A STUDY ON DEVELOPMENT OF MAIN CHARACTER AND CHARACTERIZATION IN

“BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY” MOVIE

Gerdi Kafi Lole1 Ni Made Verayanti Utami2 Ni Nyoman Deni Ariyaningsih3
Universitas Mahasarawati Denpasar1
Universitas Mahasarawati Denpasar2
Universitas Mahasarawati Denpasar3
Correspondence Email: kafilole@gmail.com, verayanti.utami@unmas.ac.id, nym.deni@yahoo.com

Abstract

The title of this thesis is A Study on Development of Main character and Characterization in “Bohemian
Rhapsody” Movie. The story of the movie is about the life of singer Freddie Mercury, culminating in
Queen's appearance at the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium in 1985. There are two objectives of the
study the first one is to identify the main character development in the “Bohemian Rhapsody” movie. the
second is to analyze characterization of the main character in “Bohemian Rhapsody” movie. The data of
this study were taken from the movie entitled Bohemian Rhapsody. The data source in this study was take
from the movie in the movie was analyzed descriptively based on the theory How To Analize Fiction
proposed by William Kenney (1956). The main character development was analyzed into two categorizes
which is simple(flat) character and complex(round) characters. The characterization of the main character
was analyzed into three categorize which is physiological, sociological, and psychological dimension of
the main characterization. The characterization of Freddie Mercury over all is that he is a kind person,
humble, gentle and romantic person but in the middle of the story he changed into a bad person, ego and
unfriendly person which make him a complex (round) character.

Keywords: main character, development, characterization.

Introduction
Nowadays, there are many entertainments that provides us knowledge and inspiration.
Entertainment allows us to experience and enjoy the artist's work of art. One of them is literature,
according to Wallek & Warrant (1956) literature is a product of the author's imagination. Studying
literature can help us better understand environmental, cultural, and value life because literature
represents life, which may occur in social reality. There are many kinds of literature which people
can enjoy such as song, novel, poem, and Film. Film is a medium that is in great demand by all
circles. If a film presents a visual form with good music illustrations and has positive messages,
then the film can help us in thinking, feeling, and cultivating our hearts. There are several types of
films such as action, adventure, comedy, animation, drama, tragedy, fantasy, romantic, horror,
documentary acting. There is an interesting element in the film which is the character. The
characters in the movie have a big role in giving the movie message, and the plot itself can build
situations and important events in the movie.
The movie is a visual work that is very powerful in conveying the creator's imagination.
(Effendy, 1986: 134) state, the message of the film on mass communication can be anything
depending on the film's mission. However, in general, the film is visual media communication that
can contain various kinds of messages as follows; moral messages and other information. The
message in the movie has a purpose to use the mechanism of symbols that exist in the human mind
in the form of message content, sound, speech, conversation, and so on.
Character is one of the important elements in a narrative. They are very influential in the
development of the story plot. however, the main character can be 2-3 people, and also the
character is not only people but also animals as well. There are several types of characters based
on roles, development, and characterization as follows; main characters, secondary characters,
supporting characters, statistical characters, flat characters, dynamic characters, round characters,
the protagonist, and antagonistic characters. In the movie, the main character itself has an
important role to develop the message of the movie and also it can be fully developed with complex
conflict and has high intensity to build a story. According to Kenney (1966:24), a fictional
character must be other things besides lifelike, and the standard of the lifelikeness doesn’t help us
to understand very much about how the character is presented in fiction. Main character
development can be shown in the types of the character based on the development whether it is
flat, static, dynamic, or round character.
Character development is the process of building unique three-dimensional characters with
clear depth, personality, and motivation. Character development can also refer to the changes that
characters experience during a story as a result of their actions and experiences. According to
Jannidis (2013), the characterization process is a process in which characters are named and
categorized so that they become a property in the world narrative. The term characterization can
be used to describe the character of a property on a property as well as to the entire process and
the results attribute to that character. This process can be done directly if a characteristic form
comes from these characters, or indirectly when the result comes from the text-based on knowledge
of the world and various kinds of information about that character.
This research focuses on the analysis of the development of the main characters found in
the movie "Bohemian Rhapsody". In analyzing the development and characterization of the main
character. The reason this research chooses to analyze a movie because according to the researcher
besides, this movie provides variation data to analyze, this movie is very interesting. The
researcher can enjoy the movie while doing the analysis it also attracts the researcher to gain more
inspiration for the analysis. On the other hand, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is a biographical movie
about Freddie Mercury which is the researcher's favorite singer, and analyzing this movie will be
exciting also interesting for the researcher.
In examining the research topic regarding the Development and Characterization of Main
Character, the researcher refers to previous Development and Characterization of Main Character,
research that can be a reference and help researchers in carrying out this research. The first review
is a thesis written by Pramana (2019) entitle “The Analysis of Main Character Development and
Characterization in “The Fate and Furious” movie. This thesis is focused on identifying the
development of the main character in “The Fate and The Furious” movie and determining the
characterization of the main character in the movie. Researcher using the theories of how to
analyze fiction books presented by Kenney (1966) which mention characters and plot. Meanwhile,
Morner (1991) about the types of characters and Wellek & Warren (1991) about the dimensional
character. These theories have supported the analysis to answer the research problems of the study.
The data sources of this research are taken from the movie entitled “The Fate and Furious”.
Research data collection is based on a literature study. This research was analyzed using qualitative
methods in "The Fate and The Furious' ' movie. Based on the research problem, the development
of the main character and the characterization of the main character is a concern in this study. From
the finding of the research, the main character development was a complex (round) character and
there are three dimensions of characterization of the main character in the movie “Fate and Furious”
physiological, sociological, and psychological dimensions. This research has a similarity and
difference. The similarity is the research of Pramana (2019) study use theory by Kenney’s to
Analyze the character development. The difference between this research and the previous study
is the data source of Pramana studies was the “Fate and Furious” movie. On the other hand, this
study analyzed “Bohemian Rhapsody” movie.
The second review is a thesis written by Jamal (2018) entitled “A Study of Character
Development Thought the Characterization of the Main Character in the Movie the Age of
Adaline”. This study aims to find out the character development of the main character in the movie
“The Age of Adaline”. Second, to find out the character development of the main character in the
movie “The Age of Adaline”. There are two theories used in this study, first, Literary Theory (1956)
purpose by Wellek and Warren. Second, character development in the Dictionary of Literary book.
Terms (1991) purpose by Kathleen Morner and Ralph Rausch. Characterization of the main
character is analyzed into three categories, namely the physiological, sociological, and
psychological dimensions of characterization. The development of the main character is analyze
into two categories, namely static and dynamic characters. From the research results, three
dimensions of the characterization of the main character in the movie “The Age of Adaline” were
obtained, namely the physiological, sociological, and psychological dimensions. The character
development found in this study is a static character. Both studies between this study and Jamal
(2018), both studies analyze the development of the main character and characterizations in the
movie. The difference between this study and previous research was the source of research data,
previous studies analyzed the “The Fate and Furious” movie, but in this study, the data source was
taken in “The Age of Adeline” movie.
The third review is a journal written by Forno (2015) with the title "Depiction of the Main
Character in “Maleficent” movie. The concept to be examined in this study is the depiction of
characters through narrative. This journal focuses on seeing the depiction of the main character in
the “Maleficent” movie and finding out the depiction of the main character in the “Maleficent”
movie. Researchers use the theory of Vladimir Propp to analyze the data. which discuss about
identify eight types of characters that often appear in stories. This theory supports the analysis to
answer the research problems of the study. Data sources of Forno's (2015) research from the movie
“Maleficent”. This study uses a qualitative approach that aims to find a deep understanding of a
symptom, fact, or reality. Based on the research problem, the depiction of the main character is of
concern in this study. Based on the analysis conducted, Forno (2015) found that “Maleficent”
experienced three times character changes. His study found that the character changes that occur
are influenced by a dynamic storyline. The similarity and difference between this research and
Forno (2015) are, his research analyzed the main character in the movie and analyzed the character
development of the main character. The difference between this research and previous study was
the problem of studies and the data source of the studies. The previous study analyzed the
“Maleficent” movie, but in this study, the data source was taken from the “Bohemian Rhapsody”
movie.
The four review entitled The Characterization of main character in “Safe Haven” Novel by
Nicholas Sparks” written by Putra (2017). In his thesis, the researcher has two aim of the study
which are to find out the types of the main character in the story “Safe Haven” by Nicholas Sparks.
In this research, the researcher analyze the characterization of the main character by using theory
of Literature proposed by Kenney (1966). The source of data in this research is “Safe Haven” novel
by Nicholas Sparks, this research was collected through the observation method an the data of the
research wa analyzed bu qualitative method. There are six types of main character in this research
as follow; simple (flat) and complex (round), static an dynamic characters and also protagonist and
antagonist character. There are three aspect of characterization that analyzed by the researcher,
first is physiological aspect, second is sociological aspect and the las tis psychological aspect. This
research has differences with Putu Eka Putra’s research. The similarities namely, first, the previous
research and this research wa same to analyze main character, second, this thesis was used the
theory of character theory based on the book How o Analyze Fiction proposed by William Kenney,
it was the same theory used by the previous research an this research. The different of this research
and the previous research was on the object of the analysis, the previous research was analyzed
novel entitle “safe Haven” but in this research, the researcher was analyzed movie entitled
“Bohemian Rhapsody” Movie
The last review entitle :An Analysis of Plot in the Novel American Sniper by Chris Kyle”
written by Wardika (2016). The aim of this research were to identify the types of plot and element
of plot of the novel American Sniper and to analyzing the types of plot an element of plot. There
were two theories used as the main theory of the research. The first in analyzing the plot was Teori
Pengkajian Fiksi purposed by Nurgiyantoro (2007) an second theory was How To analyze Fiction
purpose by William Kenney (1966). The data of this research taken in the novel American Sniper.
The novel described about Chris Kyle was that a man, a master sniper. From the finding in the
research, the type of plot was used in American Sniper based on time order that was progressive
plot and based om content that are plot of fortune, and plot of character. Then the elements of plot
divided into; beginning (exposition), middle (conflict,complication) and end (denouement). Both
researches have a similarity and difference. The similarity was the theory that used was How To
Analyze Fiction proposed by William Kenney. The differences between this research and the
previous research was the object of the study, this research wa analyzed main character
development toward plot in “Bohemian Rhapsody” movie while the previous research is analyzed
Plot in the novel American Sniper written by Chris Kyle.

Methods
The data in this research analyze by a qualitative method in “Bohemian Rhapsody” movies.
There are several steps to analyze the data of this research. First, determining the type of main
character development in the movie by using character theory propose by Kenney (1966). Second,
the data was analyzed by using the character theory propose by Morner & Rausch (1991:31) about
protagonist and antagonist characters. Third, the character development classified by the theory
from William Kenney from his book entitled How to Analyzed Fiction (1966) to their types,
whether the flat character or complex character. This theory also supported by the theory from the
book “Theory of Literature” proposed by Wallek and Warren. Fourth, the analysis of the
characterization of main character development in the movie by using dimensions of
characterization theory purpose by Wallek & Warren in the book of “Theory of Literature”. Finally,
draw the conclusion base on the data analysis and the theories used in this research.
The data source of this study from the movie and the script entitled “Bohemian Rhapsody”
the movie release in the United Kingdom (2018). This film tells of the life of singer Freddie
Mercury, culminating in Queen's appearance at the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium in 1985.
“Bohemian Rhapsody” is a musical biographical movie that bestseller all of the time. “Bohemian
Rhapsody” won Best Film-Drama at the 75th Golden Globe Awards and was nominated for Best
British Film BAFTA Award, while Rami Malek won the Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors
Guild, and BAFTA for Best Actor. This film also won several Oscar awards such as nominations
for Best Mixing Sound, Best Editing Sound, best actor, and Best Film Editing. The first award
went to John Warhurst and Nina Hartsrone and their team for the Best Editing Sound nomination,
the sound processing brought “Bohemian Rhapsody” won the Best Mixing Sound nomination and
Actor Freddie Mercury in the “Bohemian Rhapsody film”, Rami Malek won the Best Actor
category. So, it is very interesting to analyze or become research material because there are many
moral messages and inspirational stories also character development from all the characters
contained in this movie's story, especially the main character Freddie Mercury.

Result and Discussion

The Main Character as Protagonist Character

According to Morner & Rausch (1991:31), at the center of the plot is the hero or protagonist.
The hero is usually an admirable figure. An exception is an antihero, an inept or otherwise
ridiculous character who is presented sympathetically. The plot follows what happened to the hero
and is determined by the hero's characteristics and choices as well as by circumstance. An example
of the protagonist character in the movie is the person who always does a good job like being a
nice person, also a helpful person. There are some data that showed the main character as a
protagonist character can be seen in the situation below:
Data 1:

Figures 1 Freddie finding the band

Conversation 1
Freddie : Enjoy the show
Roger : Thankyou
Freddie : I study design here, and also, I write songs. Might be of interest to you
Roger : Well, you are five minutes too late
Brian : Our lead singer just quit
Freddie : Well, you will need someone new
Brian : Any recommendations?
Freddie : What about me?
Roger : Oh, not with those teeth mate
(Bohemian Rhapsody, 08:45)
 From Figure 1, The moment he met Brian May and Roger was after a gig when those two
were in the band Smile and their bassist/vocalist left to join another band. Freddie, the awkward
self he was presented with, said to them that he has been following them around for some time.
And Freddie said to Roger “Smile, huh? Makes sense since you’re studying to be a dentist”. One
of them, did say that they are out of a singer and Freddie said “I can sing” and Roger said "Oh, not
with them teeth mate" “not with those teeth” and Freddie proved them wrong and also said that his
extra four teeth in the back of his mouth helps him out with his singing. Figure 1 above shows
Freddie Mercury as the protagonist in “What about me”. shows that he is a friendly person, good
at making friends by looking for biodata of band personnel. Freddie also offered himself to be their
vocalist because the band leader had just decided to leave the band and was rejected but Freddie
tried to convince them by singing in front of them. From the two pieces of evidence, Freddie looks
like the Protagonist Character. In Figure 1 Freddie Mercury's good intentions show that he is a
gentle person and a nice guy, because he wants to help the band as a vocalist. Conversation 1
shows that Freddie Mercury had a good attitude because he didn't get emotional when he was
harassed with the phrase “Oh, not with them teeth mate”, instead he ventured to sing for Brian and
Roger.
Freddie Mercury's first characterization of the physiological dimension mistook his
appearance for a grown man with crooked teeth. His natural appearance was that he was a
handsome man. Freddie Mercury had a thin face, a sharp nose, slanted eyes and a thin body, had
black eyes, and thin lips. The second is about the sociological dimension of the main character, in
this data the sociological dimension can be seen from the sentence "What about me?", this sentence
was uttered by Freddie Mercury and this shows that he is a singer. The third about the
psychological dimension in this data can be seen from the attitude of the main character. He has a
good attitude too because he helps the band, in conversation 1 from the way he talks with other
characters shows the main character is a polite person. Because he met the band even the band
didn't know him.
The Main Character Change into Antagonist Character
According to Morner & Rausch (1991:31), the antagonist is a character in conflict with the
hero and is usually less admirable than the hero. The antagonist character in the movie usually is
a troublemaker, they are a very bad person and always contrast with the protagonist character in
the movie. Antagonist characters can be seen from their attitude, usually, the protagonist character
will make the plot is going to be in rising conflict and climax.
In this part of the analysis, there was some data that showed that the main character changed
into the antagonist character and also showed the characterization of the main character. The data
was taken from the pictures and conversations of the movie in order to prove the main character
as a protagonist and the characterization of the main character in the “Bohemian Rhapsody” movie.
Data 2:
Figures 2 Freddie kissing Paul
Conversation 2
Freddie : Don't misunderstand, Paul.
Paul : Mary knows me in a way that no one else ever will. I know you, Freddie
Mercury.
Freddie : Is that what you think? You just see what you want to see. We work
together. That's all. (Bohemian Rhapsody 37:02)
This is the beginning of the change in Freddie Mercury characteristics. When at the
beginning of the story, he showed as a protagonist character who is a good guy, gentlemen,
romantic and kind person, he helped an almost disbanded band to bounce back and he became a
leader who had a big vision to bring the band to fame and he is a gentleman man but in this part,
Queen band manager suspected from the start that Freddie Mercury was a guy, but unexpectedly
the Queen band manager kissed Freddie to confirm the truth. The sentence “I know you Freddie
Mercury” in conversation 2, this sentence shows that Freddie Mercury is going to be a bad person
or troublemaker.
The development of the main character is also shown in his personality, in the previous
data, he has a good personality like he loves his girlfriend very much and is a leader in the band
Queen. He is a wise person and always solves the problem in every problem experienced by the
Queen band which makes him a kind person, helpful, wise, caring, and loving person. But in this
scene, he looks different. He didn't care about his girlfriend and his band. This scene is the
beginning of the change of the main character from the protagonist to the antagonist character.
The physiological dimension in this data is seen from the 4.5, the main character makes a
song while playing the piano. His face looks pale with a glare from his eyes, and he wore a t-shirt
and necklace. The sociological dimension of the main character also changes in the data. In the
previous data he has a social activity to help the band but, in this data, he makes a problem because
he tries to cheat merry. The psychological dimension can be seen in conversation 2 shows that the
main character is an ego person, he doesn't care about his girlfriend Mary, he just does what he
wants. In this data, he has a high ego. He changed into a bad person and a troublemaker.
The Main Character Return To Protagonist Character
This part of the analysis shows Freddie Mercury or the main character in the “Bohemian
Rhapsody” movie returned as a protagonist character. The reason why the main character changed
from antagonist to protagonist character after Freddie Mercury experienced many bad things after
leaving Mary and the band, Queen. There is some data that shows the main character back to the
protagonist character.
Data 3:

Figures 3 Freddie meets with Mary

Conversation 3
Mary : Freddie. What about Queen? Jim told me he's been trying to contact you
about Live Aid... and you won't take his calls.
Freddie : What is Live Aid?
Mary : You haven't heard? Freddie, it's the biggest concert there's ever been or
ever will be. It's for the famine in Africa,
Freddie : Well, perhaps Paul thought it wasn't a good idea. A distraction from my
work. That's what's important, that I finish this album. Stay with me,
darling, and III be all right.
Mary : Freddie, I can't stay with you.
Freddie : Of course, you can. I need you, Mary.
Mary : Freddie, I'm pregnant.
Freddie : Wait. Mary, wait. Don't go. You told me you had a dream. What was it?
Mary : I was trying to talk to you, but. it was like talking to my father. You
needed to tell me something... but you couldn't say it. Because you had
no voice.
Paul : Freddie, come and say hello to our new guests. They're dying to meet
you… He’ll be one second.
Freddie : Mary, I’m happy for you Mary. Truly, I'm. It's just. I'm frightened.
Mary : Freddie, you don't need to be. Because no matter what you are loved.
By me, by Brian, Deacy, Roger... your family. It's enough. And these
people... they don't care about you. Paul doesn't care about you. You
don’t belong here, Freddie. Come home.
Freddie : Home… (he started to realize)
(Bohemian Rhapsody 90:24)
 This scene of the movie tells of his return to his band and his original characteristic. In
Figure 3, the sentence “Freddie, you don't need to be. Because no matter what you are loved. By
me, by Brian, Deacy, Roger, your family. It's enough. And these people” showed that Mary tried
to tell Freddie to go home and stop doing bad things to him. That sentence shows that made Freddie
Mercury realize that he was in the wrong way. And Freddie responded to Mary's words with the
sentence "Home ...".
The physiological dimension of the main character is about appearance, Freddie wore a
shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers in this scene, the Sociological dimension found in this data is about
the environment. The environment the main character is a new house in Munich and a very
dangerous environment because picture 4.12 show that there are, drunk, narcotics, and free sex.
But at the end of the scene, his characteristics were changed, he realizes that he was in the wrong
way and he also backs into the protagonist character.

Conclusion
The main character development in this story was complex (round) character because the
main character was not stand in one characteristic in this story. His character was changed from
the beginning until the end of the story. At the beginning of the story, the main character was a
nice guy and wisely also he care with his girlfriend and band Queen so that we can judge as
protagonist character at the story, but in the middle of the story the main character changed in to a
bad guy, he become ego and arrogant to his band also being a troublemaker in the story that we
can called as antagonist character. The changed of the characteristic not only happen to the middle
of the story but when the story will be end, the main character changed again into his generally
characteristic the main character in almost all movies and he finally back to his band “Queen”,
being a good guy and wise to his band, this action we can called the main character back into
protagonist character. Every change of the main character in the story has a reason and that reason
make the main character must change his characteristic and doing a job although he doesn’t want
to do.
The main character characterization presented in three aspect of characterization which are
physiological dimension, sociological dimension and psychological dimension. The physiological
dimension shows in the main character appearance in the story which is unique guy with long hair
but at the middle of the story the main character changes his appearance with short hair and bearded.
His natural appearance will always look eccentric, and fresh. The main character has thin face,
bucktoothed, pointed nose, slanted eyes and thin body. The sociological dimension shows the main
character social background about his social activity and environment in the story, in the beginning
of the story, he is a immigrant from Indian and he work in airport as a porter, he also the leader of
his band “Queen” at the middle of story he decide to solo career and the end of the story he back
into his first social dimension as a leader in Queen. The psychological dimension shows the main
character attitude. At the beginning of the story the main character has a good attitude as well
because he helps the band to resolve the problem and bring the band famous. The main character
also polite and kind person, humble, wise and romantic person but in the middle of the story he is
change in to the bad person, unfriendly, insurgent and troublemaker and the end of the story he is
back into the first psychological dimension which is kind person, humble, wise and romantic
person.
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