The film, A Star Is
Born (2018), has the narrative structure chiefly of two intersecting
character arcs. They are multi-level in the sense that both interior emotional
states and exterior vocational popularity change for both Jackson and Ally.
Each of them must deal with feelings of insecurity at some point and both are
singers. The antagonist is interesting as well, as it is a character that plays
a small but decisive role in how the narrative ends.
The film begins with Jackson as a popular, albeit drunken
singer. He spots Ally both for her singing ability and in terms of romantic
interest. He is very self-confident as he pursues her, whereas she feels
insecure as a singer and song-writer and is shy with Jackson romantically. He
is successful, whereas she is an unknown singing in a drag club. He provides
her with an entry to become a star by coaxing her to sing a duet with him in
one of his concerts. The experience leaves her with more confidence both in
regard to singing publically and reciprocating romantically. Her arc is in
motion.
Meanwhile, Jackson’s arc is in decline in that his
drinking and drug-use are getting worse, as is his relationship with his older brother
and manager, Bobby, who quits working as Jackson’s “errand boy” after Jackson
hits him because he had windmills put on their deceased father’s land in
Arizona. As the film shifts to Ally’s singing, the attention to Jackson’s
diminishes. When Jackson drunkenly follows Ally on stage at the Grammys as she
accepts the award for Best New Singer, the difference in the trajectories of
the two character arcs could not be more explicit. She has gained interest into
the singing elite, whereas he has reached bottom in his alcoholism and
drug-addiction. Her lack of confidence is gone not only in singing, but,
interestingly, also in terms of her relationship with Jackson. Even as he is
falling on the stage, she claims him as her man. His self-confidence is gone.
He goes off for two months of rehab, during which he is not sure that Ally
would have him back (she assures him he can come home). Back at home, no hint
of his ongoing singing career is given; in contrast, her concert venue is very
large. He is emotionally vulnerable; she is now running the relationship. The
two character arcs have crossed each other both in terms of vocational success
and emotional security. Just in terms of the transfer in whose music is
foremost, even financially, the intersection can be understood as being difficult
for the relationship. The shift in power, both from the shift in singing
success and in emotional security, certainly puts pressure on the couple.
As for how the narrative ends,
it is important to bring in the matter of the antagonist. To claim that the
alcoholism and drug-addiction were both antagonists is to conflate antagonist with obstacle. Certainly an antagonist presents obstacles for a
protagonist, but the character to character relation is lost if an antagonist
can be generalized to impersonal obstacles even in the story-world itself, as
is, “The fire is the antagonist.” In this film, Rez, Ally’s manager, is the
clever antagonist. Knowing that Ally wants to take the post-rehab Jackson along
in her upcoming European tour, Rez speaks to Jackson without Ally knowing. Rez
plays on Jackson’s insecurity by blaming Jackson for having almost derailed
Ally’s singing career. Rez also tells the alcoholic that he would relapse, and
when he does, he would sink Ally’s career so he should be nowhere near her,
especially on her tour. During Rehab, Jackson has expressed to Ally his sorrow
for having gotten in the way of her acceptance speech at the Grammy’s, so it
follows that he would take his own life rather than risk hurting her career, as
she loves him so much. In putting this guilt-trip on a vulnerable Jackson, Rez
is the film’s antagonist. He is a sly one, as neither Bobby nor Ally can know
who (and what) triggered Jackson. Ally presumably continues with Rez, not
knowing what he has done to her late husband. In the end, the film can perhaps
be said to be about the limits of justice in the human condition. In other
words, sometimes the bad guys get away with it.
