darkSpyro

*insert a topic that probably belongs in Idle Chatter but I figured it'd do better here*

So, every time my family goes to see a movie or whatever, one member of my family always, without fail, complains about the movie or whatever having a villain or just conflict. In fact, two things that tends to be said are 'Why do stories always need a villain?' and 'Why does there always have to be conflict?'

Now, I can see stories not always needing a villain, but I'm not so sure about conflict. I mean, whenever I read any advice for writing, conflict is a big part of it. Any kind of conflict.

So, is it even possible to have a full-length storyline without conflict of any kind? Short stories, maybe, but I'm not sure if anything longer really can. But I am tired so maybe I've forgotten something..

Yep, it is really hard to write a story that fits in a 50 minute frame without any conflict whatsoever

Forest Gump

Because without conflict it's a neutral line and is ****ing boring. Conflict is what makes a movie a movie, if there's no conflict then it isn't a movie, it's you just watching other peoples boring days for fun as opposed to getting something else out of it such as a sense of danger or adventure.

*coughtwilightcough*

Conflict is apart of life.

This is very interesting, I must admit. But I think that story cannot be a story without conflict. And I think that my reasoning is about to reveal itself to me. So let me say my pointless opinion to this.

Let us assume that there is only a story without conflict. It is basically impossible. Let us say that short story is about going to buy just the certain groceries from the store and nothing more than that. It is everyday thing which is actually needed to supply one’s own living. But can there be conflict? Yes, there can! Your first thing is the transportation to the store. Do you want to walk, ride a bike, and use public transportation, taxi or your own car to get to your destination? There is already a conflict of ideas. And maybe you have made a list of things to get and in that process there is a conflict; to make a list or not to make a list. And of course the financial investment to the products to buy is existent. Do you want to buy cheap, affordable or expensive stuff? The conflict is always there.

My point it that the life itself is a constant flow of problems and need to solve those problems. From our creation to the end, it has always been about problem-solving; what evolutionary path to take, what clothes to wear, what to say, what to do, who to vote? Life is constant problem solving and the outcome of our destinies is dependent on our choices in this situation where we philosophically assume that we have free will.

And eventually when this thing is adapted to stories, what is the point of making stories if it does not have a message, moral and outcome that explains something about our lives? Fiction is a way to handle our everyday life and making comparable stories about it in the ways of either realistic or surrealistic stories. And to make it compelling to the artists and buyers, one needs conflict and problem solving. Maybe the term conflict is wrong because it is always about problem and solution.

Stories usually have moral for reasons which are conducted from problem solving of the storytellers and are presented in fiction in forms of journeys, conflicts and ultimate outcomes. I must admit that I would never enjoy a story without some sort of arc and development. And would you? Eventually the thing that intrigues us in the stories is the characters and their lives in those stories. And even the smallest things they do in those respective stories are always results of characters’ own internal conflicts, problems, and their solutions. It is constant stream of conflicts even though we would not recognize them at first.

And if we go theoretically “nihilistic” about this, we could rip conflict off its meaning. But does it work that way? No, it does not. Since when we are even making decision to not give a value of any kind to the conflict and problem solving we have actually made a conscious decision to do certain thing over another i.e. we have solved a problem. So everything we have done in our existence is still that constant problem solving inside the realms of our own limited human definitions etc.

So all I have to say is that we need conflicts because that is what our everyday life is, constant fight between problem and solution. That is just how the things go. Story is no existent without conflict and life is nonexistent without conflict. At least that is what I think.

Bumping this because the person who prompted this whole thread just had a debate with me again.

Person: "I'm just so bored with movies... There's always a villain. There's always conflict! Why can't people think outside the box?"

Me: "Well, we can not have a villain just fine, but no conflict whatsoever? No end goal? Got any ideas?"

Person: "Well... There has to be something!"

And then after that brief discussion...

Person: "I've got it! They could make more movies about people who have done things, like Steve Jobs! They could make a movie about people building a bridge! They could do something like reality TV, where it isn't scripted!"

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure a movie about Steve Jobs or people making a bridge would have some of conflict anyway.

And I'm also pretty sure most 'reality TV' is scripted or fake or whatever.

To the original question, I believe the answer to be no. While yes, a story can lack a villain (or the proper word would be antagonist), it is near impossible to have a story without a conflict. Even if not a conflict in the traditional sense, there will always be one present even in our daily lives and therefore in the lives of characters in a story.

For the movie about Steve Jobs, this could be something like him having difficulty building the first Apple Computer. For the building of a bridge, it could be an obstacle in design or even a problem in the actual construction. Even for Reality TV, despite all present forms being scripted, a real one will eventually lead to a conflict of some kind developing over time.

For a story to truly be, whether movie or in written form, there must be conflict. Not just for how natural it is to occur, but to create an interesting story for the viewer/reader. This allows for the protagonist to overcome an obstacle that allows for the story to end as a result of the resolution of this conflict. Take away the conflict, you take away the point to the story. It also removes an element of suspense from the story to keep the reader/viewer's attention to the story and keep them inclined to continue reading/watching to find out what will happen next.