When we think of characters in films or in life outside the frame, we draw upon our generalized memories of others. We remember, talk about, and relate to another person based on our generalized memory of that person. Jung said that dreams emerge out of an individual's history and point toward a possible future. Dream-thinking and feeling show a remarkable intelligence and resourcefulness. Broadcast News , for example, opens with a glimpse of childhood moments for its principal 3 characters and proceeds to show the same people as adults acting in the world as they learned to act at home.
Children come into the world ready to learn and to love.
These stories are first told by people children depend on, by parents who want to shape the storylines of a child's life and character. In most families, parents teach their children how to be good children, not how to be increasingly competent individuals who will be competent adults. These children reach early adulthood and begin looking for people with some authority and stature toward whom they can act as good children. Characters who reduce tension or deplete energy are problematic. Most characters are ambivalent about something, and they are more memorable when they suffer their ambivalence.