action figure symbolism and opening idea?

Ok so during my brainstorming of the plot that I talked about during my last blog post, I started to come up with the idea of having an action figure be a symbol of moving on and growing up, which is something that follows the conventions of a coming of age genre, which I researched before. Many coming of age films have symbols of growth that are used throughout the film, so I want to incorporate that into my piece as well.  

I want the main character to be extremely attached to an action figure, bringing it with her everywhere she goes, almost as emotional support. I want the action figure to act as a symbol of her realization throughout the film. In the beginning, she will keep the action figure with her, but her friends will think she's weird for it. Her obsession with comics and action figures is also detested by her parents, who think that this hobby is only for boys. Then after the coming out scene, she will throw away her action figure, as an act of aggression and her being mad at herself. However, someone finds it and brings it to her, knowing that it's hers (This person is the person who will introduce her to the queer friends btw). This act demonstrates that it's not herself she needs to fix but rather the people she surrounds herself with. She needs to find people who will accept her for who she is, and she does through this friend group. The person who found the action figure will also be a huge fan of the comic series just like her, again adding to her fitting in with these people. 

This idea of the action figure is actually what inspired me for an idea for my opening. After the animation sequence (which I still don’t know if ‘ a practical idea) I want to show the main character buying the action figure that will follow her throughout the film. I also want to showcase the parent’s disapproval, which I can do through flashbacks to her not being able to get the action figure she wanted when she was a little kid. Then it would go back to the present where she is actually buying the figurine that she’s always wanted. I kinda want to include the part about her friends not approving of her hobbies, which I could do through maybe them wanting to meet up and she tells them why she’s late and they call her weird and childish. I don’t know yet if I want to add that, but I think it might add more background that would further develop as the film went on. That way, my film opening would serve perfectly as a way to establish background, which is one of the approaches to an opening that we learned about before (this is all so exciting!!). 

The action figure represents the main characters inability to grow up as well, especially as they weren’t able to live the childhood they wanted to. I think at the end of the movie, the main character would have a realization that they don’t need the action figure as their emotional support as she now has a supportive friend group, which will be symbolized by her leaving the figurine on her desk and leaving for school without it instead of bringing it with her as she always did before. This would incorporate the main part of a coming of age film, growing up and changing as a person for the better. 

I actually came up with the idea of an action figure from personal experience. Check out my very own emotional support black panther, he’s awesome and I love him:

[here is an amazing edit of the one and only black panther]

(It’s funny because I actually had two black panthers cause I lost the first one but my coach bought me a new one, so he’s actually two of a kind!!)

I did not expect to come out of this week with an already fleshed out story idea, but guess I’m ahead of schedule. It all just came to me at once, it was very overwhelming, but I’m glad I got it all written out (check out my previous post to see the word vomit I produced onto paper last class). Alright, now that I’ve got my basic idea for my film opening, it’s time to start storyboarding and writing out my script!

[actual picture of me word vomiting all over the place]