Creating Unlikable Characters That Really Work

Whenever I teach my screenwriting class I always get a few students who want to push the boundaries. Typically they say traditional characters don't appeal to them. They're more interested in creating unlikable characters. I usually oppose this for two main reasons: a writer must understand character identification before attempting to subvert it, and most of the time, these writers create unlikable characters that do not work. Oh sure, they succeed in creating unlikable characters, but the characters are so unlikable that they lack audience identification. Subsequently the entire script fails because the writer, in an attempt to be different, has alienated the audience. To create successful unlikable characters requires a mastery of the special techniques used to make these characters work.

Voyeurism
In most screenplays, writers attempt to engage the audience with a likable main character. This creates identification with the character, which in turn pulls the audience into the story. With unlikable characters, writers can't rely on identification for involvement, but rather, they rely on voyeurism.

Hitchcock was the master of this form. While he did want character identification, he also wanted the audience to look at his characters from a detached view. Hitchcock's approach was that of a peeping tom, staring at the characters on the screen with a voyeuristic interest, unable to look away for fear of missing what these people would do next.

To achieve a voyeuristic level of involvement requires putting plot before character. The plot will drive the narrative and the characters on the screen are machinations of the plot. Relying on voyeurism, and not identification, also has a subtle implication. If we, the audience, do not care directly for the characters, the characters must care for each other. In other words, they must identify with each other.