Birch 8 years ago

Because it' easier for the author. If a character has loads of friend, each friend needs to be a character, each with distinct characteristics, and each needing to be pivotal to the plot (a story cannot have deadwood). And if each character has four or five friends, that's a nightmare to write (think Dostoyevski or Tolstoy... great literature, but not an easy read).
Also, if a character has no friends, there is plenty of room for inner monologues (fun to write) and their loneliness is a great catalyst for plot points. A character who is lonely will seek out company, thus leading to plot points and twists. If the main characters in this story had friends, they would not have been led together - or maybe even considered suicide.

Most literary characters are loners. For all these reasons, and that most writers spend most of their time alone, writing.

[–] Prelude-in-C-maj 8 years ago

As someone mentioned, all four characters were obviously depressed, and part of depression is that you either pull away from the people who are in your life, or in fact part of why you're depressed is you didn't have anyone decent in the first place.

And just because a girl is attractive doesn't mean her inner and outer life cant be dysfunctional.