Why is it that in some movies, a protagonist’s little misstep can propel his emotional arc quickly downward, but in another story, a guy can have his good friend murdered, his girlfriend kidnapped, and he himself can be conked on the head and left in a heap under a canal, and it seems like he’s hardly even suffered?
It all depends on tone, of course -- how a character is drawn, and how his experiences are meant to be felt by an audience.
In “Right of Way,” it hasn’t exactly been a cakewalk so far for our charismatic Mayor Russell Napolitano, who has endured all the indignities mentioned above. But in a way, Napolitano has been skating, and I’m afraid he’s going to have to find that out in the next few installments.
Because as bad as his recent experiences might sound, they haven’t really felt that oppressive -- for him or for us.
I have my theories about this, and they stem from Napolitano’s character: As a winning politician, he must be able to endure setbacks while maintaining a positive outlook. And this he has done in spades.
What Napolitano has not yet had to face, though he keeps edging closer, is the deep, abiding shame that must eventually come with his gross malfeasance in office. He’s been able to avoid it so far by working literally around the clock to try and correct his mistakes, while keeping them largely out of view from the press and the public.
As a public person, this is what Napolitano wants to avoid the most. Sure, we can surmise that he’s been hurt by his losses so far. We even caught a glimpse of emotion from him when he listened in solitude to his murdered friend Larry on voicemail.
But the visceral pain that he has yet to suffer will come when the extent of his involvement in this series of fiascos is exposed, and he is forced to step down as mayor or fight to remain on the job and to avoid prosecution. That’s when he’ll feel it the most.
And when he feels it, we the audience feel it.
We need Napolitano to suffer for his flaws, because that is what happens in this kind of story. And then we need to see him triumph over his circumstances, seize whatever it is he’s going after, while losing something and learning in the process.
That’s just the way it’s going to have to be.
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