Comments | newredshoes: This is why I have no social life.

newredshoes

This is why I have no social life.

Jan 03, 2009 21:03

Okay, I've been super-curious about people's responses to Band of Brothers ever since I started poking around the fandom. So, if you've got the inclination, want to answer some questions about your favorite characters and their backgrounds?

( No-methodology sociology, LJ-style! )

we few we happy few, i have committed meta

Comments 34

ia_ne January 4 2009, 03:44:11 UTC

QUIZ! I'm going to do this tomorrow, right now I'm all *oh ticky box*

I just wanted to say that this is GREAT! *loves meta and you*

newredshoes January 4 2009, 03:45:45 UTC

Sleep well, you! <33333 Can't wait to see what we'll wind up talking about!

ceitfianna January 4 2009, 04:04:41 UTC

Its really hard to pick favorites and spot those things that catch my eye but I think I got a sense. Though now I realize Bull is also one of my favorites. I was trying to remember who caught me on my first and second watches and later ones since they tended to stay.

For me there is a part for Winters and Malarkey of being from Pennsylvania and also Webster who's a bit more educated than some of the guys around him and how that plays out. I could easily talk about this more but these are just my first thoughts. Ask me more questions and perhaps I'll be able to add more.

newredshoes January 4 2009, 17:53:28 UTC

Malarkey is actually from Oregon, but he did have a very rural upbringing, despite living in a town -- his biography is great. I lent my copy to a friend and worry that I'll never get it back, but I have powers of persuasion and he knows it too. :)

It's funny, I know I am most like Webster and that I would probably react most like Webster in similar circumstances (ia_ne and I had a great conversation about that!), but I don't identify with him or -- maybe "identify" is the wrong word. I find I'm more interested in the guys who came into the army poor. I'm trying to put that into words myself, about why that might be and what that means.

Winters, wow. He's very complicated, and I appreciate that more and more the more time I spend around the fandom, actually. It took seeing a vid to drive home how sort of singular and alone and quiet he is.

ceitfianna January 4 2009, 18:33:23 UTC

I knew that about Malarkey and just got confused between Babe and Malarkey since I love them both for different reasons..

Though Malarkey was one of my favorites since the first episode and something about how he really does so much to keep going works for me. I'll look for Malarkey's biography since he interests me a lot, I have family from the Northern West Coast.

foofighter0234 January 4 2009, 06:27:34 UTC

You think you have no social life? Oh NO, honey. I have no social life.

newredshoes January 5 2009, 01:12:04 UTC

Social lives get in the way of discussing things on the internet -- who needs 'em? ;)

foofighter0234 January 5 2009, 04:41:25 UTC

Fuck social lives. I have hot soldier boys.

ia_ne January 4 2009, 13:36:20 UTC

Oookay. This is not as easy as it looks *g ( ... )

newredshoes January 4 2009, 18:05:34 UTC

Ohh, interesting point about how the books and the series make that difference! (By the way, in my next massive linkshare, I will probably go on and on about how I can't wait for this to come out! It'll be interesting to see how that changes future rewatches.)

I think I left "background" and "biography" purposefully vague to see what people would do with it. I was thinking things like religion, upbringing, location, and even just how much you identify with a particular guy's outlook or viewpoints. Being Jewish, for instance, I pay a lot of attention to Joe Liebgott, who is, of course, called Jewish in the series but in real life it was sort of... a point of contention, I guess? ("Yes! Well... He never denied it!" was what one vet said about him.) But even though I find guys like Bill and Babe most fascinating, I think I have the closest overall "match" with Skip Muck, in terms of how I treat friendships and obligations and humor.

I'm not really sure what I'm talking about myself, but yes, it is fun!

ia_ne January 4 2009, 19:18:14 UTC

I didn't know about that book, that sounds very interesting! Shifty is a contributor! I have developed a very soft spot for Shifty both in the series and in real life.

Speaking of books, my copies of Biggest Brother and Parachute Infantry will be delivered tomorrow, and I'm pretty excited about that. Did you find that Parachute Infantry was different from the other books for being written so much more closer to the actual events?

As for identifying/matching with one of the characters most, I don't think I've come to a conclusion about that, if there even is one. The fascination results at least in part from the character traits that are different from me or that I wish I would have. Then again, Sobel is also fascinating, and I surely don't want to be like him *g*. Have you seen this vid? Made me like him more. And the song is great, too :)

newredshoes January 4 2009, 22:03:23 UTC

See, that's cool -- the vid made me empathize with Sobel! Great link, thanks!

Biggest Brother I haven't read yet, but I did see a copy at a used bookstore near me -- I'll be curious to hear what you think of that! Parachute Infantry really is very different from the other memoirs I've read: its scope is smaller, and he definitely talks about things the other guys just don't really treat -- diarrhea and boredom and looting, that sort of thing. It's very intimate. In a funny way, it's also less introspective, by which I mean he's less analytical of the war as a whole. But you do get some moments that I found I was craving in the other books -- the day Webster finally leaves Easy, for one. His account of D-Day is also the most psychologically terrifying I've read, in terms of fear and loneliness and confusion. Mostly what you come away with is that Webster loathes the army as an institution but believes in the war and in the people he bonds with. There are also some great anecdotes about guys we know from the series -- my favorite is ( ... )

Thread 5

sunfish60669 January 4 2009, 17:33:09 UTC

I guess what's fair to say for my favorite characters is that it changes with every episode. By far, Doc Roe has always been my favorite (quiet, cute...and Cajun ;D), so I always play the "Spot the Doc" game no matter what episode I'm watching - even Ron Livingston's behind-the-scenes stuff ( ... )

newredshoes January 4 2009, 17:44:34 UTC

That's the problem, isn't it? I remember my first rewatch, knowing what I did about Doc Roe and Bastogne, paying much closer attention to him that second time around. They're all such amazing guys -- the rewatch I did last weekend, I found myself paying lots of attention to Chuck Grant and Johnny Martin. I never quite know who I'm going to latch onto, though there are always surefire favorites ( ... )

sunfish60669 January 4 2009, 20:02:09 UTC

Hi again! :) I don't know...but don't worry about it!

My mistake about Malarkey. I don't know who I got him confused for! XP

I agree - I like to find all of the information I can about a subject too, particularly when it pertains to history. There's so much out there about WW2. (I found a book the other day about USOs and the junior hostesses who worked in them. I was way too excited about that find.) The neat part about BoB is that it lead me to research other units and other big events. I like nerdy fandoms - they're my favorite!