Last night I saw Prometheus, the supposed prequel to 1973 film Alien, with Sigourney Weaver. Frankly, the plot didn’t impress me, and the film suffered from what I suspect is a common fault in films and books: too many “main” characters. It becomes difficult to emotionally identify with any one character. I felt no real identification with any of the on-screen characters in Prometheus. When I think back over some of the best films, there are usually one or two, maybe three main characters, but that’s the limit. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoohas Lisbeth Salander and Mikael Blomkvist.
Catch 22 has Captain Yossarian. We see the other characters, but none of them gets even remotely equal time with Yossarian. George Orwell’s 1984 has Winston Smith. As best I recall we never see his lover, Julia, nor his torturer, O’Brien, without him. As a result, we are totally invested in Winston. Even though Harry Potter has Hermione, Ron, Dumbledore, and Snape, we know who the main character is. (And Rowling had the advantage of seven books over which to tell her story.) Steel Magnolias had half a dozen, but we are mostly invested in Julia Roberts, as Shelby, who is diabetic, not expected to be able to carry a child, and becomes pregnant anyway. She needs a kidney transplant, gets it, it fails, and finally she has to be disconnected from life support.
In order for me to be invested in the fate of a character, they need to be centre-front. They need to have a problem I can identify with.
So what about you? Do too many characters make it hard for you to get invested in a film or book? What’s your limit? what do you prefer? when you think about the films you thought were “best” films, how many lead characters did they have?
(On an unrelated topic, Piper Bayard and Holmes have an interesting article on spy ships between WWI and WWII. at Piperbayard.wordpress.com)
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Richard Snow Writer 
I thought Prometheus was ok as well, it could have been a stand alone. I think it would have made better stand alone film.
I take it you’re not a fan of Game of Thrones?
Let’s see… in fantasy I don’t care how many main characters there are as long as they have a purpose. In other genres I tend to like 2-4 max. Then again, if the plot calls for more main characters, and again, they have a purpose, then the number doesn’t bother me.
I refuse to see Prometheus on the grounds it will scare the tar out of me. The Hubs loved it, though.
I haven’t been watching Game of Thrones. In a long story, like Harry Potter, you can afford more characters, because you have the time to make them real. But, say a two hour film divided by 8 characters = 15 minutes per character, less background shots, time for CGI etc. For me it’s a simple dilution thing. I need the time to get invested in someone, to care about them.