struggling artist character theme
There is an aspiring painter, musician, or other performer of the fine arts who has not (yet) acquired sufficient patronage to sustain themselves in their chosen profession.
Notes
This theme does not apply to kids who live with their family and are not yet expected to sustain themselves.
Examples
In talesoftheunexpected4x11 "Kindly Dig Your Grave", Graham is a talented young painter but not much of a negotiator. He is ruthlessly exploited by the Madam La Grue, and struggles to turn every one of the few pennies she condescends to give him for his work.
20 total · 1 choice · 12 major · 7 minor
| Story | Level | Motivation |
|---|---|---|
| movie: Variety Lights (1951) | choice | The main characters were poor artists struggling to make it in the world. Checco tried to form a successful troupe. Liliana wanted to become a famous dancer. |
| movie: An American in Paris (1951) | major | Jerry Mulligan was a happy-go-lucky, American World War II veteran scraping by as an aspiring artist in Paris. Though he lived a comfortable life there by all appearances, viewers are made to understand that he was living a precarious existence. This is evidenced by, among other things, his unsuccessful attempt to borrow 300 francs from a friend to cover the cost of a lunch he'd planned to have in Montmartre. |
| movie: Some Like It Hot (1959) | major | The story followed two troubled musicians who joined a girl band undercover. |
| movie: The Life of Emile Zola (1937) | major | Emile, as a young and upcoming man of letters, lived in squalor with his painter friend, Paul, in a rundown attic apartment. Emile stuffed rags into broken windows to keep out the cold, and they burned the books of hypocrites to keep warm. |
| movie: The Rat Saviour (1976) | major | A publishing house editor refused to publish penniless author Ivan Gajski's book. Ivan was subsequently kicked out from the flat he was renting after failing to pay rent for three consecutive months and ended up sleeping on a park bench. |
| talesoftheunexpected4x11 | major | Graham was struggling to sell his paintings in France. |
| talesoftheunexpected6x10 | major | Tony was ready to spend his last 37 pounds on lunch with the wife of a famous film producer in an effort to secure a film deal for his novel. |
| tftc1989e3x05 | major | Barry was an unsuccessful actor with little to look forward to in the way of a future career in the industry. He a total loser. |
| tftc1989e3x08 | major | Jack struggled to make ends meet with his mostly commonplace paintings, while staying off the hooch and managing his anger. |
| tz1959e4x18 | major | The streetcar conductor turned screenwriter Julius pestered a television executive into giving him one last crack at making it in show business. |