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Moral Ambiguity

Every episode covering Moral Ambiguity.

"it never says you should do what walter did hey this is what walter did totally cool man you see a hottie you can totally murder her husband it’s all good never ever ever ever however for a moment it puts you in their shoes and says can you understand why they would do that"

— Mel Killingsworth  |  DZ-124: Making the Despicable Compelling

KEY IDEAS

Noir's Sympathy For Victims

"Noir is sympathetic to the victims."

— Mel Killingsworth (01:02:05) · DZ-124: Making the Despicable Compelling

Understanding Without Endorsement

"it never says you should do what walter did hey this is what walter did totally cool man you see a hottie you can totally murder her husband it's all good never ever ever ever however for a moment it puts you in their shoes and says can you understand why they would do that"

— Mel Killingsworth (00:50:06) · DZ-124: Making the Despicable Compelling

DZ-124: Making the Despicable Compelling

How does Film Noir show us terrible people doing terrible things without endorsing it?
AI✦Mel and Chas examine how noir keeps audiences invested in characters doing reprehensible things by distinguishing between characters undergoing transformative arcs and those discovering their true natures, without endorsing the terrible actions themselves.✦
⏱ 1h 10m
30 JAN 2026
Listen if you need audiences to root for characters who do terrible things
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DZ-123: Flawed Characters in Noir

What can Film Noir teach us about character arcs and audience engagement?
AI✦The core tension across both films is how characters doing reprehensible things still engage audiences--Neff lies to himself about saving Phyllis from a loveless marriage, while Marlowe operates by a code that doesn’t always align with justice.✦
⏱ 1h 22m
31 DEC 2025
Listen if you want to write morally compromised characters without endorsing their choices.
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In this two part series, Mel and Chas use Noir (the genre) as a lens to interrogate flawed characters. How can characters doing reprehensible things still engage audiences? How can you ensure representation isn’t endorsement? And whether these characters undergo transformative arcs, or simply reveal their true natures… →

DZ-74: Midsommar & Folk Horror

What can we learn from folk horror?
AI✦Midsommar refuses easy answers about its ending, and the hosts unpack how folk horror trades moral clarity for a more complex examination of what the protagonist actually wants.✦
⏱ 2h 1m
1 DEC 2020
Listen if you want to understand how folk horror works as a genre and how Ari Aster uses it to explore grief and toxic relationships
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Draft Zero return with their next YouTube livestream! Stu and Chas are joined by previous guest (and successful screenwriter) C.S. McMullen for a deep dive into MIDSOMMAR! We analyse the film through the lens of Folk Horror, but tackle broader topics such as horror vs dread, rising tension, transgressions, unfilmables, and portraying toxic relationships… →

DZ-69: PARASITE & Audience Questions

How can you use audience questions to heighten emotional investment?
AI✦The film’s refusal to give audiences easy moral answers about its characters’ actions generates persistent questions that deepen investment in their fates.✦
⏱ 1h 22m
10 JUN 2020
Listen to understand how refusing to give your audience moral clarity can deepen their investment in character fates.
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Draft Zero return with their next YouTube livestream! Stu and Chas take a deep dive into PARASITE and how its mastery of audience questions elevates the film. They then answer listeners questions on PARASITE and much more… →

DZ-19: Car-Crash Characters

How do you make unlikeable characters compelling to watch... in drama?
AI✦Each of the three films examined features protagonists operating in moral gray zones, and Stu and Chas show how that ambiguity becomes a tool for sustained engagement.✦
⏱ 1h 59m
1 MAR 2015
Listen when you're writing a protagonist who does terrible things but you need the audience to keep watching.
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Stu and Chas revisit a topic from a year ago: how do screenwriters make unlikeable characters compelling? This time, we turn our focus to dramas and analyse how AMERICAN HISTORY X, YOUNG ADULT, NIGHTCRAWLER all make their asshole protagonists compelling to watch. We expand our original list of five writer’s tools to include a few more for your tool belt… →