Character Meme & Fringe Review
First of all, a meme:
* Comment on this post.
* I will give you a letter.
* Think of 5 fictional characters whose names start with that letter and post their names and your comments on these characters in your LJ.
lyras gave me 'D':
1) Dana Scully: When I was living in Japan, a friend of mine was recording 'X-Files' for me and sent one video tape that bore the scribbled notation "Scully carries a BIG GUN and KICKS ASS!" next to the episode name. Which, in a nutshell, is why I loved her--Scully might have taken a few knocks from the writer's school of plot devices, but when the chips were down, I knew that Scully would come through. Scully wasn't a card-board cut-out character, either. She went through all sorts of reversals of fortune, saw things that turned everything she knew and believed in upside down, and she didn't let any of it stop her. And she wore the most awesome pantsuits, too.
2) Diana Skouris (of 'The 4400'): I like to think that Dana Scully and Diana Skouris would have loads to talk about, and would get together in fictional character land for coffee once a week, to commiserate about the crazy of government agencies, discuss the life and habits of their respective work partners, and speculate about how their lives had completely changed as a result of what was happening in their careers. Diana Skouris is just as kick-ass as Scully, although perhaps without as much emotional baggage (as things start out, anyway.) It's also a pleasure to watch her be the voice of reason and common sense to a slightly more receptive partner than the one Scully had.
3) (Shizuka) Doumeki (of 'XXXHolic'): Doumeki really annoyed me at first. The strong, silent characters in manga are a hit or miss proposition with me, especially when they do speak only to make demands of the main characters. But, increasingly, I've come around to liking Doumeki--I think it was the hydrangea chapter that did it for me. Here is someone who didn't want to let his friend walk into the unknown alone, but when he realized that he couldn't stop him, he made sure his friend had a way back. Loyalty and perseverance like that have a way of winning me over. And where the story is right now...? I'm really glad Doumeki is around, and I suspect he will be the last thing Watanuki loses.
4) Despair (from 'The Sandman' series, by Neil Gaiman): I am sometimes saddened that this is the character from this series who I think of the most often. There's just something so true about the phrase "you will feel Despair's cold hook in your heart"--it's closest any writer has ever come to describing the physical sensation I get when I do feel despair. And, sure, Dream is broody and a bit whiney, but ultimately interesting; the Death in these stories is the Death I kind of hope might be waiting for me whenever; and the other characters are compelling, but Despair... well, damn. It's hard to forget that sensation, especially when it's been put into words so adroitly.
5) (The) Doctor (of 'Doctor Who'): This series, perhaps unintentionally, restored my faith in human nature and the importance of curiosity. A great part of that was/is the Doctor's character, and the way he looks at things around him: problems or not, they are all amazing and beautiful in their own way. Very neat.
And, for something slightly less edifying, there is 'Fringe'. Here are the reasons I didn't like this show:
1) OK, when you've got projectile vomiting AND someone's lower jaw falling off because all their skin is decaying to nothingness in the first 3 minutes, then you're doing something wrong. Because, ewwww. And save your shock value for the end of the story, right? For when we care about the characters?
2) And as long as we're talking about characters, let's say you're trying to create a strong central female character. Well, that's great! Except... she doesn't appear strong when several of the male characters repeatedly talk to her in a condescending way and sarcastically call her "honey" and "sweetheart" and one of them is HER BOSS and SHE DOES NOTHING ABOUT IT. If this woman were half as competent as you're writing her, she would call them on their bullshit, not puff her lips out petulantly.
3) I know you think the audience is too stupid to know what locations are, but having large letters that hover menacingly in front of the camera at the front of the shot is not clever, it's overdone.
4) Massive Dynamic? Seriously? Why not just call it Goliath Corporation and call it a day? Oh, no, wait, you want to have a shot of the gigantic company headquarters from the base of the building? (Did I mention... they're huge?) (And their slogan is "What do we do? What don't we do?!" Pardon me while I die of laughter.)
5) More character stuff: the male character who's a college dropout, a chemist, faked his way into teaching at MIT for a month, can pick locks, speaks several languages (we don't know all of them yet), is snarky at all the right times, and the female character is attracted to him for no apparent reason? Yeah, he's Mary Sue. (And he's played by Joshua Jackson, which isn't doing him any favors.)
Anyway. I would summarize the show this way: SCIENCE! SCIENCE IS BAD! NO WAIT SCIENCE IS GOOD! NO WAIT SCIENCE IS SORT OF BAD, BUT ALSO GOOD! CORPORATIONS ARE BAD! A SENSORY DEPRIVATION TANK AND LSD CAN ALLOW YOU TO TALK TO LOVED ONES IN COMAS! SCIENCE!
... yeah, I'm in a snarky mood. ^-^;;
* Comment on this post.
* I will give you a letter.
* Think of 5 fictional characters whose names start with that letter and post their names and your comments on these characters in your LJ.
lyras gave me 'D':
1) Dana Scully: When I was living in Japan, a friend of mine was recording 'X-Files' for me and sent one video tape that bore the scribbled notation "Scully carries a BIG GUN and KICKS ASS!" next to the episode name. Which, in a nutshell, is why I loved her--Scully might have taken a few knocks from the writer's school of plot devices, but when the chips were down, I knew that Scully would come through. Scully wasn't a card-board cut-out character, either. She went through all sorts of reversals of fortune, saw things that turned everything she knew and believed in upside down, and she didn't let any of it stop her. And she wore the most awesome pantsuits, too.
2) Diana Skouris (of 'The 4400'): I like to think that Dana Scully and Diana Skouris would have loads to talk about, and would get together in fictional character land for coffee once a week, to commiserate about the crazy of government agencies, discuss the life and habits of their respective work partners, and speculate about how their lives had completely changed as a result of what was happening in their careers. Diana Skouris is just as kick-ass as Scully, although perhaps without as much emotional baggage (as things start out, anyway.) It's also a pleasure to watch her be the voice of reason and common sense to a slightly more receptive partner than the one Scully had.
3) (Shizuka) Doumeki (of 'XXXHolic'): Doumeki really annoyed me at first. The strong, silent characters in manga are a hit or miss proposition with me, especially when they do speak only to make demands of the main characters. But, increasingly, I've come around to liking Doumeki--I think it was the hydrangea chapter that did it for me. Here is someone who didn't want to let his friend walk into the unknown alone, but when he realized that he couldn't stop him, he made sure his friend had a way back. Loyalty and perseverance like that have a way of winning me over. And where the story is right now...? I'm really glad Doumeki is around, and I suspect he will be the last thing Watanuki loses.
4) Despair (from 'The Sandman' series, by Neil Gaiman): I am sometimes saddened that this is the character from this series who I think of the most often. There's just something so true about the phrase "you will feel Despair's cold hook in your heart"--it's closest any writer has ever come to describing the physical sensation I get when I do feel despair. And, sure, Dream is broody and a bit whiney, but ultimately interesting; the Death in these stories is the Death I kind of hope might be waiting for me whenever; and the other characters are compelling, but Despair... well, damn. It's hard to forget that sensation, especially when it's been put into words so adroitly.
5) (The) Doctor (of 'Doctor Who'): This series, perhaps unintentionally, restored my faith in human nature and the importance of curiosity. A great part of that was/is the Doctor's character, and the way he looks at things around him: problems or not, they are all amazing and beautiful in their own way. Very neat.
And, for something slightly less edifying, there is 'Fringe'. Here are the reasons I didn't like this show:
1) OK, when you've got projectile vomiting AND someone's lower jaw falling off because all their skin is decaying to nothingness in the first 3 minutes, then you're doing something wrong. Because, ewwww. And save your shock value for the end of the story, right? For when we care about the characters?
2) And as long as we're talking about characters, let's say you're trying to create a strong central female character. Well, that's great! Except... she doesn't appear strong when several of the male characters repeatedly talk to her in a condescending way and sarcastically call her "honey" and "sweetheart" and one of them is HER BOSS and SHE DOES NOTHING ABOUT IT. If this woman were half as competent as you're writing her, she would call them on their bullshit, not puff her lips out petulantly.
3) I know you think the audience is too stupid to know what locations are, but having large letters that hover menacingly in front of the camera at the front of the shot is not clever, it's overdone.
4) Massive Dynamic? Seriously? Why not just call it Goliath Corporation and call it a day? Oh, no, wait, you want to have a shot of the gigantic company headquarters from the base of the building? (Did I mention... they're huge?) (And their slogan is "What do we do? What don't we do?!" Pardon me while I die of laughter.)
5) More character stuff: the male character who's a college dropout, a chemist, faked his way into teaching at MIT for a month, can pick locks, speaks several languages (we don't know all of them yet), is snarky at all the right times, and the female character is attracted to him for no apparent reason? Yeah, he's Mary Sue. (And he's played by Joshua Jackson, which isn't doing him any favors.)
Anyway. I would summarize the show this way: SCIENCE! SCIENCE IS BAD! NO WAIT SCIENCE IS GOOD! NO WAIT SCIENCE IS SORT OF BAD, BUT ALSO GOOD! CORPORATIONS ARE BAD! A SENSORY DEPRIVATION TANK AND LSD CAN ALLOW YOU TO TALK TO LOVED ONES IN COMAS! SCIENCE!
... yeah, I'm in a snarky mood. ^-^;;