The Joker’s Framework

As the story world evolves, it will journey through various phases, with each one of them playing a distinct role in the story.

The Initial State

Stories start within a particular world defined by a set of characteristics like the time period, the location, the characters, the general state of affairs, the events, etc. The Initial State is the current situation in the story world. It is the starting point for the story.

The Igniter

An event takes place. It sparks a reaction. It challenges the status quo and sets things into motion, triggering a series of incidents.

The Defining Incidents

The Igniter has forced the story world to evolve. The circumstances have changed and we can never go back to how it was. During this phase, a series of events will take place that will show how the story world is expanding, maturing and being challenged. These defining incidents will take us to the Tipping Point.

The Tipping Point

Everything that has taken place so far boils down to the tipping point. The Igniter has pushed everything to evolve and the Defining Incidents have showcased that transformation. Now we are faced with a larger situation that drives a major shift in the story world.

The New World

Finally, the story world has completely morphed into a new state. After everything that has happened, how can it not? This is the New World.

Deconstructing Argentina, 1985

Now that we have reviewed the framework, let’s see how (or if) it applies to Argentina, 1985.

The Initial State

The story starts at a significant time in Argentinian history. After years under a brutal dictatorship, an opportunity for justice finally arises.

A National commission on the disappearance of Argentinians during the dictatorship has been established and the possibility of a trial against the victimizing commanders is in the air. 

Two distinct narratives plague the nation. In the first, the brutalized are not considered victims, but terrorists and subversive forces. In the second, they are actual victims who suffered unspeakable violence under this regime. 

This is the initial state of the story world. At this point, we don’t know if a trial will happen. There is uncertainty. Will justice be done? This leads us to the Igniter.

The Igniter

As we head into page 17 and the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces submits their ruling informing that “according to its investigation, the decrees, directives, orders, and military procedures to combat the stateless subversion were, in both their content and form, unobjectionable”, the federal court is compelled to act. It is therefore decided that a trial will take place, not by a war tribunal this time, but by a civil one. This is our Igniter. It challenges the status quo and triggers a set of Defining Incidents.

The Defining Incidents

Allowing for a trial has forced the story world to evolve. What we knew to be true at the beginning of the story is bound to go through a transformation. The Defining Incidents show us “how the story world is expanding, maturing, and being challenged”.

A sense of danger

A sense of danger is omnipresent throughout the story, but as the trial is announced, threats are a common occurrence. There is no doubt that our main character’s safety is no longer guaranteed. 

The threats were sure to come.

His team isn’t exempted from the dangers of seeking the truth.

The Deputy-Prosecutor has a taste of it too. 

Given that the case relies heavily on the victims’ testimonials, it isn’t a surprise they are targeted as well.

It was bound to have an effect on them.

And the bomb threats…

The Divide

As mentioned previously, there are two opposing narratives that divide the nation between those who believe the victims and those who consider them terrorists, convinced that the commanders fought against subversion. Luis’ family is part of the latter and serves in this story as a guiding parameter for the divide.

Her change of heart is a strong Defining Incident representing change. The story world is mutating.

The News Coverage

For a country that went through years of a dictatorship with journalists being heavily persecuted, the press coverage of the trial becomes a Defining Incident. Free press in this new fragile democracy may not be without bounds, but it heralds a departure from the dictatorship.

The coverage by the press has been fair so far, stating the facts and facing the truth. 

The Testimonials

The trial provides an opportunity to the victims to share their experiences and to challenge the oppressive narratives against them.

The Tipping Point

Once we arrive at the Tipping Point we are faced with a major shift in the story world. In Argentina 1985, the sentencing is the Tipping Point. The investigation, the trial, and every single challenge has taken us to this point, what we have been waiting for.

It may not be what they were hoping for, but it shows that the story world has evolved beyond recognition.

The New World

Argentina has gone through a serious transformation, from a dictatorship where justice was a foreign concept to this new world where the members of the military juntas can be brought to civil court, be prosecuted, and sent to jail. It’s a New World. However, the battle isn’t over yet and the main character sets a new goal for himself.

Conclusion

Testing out the framework we explored for the transformation of Joker’s story world was a blast and I’m glad to see it still applies to Argentina, 1985 even though the evolution was much starker in Joker. Argentina, 1985 presented a more subtle transformation. Maybe it’s because the story style is quite different or maybe it indicates that the evolution of the story world could have been further developed, but then again, I’m not sure it would have added greater depth or interest to the story.

The Trailer

The Screenplay

Character Introductions

By page four, we have been introduced to Katherine Goble as an 8-year-old, a math genius, but we have yet to meet her adult self, as well as the other major characters.

Katherine Goble

Since the previous pages were all about Katherine, we already have an idea of who she is, so less weight is given to her introduction. However, even the little that is offered is enough to provide a telling description. 

With a few words, the writers paint the image of a pensive character in her own world, which is soon confirmed down a few lines when she is too lost in her thoughts to hear Dorothy calling out to her.

Dorothy Vaughan

Having a woman in 1961 “slide out from under [a] car” on the side of a road is quite a powerful image to introduce a character. 

Although the writers mention that she is “mechanically gifted”, her diagnosis of what’s wrong with the car does all the talking… 

… And  when she fixes it, no help is needed!

Mary Jackson

From these three characters, Mary Jackson is the most clearly defined in this scene.

Those personality traits are evident in her manner of speaking.

And as a police car approaches, the most likely to get them in trouble is Mary.

It seems the warning from Dorothy fell on deaf ears.

Establishing the Story World

As brilliant as this scene is in introducing the main characters, it also serves the purpose of  defining the story world. There are multiple elements used to expose this world, some more subtle than others.

The Titles

From this simple piece of information, we can deduce all the implications and realities specific to this location and time period.

The Racism

Multiple pieces of dialogue uncover the intricacies of the story world the characters evolve in, the blatant racism of the time being one of them. 

When the police show up, the situation becomes instantly tense. 

He asks for identification albeit there being no justifiable reason for the request.

The Place of Women

When the cop shows surprise at the idea of them working for NASA and Dorothy responds that “there are quite a few women working in the Space Program”, even though they all knew that is not what he was referring to, it nonetheless expresses the place women held in society at the time. 

The Political Climate

The tense relationship between the United States and the Soviet Union, as well as the race for space superiority, which are major realities of the time, are also explored here.

With barely a few pieces of dialogue we draw an accurate portrait of the time period. 

Lessons Learned

Choose the strongest image to introduce a character

These women are strong, capable, and ambitious, going against the grain at a time when all odds were against them. Such characters can’t be introduced mildly. When we see Dorothy under the car fixing it, it may not be earth shattering in today’s world, but that’s one strong image for 1961. Choosing the strongest way to introduce a character definitely pays off!

Back up character descriptions with corresponding action and dialogue

One thing is to describe a character, another is to describe a character and then proceed to prove it with corresponding action and dialogue. Dorothy may be defined as “mechanically gifted”, but her actions indicate that it is actually true. Mary may be characterized as “free-tongued”, but her pieces of dialogue show that it is indeed a personality trait.

Use the most significant aspects of a time period and/or location to build the story world

The writers make it look easy. They effortlessly sprinkle dialogue befitting the time period, providing an accurate portrait of what the characters’ world must have been like. As we have seen, they achieve that by selecting the most noteworthy elements of the time and building the scene around it.

Conclusion

I believe this scene is one to keep readily available as a reference. In a few pages, the reader/viewer is introduced to the main characters and the story world. Brilliantly effective!

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