Self-reflection and poll on archetypes

[bop_radar]

I'm in a chatty mood but have nothing to chat about! This NEVER happens to me. How very strange! Consequently, I'm overcompensating by drawing together various ideas that have been swimming around in my head recently

Comments

[bradcpu]

Pretty simple on my end: Fandom is my escapism, so the more unlike me and my reality the characters/ship/fandom are, the more I like it.

[bop_radar]

Cool! Yeah, I think that's probably the case for many people--the freedom in that is really appealing.

I think I'm more a mix though--there are definitely characters I love for the sheer imagination of them, but there are also characters I like (sometimes despite myself) because they reflect an aspect of myself. I think the first category is more fun! ;)

[wisteria_]

Hmm. I don't have too much to say here, but you've written some excellent questions! One thing I noticed is that I don't necessarily follow consistent patterns in the characters I "fangirl". For example, you know I'm a hardcore Kara fan, and I've realized along the way that I'm more like her than I expected. But though I've been fans before of similar characters to her (Spike, Logan, etc...), I didn't necessarily identify with them.

[bop_radar]

Oh, that's a good point. Redemption's big with me, so I'm often drawn to the dark-character-turned-good or dark-character-with-a-good-heart-underneath, but I only identify with some of them.

I guess there are different tiers of attachment to characters. Sometimes I may start out mildly liking a character but grow to really like them/identify with them when I find out more about them. I thought Waverly was cool when she first came on FNL, but she got way more interesting to me once we found out about her condition--since that's a personal interest of mine.

For me, I think it's also partly to do with how 'real' the characters are to me. The more realistic and layered the characterisation is to me, the more it's likely to hook me in.

[serenography]

This involves more thinking than I'm capable of right now. I will say that I believe I'm attracted to characters for all sorts of reasons, but in general I find that I like characters that I sympathize with for whatever reason. Of course this just leads to 'why do I sympathize with them' and that varies according to the character. So... I should probably stop rambling now and go to bed. I'm curious to read all the responses you'll get.

[bop_radar]

It is rather thinky, isn't it? I found it very tricky to put together. I'm not very good at poll construction.

And it's true that it can be a bit Alice-down-the-rabbit-hole-like to contemplate one's sympathies to various characters. On the flipside, I've found it challenging to confront some of the reasons I didn't like Lana and Lyla to begin with, so sometimes who we don't like is just as revealing. Those discussions with you were very helpful on that front.

[asta77]

I will say that I believe I'm attracted to characters for all sorts of reasons, but in general I find that I like characters that I sympathize with for whatever reason.

I think this sums up pretty well why I like/adore the characters I do. But it also occurs to me that the characters I have loved over the years (Fox Mulder, Spike, John Chrichton, Aeryn Sun, Lee Adama - to name some) aren't really happy in their own skin and strive to be the people they want to be, often stumbling and falling along the way, but pick themselves up and try again. They all have a journey and a goal and they're not characters who remain static over the course of however many seasons. You can't look back at the first episode and the last and say they haven't changed.

[bop_radar]

Journeys and characters that strive and struggle are hugely appealing to me too. I notice we have Mulder and Spike in common, as well as Lee (and I haven't seen the other shows, so who knows!?) A character may appeal to me but if they don't progress in a meaningful way, the interest won't really grow into anything deeper. This is probably even truer for me in literature--I get impatient very quickly if the characters aren't evolving!

[bop_radar]

Oh yay! Yes, I find it fascinating too.

the villain who no one can understand why I like but always ends up with a redeeming feature or two (which gives me cause for smugness ha)
I'm fond of that one too! ;-)

I almost always never identify with the main character. Whoever is the main character seems to automatically disappear from my list of character to fangirl over.
Ditto! What's that about, do you reckon? *frowns* It's definitely true of me.

I always wonder why my character does not seem to get as much recognition as the main one despite it being so utterly obvious he/she is the more competent one.*lolz* Yeah, me too! I like the figure in the shadows! And I also have those kind of passionate attachments where I simply do not understand why my character is (sometimes) largely hated by others. Clearly they are superior!! :-) I do seem to end up with a lot of unpopular fannish opinions this way... the mainstream is not the way for me, usually, and maybe this ties to not connecting with central characters

[juxtoppozed]

I love that you put all this into words, and a poll! I've always wondered why I relate to certain characters and/or why I love certain characters and it's always interesting to have those epiphanies, especially when discussing. For instance, I was randomly discussing issues of identity with a friend and suddenly realized why I relate to characters who struggle with their identities or have to constantly be on the defensive about their background/heritage or keep it low key because of the responses they've experienced or were warned about, what that entails, the effect it as, etc (and to me, before I realized this, it was always strange that people in online fandom rarely saw this as a legit thing for, say, Clark on Smallville to work out and overcome...especially since he's been in the "closet" all his life and made to think his secret [and by extension identity] is something to hide, be ashamed of, etc). There are little light bulbs that go off from time to time in that regard. Nathan Petrelli got more sympathetic to me when they

[attaccabottoni]

it was always strange that people in online fandom rarely saw this as a legit thing for, say, Clark on Smallville to work out and overcome...especially since he's been in the "closet" all his life and made to think his secret [and by extension identity] is something to hide, be ashamed of, etc)
*gapes* They do? Really? Then maybe their taking it for granted that Clark doesn't know like we do that he's to become future Superman and he's still figuring out what he exactly wants in life. Or was that what you meant?

Hey, that's an observation about Lois that I've never heard of before! It's so cool it helped me make sense of her character. (I should read more Lois meta.) It really is about the little things, huh? :D

[bop_radar]

Oh, good! You've reassured me. While writing the poll part of me was wondering if it was going to come across as completely batshit or pointless (though I do heart the person who answered 'waste of time' to question 7!).

There are little light bulbs that go off from time to time in that regard.
I love those lightbulb moments! I love having them and I love hearing other people's anecdotes about having them. Characters with identity issues--that's a great one! I don't have much natural understanding of that situation myself, but it's good to be reminded that this area resonates with many people. It's a common element in many shows I like.

Like you, there are also lots of characters I find lovable but don't relate to. I'll be interested to hear how your feelings about the characters on FNL develop--I started out having fond-ish feelings for nearly all of them, but some really grew on me over time as we saw more of them.

I relate to Lois' fear of failure and consequent, occasional self-sabotageSame. One of the many potential meta