Why the Best Stories Begin with Vulnerability
Do you know which movie I liked a lot?
The Joker, the one with Joaquin Phoenix.
Not Joker 2, by the way.
I didn’t even watch it once I heard it was a musical.
But the first Joker, the one that humanized the character.
It was a compelling movie.
I liked seeing The Joker, the person.
I loved how he was struggling with mental issues, life beating him up, and confusion about his path.
He was such a vulnerable character.
A vulnerable villain, by the way.
I should be rooting against him, right?
After all, he’s technically the bad guy.
But I couldn’t help but be drawn to him.
The more vulnerable and relatable he became, the more I wanted to hear his story.
Why Vulnerability is a Storyteller’s Weapon
It’s not just vulnerability that’s key, it’s the relatability.
Vulnerability makes someone seem more relatable.
And when we consume content where we can relate to the characters, we feel more involved.
That’s why Hollywood is always pushing to have diversity in their casts.
Something as simple as a character looking like a broad segment of the audience makes the content more relatable.
I remember when I was a kid, there was a movie called Bend it Like Beckham.
The Desi community went wild!
Finally, some brown representation on the big screen.
We didn’t even have to know what the movie was about.
As soon as we saw someone we related to (in this case, through skin color), we were hooked.
Likewise, vulnerability is another way to relate to the audience.
The people consuming your story are flawed creatures.
Flawed creatures have problems:
- Bouts with depression, money issues, confusion about life’s purpose, and more.
If your characters deal with these issues, your audience will connect with them.
What Type of Vulnerability Should Your Character Have?
In Game of Thrones, King Robert was worried that Daenerys Targaryen could become the second coming of the Mad King.
That was his vulnerability—his fear of defending his kingdom against fire-breathing dragons.
If you’re creating a story based on your life, you likely won’t be afraid of dragons.
For you, it could be a fear of clashing with your in-laws.
The source of fear is different, but the feeling of fear is the same.
When you explore vulnerabilities in your characters, you tap into universal emotions.
There’s something called the emotional tone scale, where light emotions are at the top and dark emotions at the bottom.
Light emotions include joy, gratitude, and ambition, while dark emotions include anger, misery, and feeling lost.
Your goal is to tap into the darker emotions when exploring vulnerability in your characters.
The more you dance in the dark, the richer your characters become.
No One Likes Perfection
The reason people dislike Superman is because he’s “too perfect.”
That’s why people prefer Batman…he’s flawed.
We like flawed characters.
Seeing someone too perfect feels unnatural.
It’s not just in stories, it’s true in real life as well.
When we know someone who’s always winning, we don’t think, “Wow, what a winner!”
We think, “What are they hiding?”
That’s why self-deprecating humor works well for rich or beautiful people.
It shows their vulnerabilities and makes them seem more human, not like wannabe deities looking down on others.
How Vulnerable Are You?
I believe in strategic vulnerability.
If you’re always vulnerable as a man, you might come off as weak.
But if you can tap into your softer side every now and then, your social skills and storytelling will improve.
Here’s an exercise for you.
Do it in private.
Write about something you’re genuinely afraid of.
Write a 500-1000 word essay on it.
Go in-depth:
- When did you realize this fear? What caused it? How is it affecting your life? Do you plan to resolve it?
Rather than burying what scares you, bring it to the forefront.
You’ll feel super vulnerable doing this exercise, but that’s the point.
It doesn’t feel good to:
- Admit we’re scared.
- Expand in depth about what makes us scared.
But if you can do this exercise, you’ll feel looser when creating characters for your stories.
You can’t create what you can’t perceive.
If you have a surface-level view of emotions, you’ll never be a great storyteller.
Dance with your emotions.
Explore your pain in depth.
What are you afraid of?
Going broke? Never finding love? Having to bury your kids?
Find the source of pain and bring light to it.
Vulnerability Makes Villains Look Like Heroes
When you add vulnerability to your villains, they often start to look like the good guy!
The audience won’t know who to root for.
Vulnerability allows the audience to root for your characters—good, bad, or ugly.
It doesn’t matter.
If we see ourselves in a character, we’re drawn to them.
Play around with the use of vulnerability in your stories.
You’ll see that storytelling is all about using light and dark emotions to paint a holistic picture of the human experience.
For more insights into storytelling, check out the Art and Science of Storytelling book
✨Ebook
✨Paperback/Kindle
✨Audiobook
– ArmaniTalks 
