I once heard that at the core of any film or other media’s likeability is relatability. While that lens may not work 100% of the time, it’s quite a consistent rule of thumb for anyone looking to craft engaging characters. That’s why characters like Mr. Fox from Fantastic Mr. Fox come off so well.
Looking back, at least on the surface, it should be a bit puzzling as to why Fantastic Mr. Fox appealed to me so much. Maybe not, considering it was based on a children’s novel and was at least marketed as a family friendly adventure of some sort. Where the perplexity arises is in its core conflict, the main character’s mid-life crisis. I have to ask myself, much like with The Incredibles, why an adolescent me was so drawn to these stories about middle-aged men going through existential crisis. You could probably guess, the key is relatability.
Everyone has an abyss in their life, it’s just a matter of where you find it. Looking at Maslow's hierarchy of needs, it can be narrowed down fairly quickly. In Fantastic Mr. Fox, Foxy is satisfied in terms of his basic needs. He has food and shelter, and is under no immediate threats. Further up the hierarchy, he has intimate relationships and at least the ability to make friends, as well as a good lawyer who looks out for him. The problems come in his self-esteem and lack of self actualization. There are several examples of this, such as early on when he tells Kylie, “Why a fox? Why not a horse, or a beetle, or a bald eagle? I'm saying this more as, like, existentialism, you know? Who am I? And how can a fox ever be happy without, you'll forgive the expression, a chicken in its teeth?” His propensity to make mistakes due to his ego is spelled out clearly in the film. For example, he buys a tree for a house. "I don't want to live in a hole anymore. It makes me feel poor," he complains to his wife, and goes through with the plan despite his lawyer’s sincere warnings regarding the finance of it all. He neglects his son in favor of cousin Kristopherson, who more closely aligns with what he values for most of the film.
Most of all though, Mr. Fox aggresses upon the farmers who are ready to kill every animal in the woods in response, all for no other reason than his pride and desire to live how he is “supposed” to. This costs not only his family their home, but the rest of the woods as well. The relatability comes in the motivation for these selfish actions, which are driven by his ego. When Mrs. Fox asks him why he got them into this situation, all he can say is, “I don't know, but I have a possible theory. I think I have this thing where I need everybody to think I'm the greatest, the quote-unquote Fantastic Mr. Fox. And if people aren't knocked out and dazzled and slightly intimidated by me, I don't feel good about myself.” So despite literally causing a majority of the film’s conflict, which concludes with the woods remaining destroyed and the animals living in a sewer after, Foxy is a strong protagonist.
What about the other end of this spectrum though? One could argue that Mr. Fox only gets away with what he does because of the movie’s framing of him as the protagonist and his quirky, charming qualities, but what about a character deliberately portrayed in a way that, at least on paper, should be unlikable? Gi-hun from Squid Game is a zeitgeist of an example of this. He starts off the story forgetting it’s his own daughter’s birthday. He has acquired massive debt, yet takes a deliberately hidden credit card from his mother in order to withdraw what little cash they have for gambling. He even risks locking the card, “One more miss and you’ll get blocked,” Gi-hun’s friend warns, setting up his willingness to take chances for himself. When he sees his daughter, her present is lighter shaped like a gun. He gets robbed of the money he won in horse racing. Needless to say, all this is very pathetic. But also very relatable. When Gi-Hun uses his last bit of money on gambling in then loses it randomly I just feel it. I feel how desperate he is, how deeply he’s dug himself into this hole. Well, I certainly don’t have mobsters threatening to steal my organs, but the core of the issue is Gi-Hun’s life is his struggle to meet his psychological and safety needs. I’ve never had to worry about my next meal, but life has been unstable for my family for many years in a way that I fear I too could one day get to a point like this. So again, despite some selfishness, Gi-Hun triumphs in terms of entertainment to watch simply through morbid curiosity for those who see themselves in him.
Gi-Hun is revealed to also have more expected qualities of a protagonist that make him likable. He rejoins the game in order to pay for his mother’s diabetes treatment. Within the game, he is quick to extend a friendly hand to others, forgives the pickpocket who took his winnings earlier, and teams up with the old man when he has no one else. It’s within the following game where things get interesting. Of course, it is revealed that the marble game pits each teammate against each other, and this is where Gi-Hun’s moral foundation begins to crack. The old man at least appears senile and won’t play, resulting in Gi-Hun screaming and getting physical with the him. When he does agree to play, he seems to lose his senses and asks if he guessed even or odd marbles. Gi-Hun chooses to deceive, and that is where he falters fundamentally for the first time. When the old man suggests that they play one final game betting everything, Gi-Hun becomes furious. They have this exchange, “What kind of nonsense is this! That makes no sense!”
“Then, does fooling me, and taking my marbles, make sense?"
Squid Game’s popularity can be tied to the relatability of moments like this, where a man cracks morally under pressure. You see such a realistic portrait of Gi-Hun throughout the story up to this point, as he has plenty of flaws, but is also shown to be good at heart. That’s why it’s so difficult to watch when he abandons his morals out of desperation.
Relatability is often the answer to how to make a protagonist or character likable or at least fun to watch. It’s tempting to fall into the trap of making your character flawless and consequently inhuman, but stories like Fantastic Mr. Fox and Squid Game show what happens when you lay your characters bare for the world to see.
Relatable characters is key, as is timing.