Ok so not surprisingly there's not a lot of critical analysis of this film out there as far as I can tell. I did however find an interesting interview here with the director, Alexander Payne, from 1999 when the film was released.
I'm not posting it here in full because it doesn't really pertain too much to the discussion topic, but it might give you some insight for crafting your response.
Discussion Topic
Talk about who you believe to be the protagonist and antagonist in the film and tell us why you've come to this conclusion.
In my opinion, the "good guy/bad guy" roles are vague in the relationship between Tracy Flick and Jim McAllister, who are both extremely flawed in character.
79 comments:
I personally believe that Jim is the protagonist in this film. He would have never had problems until Tracy came and ruined his life. Tracy to me is the antagonist because she seems to make like a lot harder for Jim. I know that she goes a long way but all through her career in not just high school but even at the end of the movie... Jim is still hurt by what she is doing. So even though i think the antagonist won in this movie. Jim is the Protagonist and Tracy is the antagonist.
I think that the protagonist of the movie Election is Jim McAllister and the antagonist is Tracy Flick. Jim seems to be the protagonist because he is essentially the main character of the film and doesn't necessairily seem to be the "bad guy." Tracy, on the other hand, is an evil little girl who will do anything to get what she wants, even if it means hurting people or breaking the rules along the way. Also, both characters fight and are against each other throughout the movie.
I think that Matthew Broderick's character, Mr. Mc.Allister, is the protagonist while Reese Witherspoon's character is the antagonist. It is true that both characters are flawed, however, their original intentions led me to this decision. Mr. Mc.Allister in the beginning had good intentions and obviously lost his way in the process. Tracey Flick, on the other hand, was vindictive from the beginning. She was determined to reach her goals no matter the cost. This character rubbed basically everyone the wrong way, and she did not care. It was her overachieving and "better than you" attitude that led the teacher to commit the indiscretion of messing with the ballots. She was a driving force that affected his actions. Yes, he did other wrongs things, but him reaching the end of his rope was Tracey Flick's fault.
I believe that the protagonist in the film is Mr. McAllister because it was told mostly through his point of view and his life seemed more obstructed throughout the film then Tracy Flick's. Linda could be the anatagonist because she tried to make a move on him and then decided to tell his wife what had happened, completely turning his life around.
Toward the end of the film, when the election is fixed, it seems that Tracy is the protagonist and Mr. McAllister is the antagonist because he is the one who is ruining her dreams of becoming class president.
I feel that the protagonist in The Election is Jim McAllister. Usually the protagonist is the character with whom the audience empathizes with the most. We follow Jim’s thoughts more than anyone else’s throughout the movie, and Jim is the character the movie both begins and ends with. Since he is the first character whose thoughts the audience knows, we empathize with him more than the others.
Though we are following different characters thoughts throughout the movie, Jim is the easiest to empathize with. Tracy is shown as self-centered, selfish, and uncaring. It is difficult to understand her reasoning. Paul’s character is without a doubt likeable, but the director made him to stupid to relate with (at least for me) . Often Paul doesn’t see the obvious, an example would be the fact that his girlfriend is only going out with him to spite his sister.Jim, on the other hand, is a lovable loser. He has a good heart, but over and over again he makes stupid decisions, which the audience can relate to. While I’ve never cheated on my wife, I have often done things I regret because they “felt good at the time”, just like Jim.
I feel that the antagonist in The Election is the election itself. I feel that throughout the movie, the election looms as an oppressive malevolent godlike force, and as long as it continues, nothing in Jim’s (the protagonist) life can work out in his favor. Several times throughout the movie, Jim curses the election and blames it for ruining his life. He also says that his problems started with the election. The election causes Jim to struggle with himself much more than any other character in the movie. Jim even struggles to change the election, but to no avail, the election is bigger than he is, and he is powerless over it. As soon as Jim becomes disassociated with the election completely, his life changes for the better, and he finds happiness in New York. So, the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist is resolved at the end of the movie.
Connor McVey
I feel that the protagonist in The Election is Jim McAllister. Usually the protagonist is the character with whom the audience empathizes with the most. We follow Jim’s thoughts more than anyone else’s throughout the movie, and Jim is the character the movie both begins and ends with. Since he is the first character whose thoughts the audience knows, we empathize with him more than the others. Though we are following different characters thoughts throughout the movie, Jim is by far the easiest to empathize with. Tracy is shown as self-centered, selfish, and uncaring. It is difficult to understand her reasoning. Paul’s character is without a doubt likeable, but the director made him to stupid to relate with (at least for me) . Often Paul doesn’t see the obvious, an example would be the fact that his girlfriend is only going out with him to spite his sister. Jim on the other hand, is a lovable loser. He has a good heart, but over and over again he makes stupid decisions, which the audience can relate to. While I’ve never cheated on my wife, I have often done things I regret because they “felt good at the time”, just like Jim.
I feel that the antagonist in The Election is the election itself. I feel that throughout the movie, the election looms as an oppressive malevolent godlike force, and as long as it continues, nothing in Jim’s (the protagonist) life can work out in his favor. Several times throughout the movie, Jim curses the election and blames it for ruining his life. He also says that his problems started with the election. The election causes Jim to struggle with himself much more than any other character in the movie. Jim even struggles to change the election, but to no avail, the election is bigger than he is, and he is powerless over it. As soon as Jim becomes disassociated with the election completely, his life changes for the better, and he finds happiness in New York. So, the conflict between the protagonist and the antagonist is resolved at the end of the movie.
Connor McVey
I believe that Mr. McAllister was the protagonist in the movie. Throughout the movie the audience felt closest to him because he was going through so much. We knew what he was feeling and what he wanted. There was more than one antagonist in the movie, but Tracey Flick seemed to be the main antagonist. Mr. McAllister’s life seemed to be going well until Tracey Flick came into the picture. Tracey created a lot of problems in Mr. McAllister's life. As a result, Mr. McAllister wanted to prevent Tracey from becoming the new president. He threw two voting ballots away creating conflict in the outcome of the election. In the end, Mr. McAllister was caught and he ended up starting a completely different life, and Trace Flick was the new student council president.
I think that the protagonist in the film is Jim McAllister. The movie Election was writen from Jim's point of view. Everything that Jim had to deal with was because of Tracy Flick. Which is why I think that the Antagonist is Tracy Frick. She is a very coniving young girl and just seems to cause lots of problems. If it wasnt for Tracy, Jim wouldnt of had most of the problems that he had to deal with.All the problems with the election where because of Tracy. Even in the future after Tracy graduates and Mr. McAllister sees her, she is still making him hurt and upset with what she is doing and has done.
I believe that the protagonist in the film in Mr. McAllister as the majority of the film is told from his point of view and he is the main driver of the story. The film opens and closes from his point of view, a good indication that he should be considered the main character and therefore the protagonist. Its also easier to sympathize with him as he seems to suffer from the same flaws that all humans fall victim to at some point in life. He doesn't come across as a bad guy, just one that hasn't really found his place in life.
On the other hand, Tracy is conniving and calculating. She comes across as the antagonist because of her "me first" attitude. The take over the world mentality that her mother has raised her with goes along with the classic villains who will stop at nothing to gain a position of ultimate power. Going through the film Tracy ultimately ruins more lives than any other character. Her affair causes Mr. Novotny and Linda to split, which in turn causes Diane and Jim to split. All the while, Tracy gets exactly what she pleases.
For those reasons I feel that Jim McAllister is the protagonist and Tracy Flick is the antagonist.
I found in the movie Election that the character Jim McAllistor was the obvious protagonist. He did do cruel things throughout the movie but his intentions were for just reasons. I believe the antagonist to be Tracy Flick because she would do anything to get her way. Although I don't believe that she realized it her vindictive actions were seen by others. I believe that both had characteristics that steer them away from fully being either protagonist or antagonist. Each were somewhat admirable but also unworthy characteristics.
My personal opinion, and what I've come to see from other films as well, is that a character can be both the protagonist and antagonist and by the looks of this movie, Jim McAllister and Tracy Flick are a little bit of both, although Jim is the "good guy" for most of the movie. Tracy seems to be the more "corrupt" character, in the sense that she doesn't care who she has to destroy on her way to world domination. And yet, Jim McAllister turns into somewhat of a "villain" for lack of better words, when he slowly starts to become probably as corrupt as Tracy i.e. cheating on his wife and tossing out the two extra votes to make sure Tracy loses and here is where we see Tracy actually hurt by something that someone did to her. I believe that both characters are struggling internally with themeselves as well as with eachother so we see both the "good" side and the "bad" side of Jim and Tracy.
I actully think the the protagonist is Tracy and the antagonist is Mr McAllister. I choose this pair because it seemed that Mr. M was trying so hard to stop Tracy from winning the election that he did everything in his power to set the election. I know that the movie is based around him, but it seemed to me like Tracy wasn't really trying to stop Mr. M from doing anything.I mean she was very annoying most of the time, and very head strong, but the only people she tried to stop was the other candiates. The movie may be based from the POV of Mr. M but i firmly believe that he was the antagoinst, and Tracy the Protagonist.
In believe that Jim McAllister is the protagonist in Election. We see the movie from his point of view mainly. (Some of it is told from Tracy's point of view but most is told from Jim's) The viewer sympathizes with Jim at times such as when he is stood up at the motel, and when he is put into awkward situations with Tracy.
In this movie there are many antagonists. We see man verses himself, with Jim's guilt over his affair. After his wife is informed of the affair he battle with himself feeling down and upset. Man verses man is also shown here between Jim and Tracy. She attempts to seduce him, and she is also just an annoyance to him through the entire movie. At the very beginning and the very end we see man verses society. In the beginning society loved Jim; he was the best teacher at the school. However in the end Jim was hated by the community because he got fired from tampering with the ballets of the election.
This movie gives the viewer a bit of a challenge because they have to look for the protagonist but it also gives them many antagonists which make it interesting.
This film didn't necessarily have a clear cut protagonist or antagonist. I think that the protagonist is Jim McAllister and the antagonist is Tracy Flick. Although, the story was told from several points of view, the main focus seemed to be on McAllister. Tracy lead to the creation of a lot of conflict in McAllister's life. If Tracy did not sleep with McAllisters colleague, Dave Novotny, which caused a divorce between Dave and his wife Linda, McAllister would not have had the temptation to cheat on his wife with Linda. However, McAllister could be considered the antagonist and Tracy the protagonist, because McAllister tried everything in his power to keep Tracy from reaching her goal of becoming student body president.
When deciding who the protagonist was in this movie, I ended up with conflicting feelings as to who the protagonist was. It is understood that a story's point of view is told through that of the protagonist, but this movie changed point of views consistently. The audience was able to see Jim McAllister's, Tracy Flick's, Pauls's, and Paul's sister point of view. So to resolve the conflicting thougths of who the protagonist was, I decided to believe that all of the four characters mentioned were protagonist. Much like the Harry Potter movies, in which there were several protagonists at times, the movie Election portrayed such idea, but yet maintained Jim as the main protagonist.
Many believe the antagonist of the story ws the election itself, but to contradict this belief, I assume the elections were an actual catalyst which ignited the antagonsit within each character. In my opinion, each character was their own antagonist. For example, Tracy Flick, the "perfect" student that she was in the beginning of the movie, ended up focusing so much on the fact that she just might lose the election that she no longer was a "good" girl, and in fact ended up tearing Paul's posters down. Jim McAllister himself seemed to be bored with life. The election sparked a desire for Jim to rebel against what was believed to be "moral", and ended up commiting adultry and rigging the elections.
While it may be a tad unconventional, the antagonist in this story and the catalyst of all the negative events that occur to the two main characters in this film begin with Mark Harelik's character Dave Novotny. It is Dave's illicit affair with Tracey that begins the unfortunate chain of events that eventually leads to her and Jim McAllister's downward spiral. The protagonist role in this film is far more ambiguous, however, it should be noted that just because a film is told through a character's point-of-view doesn't make that character the protagonist by default. All of the characters in this film, particularly the two main characters, are heavily flawed and far from perfect. In fact, there isn't a moment in which I felt sympathy for either character or believe either of them had any redeeming qualities. There simply is not a clear protagonist in this film.
I believe that Tracy Flick is the protagonist and Jim McAllister was the antagonist in the film "Election". Tracy was a young girl who knew what she wanted and how to get it. She had goals and wanted to reach them, particularly being class president. That is all that she wanted to be during the duration of the movie. However, Jim McAllister did not believe that she deserves to win because of his own beliefs/feelings and what happen in the past with his colleague/friend. So McAllister tried to stop her by doing things such as adding more competition and throwing away two of her votes. If Flick did not be who she was she would not made it to the top.
I believe that both Tracy Flick and Jim are protagonists in this film. Since the majority of the story is told through Jim's narration, the audience connects more with him, making him the main protagonist. Tracy is also an antagonist to Jim. Tracy is the reason why Jim's life fell apart.
Throughout the whole movie, the protagonist and antagonist is bounced between Tracy and Jim. At first, you believe Tracy to be the protagonist because she is portrayed as the wholesome, over achiever who has been wrongfully taken advantage of. As the movie progressed, you begin to see that there is more to Tracy that meets the eye so the ball bounces into Jim's court. Through his pov you see Tracy for her manipulative nature, and you feel bad for Jim. He is only doing what he feels necessary to "protect" the student body.
Then again, maybe Jim is just jealous of Tracy's success, and wishes to ruin her chances of ever becoming something she doesn't "deserve".
In the movie Election, I believe that the protagonist is Mr. McAllister. Mr. McAllister lived a perfect life and had no problems until Tracy Flick, the antagonist, came along. Tracy Flick caused his life to change drastically causing the main conflict in the film. Although Mr. McAllister did cause some problems and did some things wrong, he himself was not to blame. Tracy Flick is this girl who has to have everything perfect and will go to great lengths to get it that way, even if it involves ruining someone’s life, which in my opinion makes her the antagonist and Mr. McAllister the antagonist.
I believe that both Jim and Tracy share the characteristics of the protagonist and the antagonist. Throughout the movies their seem to be numerous small conflicts that lead up to an overall larger conflict. Throughout the whole movie there is an underlying conflict of the election. In this case, Tracy is the protagonist and Jim is the antagonist. She is fighting to become president, and he is the one who is preventing her from winning in anyway possible.
The conflict of Jim's life, Jim is the protagonist and Tracy is most definitely the antagonist. Everything in his life seems to be going wrong and much of it is because of her involvement in his life. She is always around to "kick him while he's down". Also, I believe that is some parts he is his own antagonist. By cheating on his wife, and cheating on the election, he causes his own conflict.
So, in conlusion, I believe that there are numerous instances where you can point a finger at both Jim and Tracy as the antagonist and the protagonist.
Although Jim McAllister was not actually a “good guy” in the movie Election, I believe that he was the protagonist. He was really the main character of the movie, even though the point of view swung between a few of the characters. The conflicts Jim seemed to experience were man versus man, man versus society, and mainly, man versus himself. Jim had a conflict with Tracy Flick during the student government election. Jim also had a conflict with society after he threw out two of Tracy’s votes, but got caught, causing the school to fire him and some of the students to hate him. The clearest of the conflicts, though, is man versus self. Jim and his wife could not have kids, and he was getting restless. He also did not like Tracy Flick, and he struggled with himself in trying to stop her from becoming President. If you look deeper into the background of the story, Tracy Flick was the root of most of these problems. If she had not messed around with the teacher, Dave, his wife might not have kicked him out, and if his wife had not kicked him out, Jim might not have tried to sleep with Dave’s wife. If Jim had not tried to sleep with Dave’s wife, Jim’s wife would not have caught him cheating, and would not have kicked him out, and he might never have tampered with the votes, and may not have been fired from his job. This, to me, makes Tracy the antagonist. If I had to pick a good guy and a bad guy, though, I would say that Paul Metzler was the good guy, and the janitor was the bad guy, but in this case, that has nothing to do with the protagonist and antagonist. That is just personal opinion.
Jim McAllister is seemingly the protagonist to Tracy Flicks' anatagonist character. This movie begins with an ironic introduction to Tracy Flick. She portrays herself as the girl that has everything and still wants more. She is the type of person that will not take responsibility for her behavior and in turn, intends to blame everyone else for her mistskes. Mr. Mcallister is the innocent bystanding teacher that unknowingly becomes involved in Tracys' mess, which pushes him to do things out of his normal character. It seems as though Tracy came through like a hurricane, did not care what she ruined and left a disaster in her path.
The antagonist in the movie is Tracy Flick who is causing drama and ruining peoples lives around her to get what she wants. This is mostly affecting Jim McAllister, his carrer and home life is in every aspect affected by her. When his bestfriends wife left his bestfriend he was affected because she got with McAllister, and ultimately ruined his home life. At school it is all about Tracy Flick and her election which Jim is deticating part of his carrer to, to see that she does not win.
Based on notes from class, a protagonist is the person who must act to achieve something. This character typically meets with conflict. In this sense, Tracy Flick must be the protagonist. Even when she is not in a particular scene, the audience is left missing her while she is gone. All of the action in the movie surrounds her.
There are many forces that give Tracy conflict throughout the film. The other Presidential candidates (Paul & Tammy Metzler) are the first to stand in her way. Next, Tracy ends up giving herself conflict when she is almost eliminated from the race after she tears down other candidates campaign posters. But finally, and most importantly, Jim McAllister provides the final conflict in the film when he alters the final votes. From a textbook point of view, this is what makes Jim the antagonist. He is the one that is preventing Tracy from obtaining her final goal.
The protagonist in a film is typically labeled the "good guy" and the antagonist is labeled the "bad guy". But in this film, the roles seem to be flipped. The personality of Tracy makes her seem out to only help herself, a typical "bad guy" feature. While Jim McAllister is trying to help Paul Metzler achieve stardom once again now that he cannot play football anymore. But in the end it becomes apparent that both Tracy and Jim are out to serve themselves. In my eyes, this makes them both look like "bad guys".
This entertaining movie about a highschool election is odd in the fact that many main characters flood the screen. Each character had his/her own problems. They react to their problems in both morally wrong and morally right ways. Generally, the presumption is that Mr. McAllister is the protagonist, as he is the main focus of the movie, and his life is followed more than the other characters. We, as the audience, empathize with Matthew Broderick's character, mostly for his pitiful life and tragic bad luck; consequently, the dark cloud over his head represents the antagonist in this movie. Throughout the entire movie, Mr. McAllister is struggling with his personal dillemmas: failed pregnancy attempts, loss of intimacy, extreme annoyance with a particular student, a gi-normous bee sting.
In the movie there are many different points of view and it seems as though that there is no clear protagonist or antagonist. However I would say that Mr. McAllister is the protagonist. During the film the movie mostly is seen through his eyes. The viewer sympathies with him through out each of his many situations he undergoes during the film. Mr. McAllister’s life was happy and he loved teaching and his wife. Then Tracy Flick came into his life and started getting in his head. This makes Tracy Flick the antagonist in the film. Tracy wants to be great in life and she will go to whatever level it takes to succeed. It seems as though Tracy does not mean to be the antagonist. She is not out to cause harm but her strong desire to be great and fulfill her goals causes her to create problems. This is the case when she tears down the posters. However, Tracy’s attitude rubs off on Mr. McAllister. Mr. McAllister does things that he would usually never do. Tracy irritates him so much that it forces him to rig the election in order for her to lose causing him to lose his job. Also she gets so into Mr. McAllister’s head that he ends up cheating on his wife Diane with her friend Linda. Mr. McAllister’s life got all scrambled when he met Tracy Flick. It goes to the extreme of him having to leave and move to New York.
The protagonist in this movie from my point of view is Jim McAllister and the antagonist is Tracy Flick. Jim leads a very uneventful and boring life and it seems to me that it is his goal to keep it this way. He feels that if Tracy wins the election, his life would change dramatically and he does not want to deal with her, which explains why Jim takes the actions he does. Tracy is the antagonist because she is willing to do whatever it takes to win the election, which causes problems for Jim.
Although nearly all the characters in this film could be considered the protagonist, I personally believe that the character who stands out the most is Jim McAllister. The film starts with the audience hearing Jim's voice and point of view and ends in a similar fashion. The audience makes an immediate connection to Jim as they see the story begin to unfold through his eyes. His words are also the last words heard forcing these thoughts to stand out and be remembered. Jim's character is easy to understand and empathize with because he is very similar to people in general. He is not perfect, he makes mistakes, but in the end he owns up to his mistakes and attempts to recreate his life.
In this way he is very different from Tracy. Like Jim, Tracy makes mistakes and her character is essentially flawed but unlike Jim, she makes no attempt to change and feels no remorse for her actions. She feels that she is entitled to certain things, such as winning the election, simply because she wants to win. At one point in the film she even states that Mr. McAllister should not have interfered in the election because "you can't interfere with destiny." Her words show her arrogance and self righteousness, making it nearly impossible to like her and almost effortless to detest her. She even has the gall to yell at Tammy after Tammy takes the blame for tearing down Paul's posters when in reality it was Tracy all along. Tracy's actions make it very difficult for anyone to understand her. Although an argument could be made that she is the protagonist and every other character is the antagonist in that they attempt to prevent her from winning the election, I feel that the majority of people watching this film would disagree.
In my opinion, Tracy Flick would be a better candidate for the antagonist. She stands in Paul and Tammy's way of winning the election and she also is the driving force behind many of Jim McAllister's bad decisions. I also feel that Linda and the Election itself can be considered antagonists because these two things also create powerful obstacles in Jim's life.
Out of all the film's character's I believe that Jim is the one that the audience can identify most with. He also is the only one who seems to have grown to understand himself better and changed throughout the film. He is fundamentally flawed but he knows this and does not attempt to hide it. Even though Paul seems to be the one character whose actions are not selfishly motivated, he does not really grow throughout the film and we as an audience do not really feel much of a connection or understanding of him because we do not see the story as much from his point of view. But through him, the audience becomes more connected to Jim because Paul holds Jim in a very high regard. In the end, Jim is able to escape the obstacles in his life and find some semblance of meaning and happiness working in the museum, resolving the conflict between him and Tracy, Linda, and the Election.
I think that the antagonist was Tracy Flick and the protagonist was Jim McAllister. Tracy not only ruined Mr. McAllister's life but alsp one of his fellow teachers and friend. It seems like Tracy just keeps pushing which in turn brakes Mr. McAllister. Being a protagonist means that the audience feels for you and relates more to you; and that is exactly how the viewer feels about Mr. McAllister. When he feels pain or is betrayed by Tracy you feel hate towards Tracy for making him feel like that, which makes her the antagonist.
In any movie, as stated in class, there can be more than one protagonist/antagonist and depending on the point of view of the storyline, the resulting actions of the characters are based on their perception of reality. Simply put, the protagonist is, essentially, the person whos journey is favorably told. In Election, if Tracy's journey is the one in question than her antagonist would be Jim. If Jim's journey is being told, than his antagonist would be Tracy with an underlying emphasis on the election itself. This is displayed by the impossible barriers that the "characters' flaws" create for themselves throughout the story.
After reading the interview with Alexander Payne, I understand that he is not about laying out the film in a certain form or pinning general descriptions such as "antagonist" on just one character and "protagonist" on another. His goal was to portray a "landscape" of reality and not stick to the traditional outline that many other films are molded out of. I think that in one aspect, Tracy Flick is the antagonist and Jim McAllister is the protagonist because it seems like her very existence throws Jim into a crazy downward spiral, yet on the other hand, Jim could be the antagonist and Tracy the protagonist since he goes out of his way to make sure she doesn't get what she wants. I think Jim could also be having an internal, man vs. himself conflict because he still manages to turn his life upside down and ruin his marriage without tracy's direct influence. This film was made to portray several different characters going through both comedic and dramatic situations while figuring out their own place in a high school setting and also, metaphorically, in the world itself. Alexander Payne simply wanted to deliver this storyline with a somewhat "out-of-the-box" approach unlike that of a majority of the other films coming out at that time.
I think that in Election, Jim was the protagonist and Tracy was the antagonist. Jim was the main character of the movie and even though he did some things that could have made him the antagonist, I think that most everybody felt more sympathy for Jim than they did for Tracy. Also, the only reason that Jim's life seemed to be messed up was because of what Tracy had done, which I think makes her the antagonist.
I believe that the protagonist in the film ’Election’ is Tracy Flick and the antagonist is Jim McAllister. My reasoning’s are as follows, Tracy Flick still wants what’s best for her school, even if she does want to win the election for personal reasons as well, while Jim McAllister really had no good intentions except for during the beginning of the film.
Tracy may have ended up ruining Jim’s life towards the end of the film, but throughout the whole film all Mr. McAllister did was try and sabotage Tracy. And although during the last few scenes of the film Tracy got exactly what she wanted and Mr. McAllister was stuck with nothing, he got exactly what he deserved, he cheated on his wife and took out his problems on everyone.
After a lot of thinking and conflict, in my point of view I see Jim McAllister and Tracy Flick as the protagonists. A protagonist are the characters that are seen clearly through the movie and people connect with; and they usually tell the story through their point of view. Although Tracy didn't have a huge amount of the movie dedicated to her point of view she did sometimes take over that main character role but Jim was the one that you would not forget. People connected on the same level with both Jim and Tracy. On the other hand instead of them being antagonists as well I think the antagonist role was taken on by the election and fate. Jim battled the problems of fate and just like Tracy said at the beginning, he always got in the way of fate and tried to change it and it was the fate of Tracy winning the election that practically destroyed his life. And the election was the conflict for Tracy because she wanted to win so bad that she did whatever she could do to get that win. The election was so high on her list of wants that is became her conflict and the antagonist at that point for both Jim and Tracy; seeing as how Jim was striving to get Tracy to lose.
The protagonist was Jim and Tracy, they thought they were doing what they thought was right, Jim thought Tracy should not win because she will step on anyone to get where she wants to go, Tracy thinks she should win because she thinks she is right for the job and knows she can handle it.
The antagonist was also Jim and Tracy, they both did unethical things to get what they wanted. Jim cheated on his wife and tried to cheat Tracy from winning the election, and Tracy took down her opponents posters to assure her a win in the election.
I believe that the protagonist in this film is Jim, while the antagonist is more unclear. Although Jim made some poor decisions, it is expected for us to side with him, being that he is the main character and the narrator. It is hard to determine the antagonist, however. Tracy ruined his life by causing him to loose his job, while Linda ruined his life by causing him to loose his wife. They both almost equally played a part in destroying his life, and could both be considered the "bad guy" at certain times.
First I have to say, I had never seen this movie before; and though it is really not a genre I am ever interested in, I thought it was a very solid and entertaining movie. Breaking the discussion down to fundamentals your left with Mr. M as the protagonist and Tracy as the antagonist, but this movie holds a special interest in the multitude of conflicts and flaws with the characters. Along with the huge emphasis on secondary characters who all play their part in developing the comedic story. Though the flaws within, and decisions made by the protagonist led to the certain conclusion, Tracy really played an enormous "life-ruining" antagonistic role. (more than once). Personally Mr. M should have "known" better, somewhat an example his many flaws. Tracy really though, was the single most influencial person to topple Mr. M.
In the movie Election, Matthew Broderick protrays a schoolteacher named Jim McAllister. Jim is the protagonist because the story is told through his point of view and he even narrates some of the details to the listeners. The film revolves around his struggles and his triuphs.
The antagonist, Tracy Flick, played by Resse Witherspoon, is a girl who not only creates problems for Jim but for other characters as well. She will stomp on anyone who get in her on the path to greatness.
They feed off of eachothers' energy and conflict with one another and make the other person feel miserable. Thus making them and interesting pair to watch.
Melissa Gardiner
It's hard to tell which is the protagonist. I would lean more towards Jim because the movie showed more of his life than they did of Tracy's. It showed him dealing with Tracy, but also his wife and his best friend's ex-wife. I don't think Tracy was the bad guy, but she did get in the way of Jim's needs and wants, which would make her an antagonist. In this movie it seemed as though there were numerous antagonists and protagonists. It is hard to decide which one is the main one.
I think that the protagonist in the movie The Election is Jim McAllister and Tracy Flick is the antagonist. It is tough at first to decide which was is the protagonist and it still seems that it could go either way. I decided that Jim was the protagonist because the movie started out with him and it seemed that he was the main character if I had to choose one person. He seemed to be the central figure in the movie. He was someone that we could relate to and feel sorry for. We can understand his situation and want to side with him. On the other hand, it is hard to side with Tracy because we have all experienced that "know-it-all" person who has to always win and it just annoying to everyone around.
I believe that she is the antagonist because she was most definitely the biggest element of opposition to Jim. I came to this conclusion because although she seemed nice on the outside, she was willing to do whatever it took to attain her goals even if it meant hurting someone else. This was very obvious in the scene where she tore down the other candidates posters and then tried to hide the evidence. I also believe that she was partly to blame for Jim's collapse in the movie. It seemed that his hate for her all began when she had the relationship with his best friend and colleague. In turn, it ruined his friends relationship and everything grew from there. I think that Tracy was very selfish and didn't care who she hurt as long as she got what she wanted.
In the end of the movie it seems like Jim is somewhat of an opposition to Tracy goal of being President, but I believe that this is because of the hate that was started by Tracy's actions.
I believe that Mr. McAllister is the protagonist in this film, while Tracy Flick is the antagonist. At the start of the film Jim was just trying to make sure his life stayed the same and that Tracy would not ruin his marriage. Although he tried to ruin Tracy's life throughout the movie, his original intentions were based on good thoughts. Tracy is labeled as the antagonist because I think the she just doesn't know when she's gone too far. She seems to think that life should revolve around her and will do anything in her power to get what she wants, including hurting other people's reputations. Also, the majority of the story was told through Jim's thoughts alone and he was basically the main character. Finally, at the end of the movie, Tracy and Jim resolve the conflict with the election results.
I believe that the Protagonist in the film Election was Jim McAllister. His story was rich in misery and vengance which only brought him more tribulations. The Antagonist I believe was the election race itself. The election brought the conflict (Tracy Flick) which aided in the ruining of Jim McAllister's "happy" life. Though at the end we find out that the conflicts Jim dealt with in the film only availed him in finding his destiny, becoming a "Museum educator."
I believe that the protagonist of the film is Jim. He is the main character and is the point of view from which we see the movie. We feel bad for him, and just want everything to turn out right in his life. All of his intentions are good, but just have flaws in them. The antagonist, I would say, is Tracy. She is the root of all of the problems throughout the movie, not only for Jim, but other characters as well.
Labeling the characters in “The Election” is a difficult task, as they all seem to have serious personal flaws. Ironically enough, the question of morality and ethics is proposed throughout the movie despite the characters lacking in both of the two aspects. If I had to choose a protagonist, I would assume that Matthew Broderick’s character, Mr. Jim McAllister, would be it. Although he is not the prototypical “good guy” protagonist, he seems to fit the mold better than the others. Mr. McAllister initially seems to be a genuinely nice guy; however throughout the movie, the student election turns his attitude into a sour one. Another reason I would choose Jim as the protagonist is because the story is mainly told through his point of view.
I would not classify the antagonist as Tracy Flick or a different flawed character. Instead, I would assign the antagonist label to the actual election itself. The election brings out the human greed from all characters in the movie, and serves as the chief obstruction to the protagonist, Jim McAllister. It seemed that as the movie progressed, the election brought the worst out of the characters. As the characters moved on with their life and distanced themselves from the election, their opinions toward life seem fairly optimistic.
I believe the protagonist in this film is Tracy Flick and Jim is the antagonist. Although Tracy is manipulating and sneaky to get what she wants, Tracy only has to do so because Jim is purposely trying to destroy her by persuading Paul to run against her because Jim doesn't like Tracy because of her affair with his friend who got fired and divorced.
It is my personal opinion that the roles of the protagonist and antagonist in the movie Election are more than the usual "good guy" or "bad guy" roles. Tracy Flick and John McAllister are easily defended as either role or both roles in the film. The story is told from both of their prospective adding in a few minor characters as well. Tracy's conflicts fall not only with Mr. McAllister but also with herself and her mother. She fights with her idea of perfection and constantly tries to obtain the impossible. Mr. McAllister struggles within himself but succumbs to his temptation, he is his own enemy. His problems in life go far beyond Tracy Flick, which is why I can't claim her to be the only antagonist in his life. Most of the problems arise during the overwhelming election that consumes everyone who takes part in it. It serves as a force for evil to grow and "throws brush on the fire". It is during such election that the problems in the film intensify. I feel strongly in saying that there is no clear-cut answer to this question and the characters in the film are not specifically classified into two separate groups, antagonist and protagonist. It is not merely black and white but different shades of grey area.
It is my personal opinion that the roles of the protagonist and antagonist in the movie Election are more than the usual "good guy" or "bad guy" roles. Tracy Flick and John McAllister are easily defended as either role or both roles in the film. The story is told from both of their prospective adding in a few minor characters as well. Tracy's conflicts fall not only with Mr. McAllister but also with herself and her mother. She fights with her idea of perfection and constantly tries to obtain the impossible. Mr. McAllister struggles within himself but succumbs to his temptation, he is his own enemy. His problems in life go far beyond Tracy Flick, which is why I can't claim her to be the only antagonist in his life. Most of the problems arise during the overwhelming election that consumes everyone who takes part in it. It serves as a force for evil to grow and "throws brush on the fire". It is during such election that the problems in the film intensify. I feel strongly in saying that there is no clear-cut answer to this question and the characters in the film are not specifically classified into two separate groups, antagonist and protagonist. It is not merely black and white but different shades of grey area.
I think the protagonist of the movie Election is Tracy Flick and the antagonist is Mr. McAllister. Tracy new what she wanted and was willing to go for it. We cannot hold her ambition against her. Mr. McAllister on the other hand had a vendetta against Tracy from the start of the movie. Whether it be because she had an affair with his best friend or that he was just annoyed by her, he was determined to put a stop to her winning the election. Even though the movie for the most part was in Mr. McAllister's point of view, his attempts to prevent Tracy's victory clearly makes him the antagonist.
The line in this movie of who is the protagonist and who is the antagonist is difficult to decipher. I do believe that Jim McAllister is the protagonist but Tracy Flick is only the antagonist because of the choices that Jim chooses to make towards her. The majority of these choices Tracy does not directly know about and this makes her more of the antagonist in Jim's own mind. I believe that so much of what this movie is about is how the choices we make, even with good intention, may not be the correct ones. Also this movie says alot about karma, Jim cheats on his wife which leads to a divorce but also to being stung in the eye. Although Jim is the main character and thus the protagonist with respect to Tracy in other relationships throughout the movie he can easily be seen as the antagonist.
In the movie Election, I believe that the protagonist is Jim McAllister. The Protagonist of a film is the main character with wich the audience follows the most. This is also the character that is missed the most when the other characters in the film are around. In Election, Jim is the person that the audience sympathizes with. Then, Tracy is the character that tends to be disliked by the viewers for being "evil" and coniving. She gets in the way of what Jim is trying to do. Therefore, I consider Tracy the antagonist. But also, from another point of view, the election could be considered the antagonist. If there never was an election in the first place, there would be no story line and thus, no protagonist.
I believe that the protagonist is Jim McAllister and the antagonist is Tracy Flick. The movie follows Jim around the whole time making him the main character therefore the protagonist. His life is perfect until Tracy comes along. She will do anything to get what she wants which creates problems for Jim. If it wasn't for her then Jim would have been fine and his life wouldn't have been ruined. And if she wasn't so set on winning the election then he wouldn't of been so set on preventing her from winning. Also since she had an affair with one of his friends all he saw were her faults. If she didn't have the affair then he probably wouldn't have thought any bad things about her. She made two teachers leave town and she ruined their lives so she's definitely the antagonist. Even in the end she's haunting Jim and when he sees her he is still having the same feelings he had about her during the election
In my opinion the protagonist is Tracy, she is the one with a set main goal and i would say at least half the movie is seen through her perspective. Jim is the antagonist because he is making it nearly impossible for Tracy to win. Taking what we just learned in the lecture we can conclude that Tracy is the protagonist not only because of the way the story is told but also because even though a good part of the movie is seen from Jim's perspective he does not have a sole, set and define purpose. On the other hand Tracy is not really impeding any type of goals that Jim is trying to achieve. Therefore Tracy is the protagonist and Jim the antagonist.
I think that in the movie "Election", Jim McAllister is both the protagonist and the antagonist. He for sure caused a lot of damage to the people around him (Tracy, his wife), but he also had a lot of damage done to him. Such as the woman who tempted him to cheat on his wife, Tracy, his best friend. None of them did anything to directly harm him, but they definatly put a lot of stress in his like to ultimaly ruin it in a certain way. Actually now thinking about it i think everyones actions helped in Jim McAllister's down fall.
In “Election” Mr. McAllister, portrayed by Matthew Broderick, is the character most audiences will assume to be the protagonist; and Tracy, played by Reese Witherspoon, is the character most people will portray as being the antagonist. While I agree that Matthew Broderick’s character is the protagonist. I feel that the antagonist in this film is not just a single character such as Tracy. The protagonist is a larger and more complicated issue that the protagonist is dealing with, something similar to a mid-life crisis. There are several instances in the film that provide evidence that it is a much larger issue that Mr. McAllister is dealing with then just Tracy. Tracy is the first and most obvious conflict for Mr. McAllister. Second, there is the issue of his marriage and his attraction to his wife’s friend. Finally, there is there is his desire for change, and want of something new and exciting. This is shown in his dream when he fantasizes about driving the little red Italian sports car. Though one might quickly assume that Tracy is the antagonist in the story to the protagonist, I feel that after searching deep into the film one will realize that there are actually several factors tormenting Mr. McAllister.
I think that Tracy Flick is the protagonist and Jim McAllister is the antagonist because the antagonist is supposed to be or to create the obstacle preventing the protagonist from achieving his/her goal. I don't recall Tracy Flick doing anything to hurt McAllister. On the other hand, McAllister tried to keep her from winning the election by throwing away 2 of her votes. Yes, she tore down the other runners advertisements: she was frustrated! No one is perfect!
The protagonist in Election, I think, would be Mr. McAllister. He is the main character, even though he is not protraying a "good" guy, which would make him the protagonist and Tracy the antagonist. I would consider Tracy the antagonist because she is the character in opposition to MR. McAllister. Also she creates several obstacles in Mr. McAllister's life, starting with her relationship with his best friend, then running for class president. This would define Tracy as the antagonist and Mr. McAllister as the protagonist!
The film “Election” is predominately about Tracy Flick’s life even though the film is told from Jim McAllister’s point of view. Obviously from the title, “Election”, the film is mainly based on that event. The school’s election is basically the life of Tracy because that is all she cares about throughout the entire movie. The antagonist is typically in opposition with whom ever the protagonist is. When I first thought about who the protagonist and antagonist were in this film, I automatically thought that Jim was the protagonist because the film is mainly from his point of view, and I assumed the antagonist was Tracy because she did tend to cause many problems throughout the film. After analyzing the film a bit more I changed my original ideas. Because “Election” is based around a high school SGA election and Tracy’s life basically revolves around that, I would say she is the protagonist. Tracy did not initiate the problems in the film. Although her character is kind of annoying and may seem to be the trouble maker she is not the instigator and she did not start the opposition between Jim and herself. Jim is the one who is in opposition with Tracy; he recruited another student to run against Tracy. Had he not gotten another student to run against Tracy, the film may not even exist. Tracy was not opposed to Jim until he started causing problems with the election. Therefore, I think Jim is the antagonist and Tracy is the protagonist in the film “Election”.
Although both characters were extremely far from reality in their views and biased in terms of recognition for one another's ideas, I personally believe that Jim is the Protagonist. In being a protagonist, I think that the character is not only victimized, but with holds strong views which ultimately make them appear to be the better person. Thus, in reference to Jim, he fits both qualities and although Tracy also does to certain extent, usually the protagonist is better liked than the antagonist. Tracy's character generated negative responses and over all disgust with her character and even though Jim participated in some flawed activities, the watcher created a better attitude towards Jim rather than Tracy. Although I think that Jim is the protagonist and Tracy is the antagonist, with respect to the theory that one tries to bring the other down, theoretically, they can both be considered a protagonist and antagonist.
After watching this movie it was difficult to decide exactly which role each of the main characters played. Both Jim and Tracy were dual protagonists as well as antagonists for each other. This was a tricky discovery because in many movies the antagonist also needs to resolve a conflict - (even though the goal of the antagonist is to create obstruction towards the protagonist's goal, the antagonist is still at war with achieving their goal of actually being a difficulty for the protagonist.. If it wasn't like this then it would be easy for the antagonist and therefore create no story)..
On the other hand, the story is pretty much told through Jim and that is a big key in letting the audience know who the protagonist is.
The protagonist is Jim McAllister because his entire life is messed up by Tracy Flick the antagonist. Since she messed around with his bestfriend, he was driven to sleep with his bestfriends wife, running away from Tracy. At Jim's work he is over achiving and promoting kids to run for president just so Tracy doesn't win. On that note the roles switch because Jim is in the way of Tracy becoming the president of the student body. So it gos both ways but most of the time it is usually Jim being the antagonist.
I believe both Tracy Flick and Jim McAllister were protagonists in this film. Both told the story from their point of view, and they were very different points of view. There was also more than one antagonist in this film. For Tracy the antagonist was more psychological than anything else. She was extremely ambitious, to the point where she didn't appreciate how much she had already achieved and always wanted more power and recognition. She pushed her ambition to the point where it became greed and a major obstruction to her character. For Jim I think he had both a human antagonist who was the woman he almost had an affair with, as well as psychological. He could have just left Tracy alone and minded his own business. Instead I think he almost felt envious and jealous that she was such a super achiever. In the end when he runs in to her, you can see the disbelief in his expression.
I found the reverse of what most of you said to be true. Tracy is the protagonist and Jim is the antagonist. Sure, Tracy is an over-achiever and even self-centered, but does that make her a bad person? The only thing she really wanted was to make a name for herself, although in doing so, she didn't care about taking down other people. I was easily able to connect with Tracy because I am the "teacher's pet" type, too. Jim, on the other hand, put down Tracy behind her back. He threw away the petition papers, joked about how she started campaigning too early, cheated on his wife (what a loser), and even turned the election results! What kind of protagonist is that?! While both characters are flawed, the worst thing Tracy did was lie about tearing down the posters. Tracy was the only candidate who truly cared about the election, and Jim was her temporary roadblock to victory.
After watching the film Election I thought that Jim was the protagonist because he was the main character and he was the one in the film I felt that the audience most sympathized with. Also I beliave that Tracy was the antagonist because she was basically the root of all his problems throught the film and with out her most of the bad things that happened to jim throught the film would have never occured. They deffinitley had the most animosity between them in the film compared to all the other characters.
In my opinion Jim is the protagonist, because not only does the story focus primarily on him but you feel like everything needs to work out for him. Tracy is the antagonist because she will do anything to get what she wants and will go through anyone even if that means ruining someones life
I think that the Protagonist of the film is Jim McAllister. Most fot the movie is told from his point of view and how all of the events that took place changed his life. I think the Antagonist in the film could either be Tracy Flick or the actual election. I believe Tracy had every intention of winning the election by any means possible and in the end she is what led Jim down the road to failure. On the other hand the election itself could be the antagonist because it is the reason why Jim's life turned out the way it did. If the election would have remained with its original winner the whole story would be different.
I think that Broderick's character Mr. McAllister is the protagonist in this film while Witherspoon's character Tracy Flick is the antagonist. Both of these characters are extremely flaud and I really do not like either of them. McAllister is still the protagonist because his intentions are for the benefit of the school, not for his own while Tracy is obsessed with just acheiving her own goals even if it involves stepping on people along the way.
In my opinion, I feel this movie contains several protagonists and antagonists depending on what view is taken. I feel the main protagonist in this movie is the History teacher, Jim McAllister for many reasons. One main reason for this is that the movie is significantly based on the stories of his life which makes him the central figure. Viewers can often relate to his the stories of his life presented in this film. Another reason is that the film is being told from his perspective. In that same view, Tracy Flick would be considered the antagonist because she is concerned with being in every club solely just for the reason of being the best at everything which comes off as being egotistic. In the movie, she often exhibits many self-centered ideas and actions. The roles of the two characters can also be switched, making Jim the antagonist and Tracy the protagonist because Jim is trying to ruin Tracy’s goal in becoming the class president.
However, in different aspects of the film, those titles are not only for those characters. Although viewers miss Jim McAllister when not present in scenes, he is not the only protagonist. For example, in the conflict between Paul Metzler and his sister, Tammy, I believe that Paul is the protagonist and Tammy is the antagonist. This is true because Paul’s goal in this movie is to win the presidential campaign at school and Tammy runs as an attempt to keep Paul from winning. Tammy does this to get back at Lisa and Paul for getting into a relationship.
My personal philosophy is that there is not a single character in this film who could truly be deemed either a "protagonist" or "antagonist." These characters are merely just individuals who are striving to better their own plight in life, often unaware of the consequences that may ensue and the hurt that can be caused in the lives of others during that process. Mr. McAllister inflicted damage upon both Tracy and Linda, as well as his wife Diane, and instilled a sense of distrust in his students and fellow faculty. Tracy reciprocally aggrieved both Mr. McAllister, his friend Dave, and caused an injustice in the election process by tearing down her fellow candidates' posters. Surprisingly enough, the characters who perhaps brought about the least amount of negativity were Paul and Tammy, who only managed to malign each other occassionally. Yet should either of those two be given the appellation of "protagonist" simply because they did not evoke as much chaos as the other characters? I think not.
Arthur Miller was perhaps the first to devise this concept of the contemporary "anti-hero" through his character Willy Loman in the play 'Death of a Salesman.' It focuses on a common man thrown into difficult situations, with whom the audience can alternate between feeling sympathy and empathy for. I think that 'Election' follows in this tradition of the "anti-hero" by giving us a vast array of troubled characters with whom we can choose to feel sorry for or not, to root for or root against. In this instance, the power of assigning titles is truly handed over to us, the audience.
I believe that the protagonist in the film is Jim McAllister and the antagonist is the environment, the people, and society that revolve around him. Throughout the film, we follow Jim as he journeys through his various roles as teacher, SGA sponsor, husband, friend, lover, cheater, liar, and even tour guide, as these roles play to his success, downfall, and success again.
Even though Jim might appear to be a heinous man at times, he is still, overall, a decent human being that is just trying to make a good life for himself. The film is mostly viewed from his perspective, which gives us the insight needed to sympathize with him, even when others do not. It is these events that form my opinion of the protagonist and antagonist.
I believe that Flick is the protagonist and McAllister is the antagonist. Flick was going to run in the election reguardless but i felt that McAllister wanted to see her lose just becasue of the fact that the two never seemed to click. Though some of Flicks techniques were questionable she was still trying to achieve a goal and McCallister was allways there to try to stop her from winning.
I believe that Tracy Flick is the antagonist in the movie. Jim McAllister who I believe is the protagonist, has some bad flaws about him but they are brought out by Tracy. All of the problems that Jim has happen to him are the effects of Ms. Flick. For example Jim McAllister would of never gotten involved with Linda if it was not for Tracy. Also, there would of been no need to rig the election if Tracey was not such an evil little deceiving girl.
There is not a clear antagonist and protagonist in the movie Election. I would say that Jim McAllister is the antagonist. His envolvement in the election is what causes most of the conflicts. He makes a few bad decisions and basically ruins his good life. Tracy Flick is the protagonist. The movie is based on her character and how her life is thrown off course by the election. She is a good student who has a couple downfalls but the audience is drawn to be on her side of the situation. In the end, she wins the election and has a happy ending like a. typical protagonist
I would agree with Mr.Pomeranz in the fact that the goodguy/badguy roles in this film are very vague. In addition I would also have to day that there are parallel story lines within the film that mirror eachother and have different protagonists and antagonists. As to the main story I believe that Mr. Mcallister is the protagonist. This is because he (as stated in the definition of the word protagonist) has an obstacle which he needs to overcome (Tracy Flick, and then ultimately the situation with his wife). Tracy Flick is the antagonist in more ways than one. She seems to make life harder for everybody wether or not it is her teachers (Jim and the teacher she had an affair with) or the people who ran against her in the election. Ah, there's the rub. The story is one which comes full circles with everybody both gaining and losing in the end.
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In my opinion both Mr. McAllister and Tracy Flick can be labled as the protagonist or the antagonist at different points of the story. Jim McAllister is easier to symphatize with because a greater portion of the film is shown through Jim's eyes more than any other character, which can lead to a skewed misintrepation of the other characters. For example; Tracy is a very ambitous person who works delegently to acheive her goals, and is discribed as an over-acheiver. But there is really nothing wrong with an over-acheiver unless you are person who envies people like Tracey. Such as in the case of Election, where Jim McAllister obviously dispises and envies Tracey Flick. This hate causes Jim to disregard his morals and ethics during the election. So from Jim Mcallister's point of view Tracy Flick is the antagonist and he is the protagonist. From Tracy Flick's point of view she is the protagonist and Jim the antagonist because Jim through his jealosy disrupts her certain path towards SGA President. This in turn causes Tracy to act against her morals and ethics. Also, as commented by Connor McVoy the Election itself can be viewed as the antagonist because it is what causes both characters to break, like waves chrasing against a rock. Adding to this, I would also consider the antagonist themselves because they both have to fight with their morals and the consequences that occur when those morals are broken.
In my opinion both Mr. McAllister and Tracy Flick can be labeled as the protagonist or the antagonist at different points of the story. Jim McAllister is easier to sympathize with because a greater portion of the film is shown through Jim's eyes more than any other character, which can lead to a skewed misinterpretation of the other characters. For example; Tracy is a very ambitious person who works diligently to achieve her goals, and is described as an over-achiever. But there is really nothing wrong with an over-achiever unless you are person who envies people like Tracey. Such as in the case of Election, where Jim McAllister obviously despises and envies Tracey Flick. This hate causes Jim to disregard his morals and ethics during the election. So from Jim McAllister’s point of view Tracy Flick is the antagonist and he is the protagonist. From Tracy Flick's point of view she is the protagonist and Jim the antagonist because Jim through his jealousy disrupts her certain path towards SGA President. This in turn causes Tracy to act against her morals and ethics. Also, as commented by Connor McVoy the Election itself can be viewed as the antagonist because it is what causes both characters to break, like waves chrasing against a rock. Adding to this, I would also consider the antagonist themselves because they both have to fight with their morals and the consequences that occur when those morals are broken.
This movie made it very interesting to try and decide who was right and who was wrong. It also left me with two choices as to who the protagonists and antagonists were. My first choice is that all of the characters in this movie were the protagonists. All of them were fighting for what they believed to be "justice". The antagonist, I feel was the election itself, hence the title of the movie, "Election" which puts emphasis on the one thing that starts all of the trouble and continues to stir things up throughout the entire film.
My second choice is that this film is a man versus himself film: meaning that each character is his or her own worst enemy based on each of their flaws. The election served as the catalyst that caused each of the characters reactions throughout the film. Since each character had a different sense of justice, they all attacked each other believing everyone else was wrong and they were right.
Jim is definitely the protagonist in this film, and Tracy is clearly the antagonist. Jim was basically minding his own business in life until Tracy came along and livened things up. Tracy messed with Jim's head and began all the troubles in his life. She will stop at nothing to get what she wants and doesn't mind hurting Jim or anyone else in the process.
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