[Internal Problems] and [External Problems]

The “Inner and Outer Problems” Section#

To start with, let’s summarize how Vogler actually discusses [Internal Problems] and [External Problems].

Vogler’s explicit discussion of this concept makes its first appearance in the [Ordinary World] section, under a chapter titled “Inner and Outer Problems.”

Every hero needs both an inner and an outer problem.

(…)

But sometimes writers neglect to give the characters a compelling inner problem to solve as well.

Characters without inner challenges seem flat and uninvolving, however heroically they may act. They need an inner problem, a personality flaw or a moral dilemma to work out. They need to learn something in the course of the story: how to get along with others, how to trust themselves, how to see beyond outward appearances. Audience members want to see characters learn, grow, and cope with both inner and outer challenges of life.

p. 143

The “Raising the Dramatic Question” Section#

Immediately preceding this section is one titled “Raising the Dramatic Question.”

Another important function of the [Ordinary World] [the first being to introduce the background, etc.] is to suggest the dramatic question of the story. Every good story poses a series of questions about the hero.

(…, see A below)

Some questions relate primarily to the action or plot.

(…, see B below)

Other questions have to do with the hero’s emotions and personality.

(…, see C below)

The action questions may propel the plot, but the dramatic questions hook the audience and involve them with the emotions of the characters.

p. 142

Specific examples are given in the omitted sections:

• Examples from A below:
  • Will the protagonist achieve the goal?
  • Overcome their flaw?
  • Learn the lesson they need to learn?
• Examples from B below:
  • Will Dorothy get home from Oz?
  • Will E.T. get home to his planet?
  • Will the protagonist get the gold?
  • Win the game?
  • Beat the villains?
• Examples from C below:
  • Will Patrick Swayze’s character in Ghost learn to express love?
  • In Pretty Woman, will the uptight businessman Edward learn from the prostitute Vivian how to relax and enjoy life?

Looking at this lineup:

• The examples given in B above—namely, the questions “primarily related to the action or plot”—are the [External Problem].
• The examples given in C above—namely, the questions “related to the hero’s emotions and personality”—are the [Internal Problem].

This seems to be the right way to understand it.

”Wants vs. Needs”#

In the “Stories Are Alive” section, under “Wants vs. Needs,” there is a discussion that doesn’t explicitly mention [Internal Problems] or [External Problems], but seems closely related.

Through the trigger of a wish, stories like to arrange events so that the protagonist’s consciousness is raised to a higher level. At first, protagonists almost inevitably wish for what they “want,” but the story guides them to look beyond that and realize what they truly “need.”

(…)

In the process of granting that initial wish, the story serves up chillingly dangerous events, forcing the protagonist to correct flaws in their nature.

(…)

The story is delivering the moral lessons the protagonist needs, seeking to fill the deficiencies in their character and understanding of the world.

p. 463

Here, it seems reasonable to understand:

• “Want” = [External Problem]
• “Need” = [Internal Problem]

Vogler summarizes the structure of story in a single sentence here:

“So-and-so wants something and does something to get it, but there are unexpected consequences, forcing so-and-so to adapt or react in order to survive.”

Case Study: Titanic#

For instance, if you were writing a review of Titanic and explained it as “a story about Rose and Jack trying to survive a sinking ship,” people would probably react with, “Well, you’re not wrong, but you’re kind of missing the point.”

The issue with that summary is that it only addresses the [External Problem] faced by the two of them.

“Rose wants to survive the sinking. But what she truly needed was to meet Jack and have her life saved by his sacrifice. Through this, she escaped her everyday world where she lived like a prisoner, and spent a long, happy life putting into practice what she learned from him.”

“Jack wants to survive the sinking. But what he truly needed was to surrender the wooden door to Rose and save her. Through this, he won Rose’s singular love and became an existence that lives on forever in her heart.”

While that summary might not be perfectly phrased, it does a much better job of conveying what makes Titanic so magnificent (or at least, I’d be glad if you agree).

Kaban’s Problems#

• [External Problem]
  • Wants to recharge the Japari Bus’s battery
• [Internal Problem]
  • Discovering what she is capable of (gaining self-confidence)

Please note that the [Internal Problem] I listed—“discovering what she is capable of”—is subtly yet fundamentally different from Kaban’s conscious goal of “finding out what kind of animal she is.”

If it were merely about solving the [External Problem], Kaban had zero reason to help bring in customers for the café in the first place.

“Kaban wants to know what kind of animal she is. But what she truly needed was to discover, through her own actions, what she was capable of doing.”

Put that way, wouldn’t you say that strikes right at the very heart of Kemono Friends?

Crested Ibis’s Problems#

• [External Problems]
  • Searching for companions (members of her own species)
  • Improving her singing ability
• [Internal Problem]
  • Overcoming loneliness

To understand the problems Crested Ibis faces, you have to adopt a somewhat stretched, poetic interpretation.

Her problem is distilled into “The Crested Ibis’s Song.”

I am Crested Ibis~♪

Searching for companions~♪

Where are my companions?♪

Companions of mine~♪

Please look for them~♪

Ah, companions…♪

When she sang this song, what did “companions” (nakama) refer to? At the very least, viewers who know that the Crested Ibis is an extinct-in-the-wild species would have understood “nakama = members of her own species.”

Yet she didn’t necessarily need companions of her own kind.

Think about the reverse: if Crested Ibis hadn’t run into Scarlet Ibis at the café, would she have kept on singing that song?

In Episode 12, while standing on stage with PPP, Crested Ibis sings:

Singing with companions~♪ Dancing with companions~♪

Here, “companions” (nakama) is clearly not intended to mean members of her own species.

“Crested Ibis is searching for companions of her own kind. But what she truly needed was friends.”

Summing it up like that definitely feels like another satisfying fit.

Suri Alpaca’s Problems#

• [External Problem]
  • Attracting customers to the café
• [Internal Problem]
  • Overcoming loneliness

The [External Problem] is practically self-evident.

The [Internal Problem] is a bit trickier, but let’s follow the same line of reasoning as with Crested Ibis.

When she says “no customers are coming,” what kind of emotion is packed into that statement? There is no monetary economy in this world. She built a café here for this reason:

People pass through here all the time on their way to the next region, right? I just thought it’d be wonderful if they could take a little break around here.

Given that, if no customers show up, how would she feel? Ultimately, it all boils down to that feeling of being “lonely.”

Think about the reverse: even if no customers ever came other than Crested Ibis, would she still lament the lack of customers? Probably not.

“Alpaca wants customers to come to her café. But what she truly needed was a friend.”

Let’s sum it up that way.

The Writer’s Journey#

The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers (Sakka no Tabiji: Writers Journey: Shinwa no Hosoku de Yomitoku Monogatari no Kozo)

By Christopher Vogler, translated into Japanese by Yumie Fukawa

Film Art, Inc., 2022

kemono-friends-dialogs#

GitHub - akahuku/kemono-friends-dialogs: TVアニメ けものフレンズの台詞を書き起こしてみました

TVアニメ けものフレンズの台詞を書き起こしてみました. Contribute to akahuku/kemono-friends-dialogs development by creating an account on GitHub.

github.com