Posted by Jan den Breejen on December 17, 2000 at 02:12:59:
Examples of character styles from Jan's daily life - the Leisurely Style sitcom writer
I've done some character analysis for a team of creative writers for two new Dutch sitcom series. Because there is a lot of pressure of time it was rather easy to see the character styles of many of the writers. Under time pressure especially the Leisurely Styles pop up during the conversation; one of them saying
' I will only discuss untill 5 o'clock; I am exhausted….. This guy was not un-aimiable but a bit nagging; especially when we were discussing a fictional passsive-agressive character; many 'Yes, but…..'s. Also when I mentioned an example from another sitcom he immediately said 'that one is not good' (everybody at home with me thought of this fictional p.a.g. as very funny so I guess it wouldn't be so bad at all). After the meeting I mentioned me working at my new penthouse apartment in Rotterdam and the municipal plans for the area around the appartment building (which are really favorable for me; which I mentioned) he said: 'Perhaps they build a sliver in front of your penthouse'. It's interesting to see two contrary directions in a Leisurely Style person; they are not explicitly hateful or explicitly irritating, but there is an undercurrent with nagging remarks floating around. He is succesful in the art of making comedies; perhaps many healthy Leisurely Style persons find an outlet for their internal agressive inclinations in 'humor'; you can say what you want but in a way that evades direct confrontation. Very interestingly is that when discussing the Passive Agressive character structure he stressed the difference between the outside and the inside of many character styles; of course with Leisurely Characters here is a main difference; the outside of the aimiable deadpan humor guy and the inside of frustration about tight time limits/deadlines and some limitations of creative freedom by the client (the broadcasting company.)
Jan