Considering the Cinema Ep. 001: The Sympathetic Antagonist

The Sympathetic Antagonist

Movie Podcast Network presents… Considering the Cinema — A Podcast About Movies and Film Criticism. I’m your host, Jason Pyles, podcasting from Salt Lake City. This is a free, short-form solocast for cinephiles and anyone with an interest in movie news, film theory, movie trivia, cinema history and film criticism. My topic for this episode is The Sympathetic Antagonist.

So, my objective for today is not to delve into the finer points and distinctions between a film’s protagonist and the antagonist. But just for the purposes of this episode, let’s just assume that an antagonist, generically speaking, is the character who is actively opposing or trying the hedge up the way of the protagonist in his or her pursuit of a goal. In other words, the person who is trying to stop our protagonist. Continue reading