Listen to learn how to move an audience with a character who never changes.
Do characters need to change for you to have a satisfying story? That's a question we've been asking since, like, episode five of this podcast. And we're finally talking about them - whatever you call 'em: steadfast, resilent, or flat arcs.
To that end, we breakdown MOANA, APOLLO 13, and THE DRESSMAKER to work out what carries a story when a character arc doesn't. If your protagonist isn't going to change, the drama has to come from what they do to everyone else.
We develop some tools that we reckon carry a steadfast story:
- doubt and wobble (a character with no doubt isn't steadfast, they're a psychopath)
- emotional events between characters
- additive rewards (something is gained) versus subtractive ones (something is taken away) - a distinction we've borrowed borrowed from operant conditioning;
- and how that difference changes the emotional tone of an ending.
The subtractive reward is why a happy ending can still feel like loss... and it's the thing we reckon that'll matter most when we get to negative arcs.
Chas, Mel and Stu also wibble-wobble over WILLOW, TAKEN, FERRIS BUELLER'S DAY OFF, THE MARTIAN, PROJECT HAIL MARY, THE GREY, ALL IS LOST, STAR WARS (as always), GREY GARDENS, PRISCILLA, and how many tampons NASA sent to space.
As always: SPOILERS ABOUND and all copyright material used under fair use for educational purposes.
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→ Read the transcript for this episode.
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"If your characters are not going to arc, if they are going to remain steadfast, then creating multiple smaller emotional events is really important to keep the story dynamic." — Mel Killingsworth @ 02:32:01
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CHAPTERS
- 00:00:00 – Cold Open
- 00:00:18 – What Is a Steadfast Character Arc?
- 00:04:24 – › Character as habitual action defines change
- 00:06:11 – › Operant conditioning reframes reward and punishment beats
- 00:09:14 – › Steadfast characters still need emotional stakes and impact
- 00:10:33 – The Questionnaire for Analysing Character Arcs
- 00:12:18 – MOANA
- 00:16:12 – › The I Want song and being pulled versus pushed
- 00:18:19 – › Doubt as necessary proof of steadfast resilience
- 00:26:54 – › Distinguishing upskilling and reward from true character change
- 00:27:25 – › Maui's full arc contrasts with Moana's steadfastness
- 00:41:15 – › Genre expectations teach the audience to predict steadfastness
- 00:45:10 – › Tracking Maui's and Moana's dramatized moments of change
- 00:53:08 – APOLLO 13
- 00:58:52 – › Riveting problem solving without character values changing
- 01:01:07 – › Jim and jack relationship as substitute emotional arc
- 01:12:12 – › Comparing disaster films that punish or reward steadfastness
- 01:20:02 – › Working through the arc questionnaire for the film
- 01:33:53 – THE DRESSMAKER
- 01:38:14 – › Debating whether THE DRESSMAKER is steadfast or positive
- 01:44:54 – › Tracking Tilly's three objectives and mystery of the curse
- 01:50:37 – › Teddy's death as subtractive reward and negative punishment
- 01:57:00 – › GREY GARDENS parallels and the town as social environment
- 02:03:10 – › How Tilly's steadfastness transforms the town around her
- 02:16:37 – › Testing audience expectations for change versus subversion
- 02:24:48 – › Values of beauty, love, and vengeance in the story world
- 02:31:45 – Key Learnings & Wrap Up
FILMS
- MOANA (2016) — (w) Jared Bush, Ron Clements, John Musker, Chris Williams, Don Hall, Pamela Ribon, Aaron Kandell, Jordan Kandell (d) John Musker, Ron Clements
- THE DRESSMAKER (2015) — (w) Jocelyn Moorhouse, Pj Hogan, Rosalie Ham (d) Jocelyn Moorhouse
- APOLLO 13 (1995) — (w) William Broyles Jr, Al Reinert, Jeffrey Kluger, Jim Lovell (d) Ron Howard
EPISODES IN THE CHARACTER ARCS SERIES
RELATED EPISODES
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Full show notes at: https://draft-zero.com/2026/dz-129/
