Fragility through Discontinuity

In most narrative works the characters are developed by the continuity of the story. They have an arc that is shown as they are shown. In Waiting for Guffman the characters are shown through discontinuity. In the interview scenes that open the film there are these moments that hint at fragile element to the characters through what isn't said. The fact that Corky is a gay man isn't what makes him fragile it is the idea that he believes it is a well-kept secret. He believes that he is fooling everyone by talking about his wife or being a construction worker and it for that reason that he is so interesting and so developed. The other characters also have moments like these. Dr. Pearl is most developed in the moments where he half laughs at his own jokes and gives off this subtle exhale that sounds like, "someone else tell me I'm funny." It's such a unique way to create characters because it goes against all the normal conventions. Instead of showing why a character is the way he or she is or telling us why he or she is the way he or she is Waiting for Guffman doesn't tell us or doesn't show is. It is through the subtlety and discontinuity in the interview scenes that give birth to the fragility of the characters.