Re. character hate.
6 October 2010 10:29 amI've been mulling this over, because clearly I'm an oddity in fandom. The thing is, I don't understand character hate. Literally, don't get it. (Also, it makes me sad. But that's another topic.)
Let me explain: People will talk about character Z, listing all the various ways in which s/he is annoying/entitled/misogynistic/manipulating etc. And it's not that I can't see their point - Z might be a walking, talking creep, and I might deeply dislike all his/her traits, but as long as all those things make sense for that character I'm happy.
Take Warren for instance - pretty much the most despicable guy we ever come across in BtVS, but what I'm concerned about is that his misogyny makes sense. Which it does - we see how he evolves, watch as he goes darker and darker, and I find that very interesting. If he was real I'd probably hate him, but he's not - he's a fictional character and a good, well-rounded one at that. So why would I hate him?
I do of course have characters that I love to tiny itty bitty pieces, that I can flail and squee about forever, and whose mere presence onscreen instantly makes life better, but I can't think of any characters who ruin things for me or make me furious. I think the opposite of fullblown adoration for me is boring or (embarrassingly) badly-drawn characters. I don't hate them (because they're usually too boring or annoying for that, and I am very good at ignoring stuff I dislike), and if necessary I can fanwank their existence into something useful, because I hate just tearing things down - much more rewarding to try to work out how something might fit in. ETA: See my meta on Caleb f.ex. (And this is one reasons s8 is frustrating - it is impossible for me to fanwank any of it! But I don't hate it.)
Actually - I've thought of an exception: The Slitheen. Not to mention their even more pointless relatives, the Blathereen. But then they truly are the absolute epitome of pointlessness. (I might look on them with kinder eyes if they hadn't been so overused on SJA. If I wanted to see people covered in goo, I'd watch Dick and Dom!)
Let me explain: People will talk about character Z, listing all the various ways in which s/he is annoying/entitled/misogynistic/manipulating etc. And it's not that I can't see their point - Z might be a walking, talking creep, and I might deeply dislike all his/her traits, but as long as all those things make sense for that character I'm happy.
Take Warren for instance - pretty much the most despicable guy we ever come across in BtVS, but what I'm concerned about is that his misogyny makes sense. Which it does - we see how he evolves, watch as he goes darker and darker, and I find that very interesting. If he was real I'd probably hate him, but he's not - he's a fictional character and a good, well-rounded one at that. So why would I hate him?
I do of course have characters that I love to tiny itty bitty pieces, that I can flail and squee about forever, and whose mere presence onscreen instantly makes life better, but I can't think of any characters who ruin things for me or make me furious. I think the opposite of fullblown adoration for me is boring or (embarrassingly) badly-drawn characters. I don't hate them (because they're usually too boring or annoying for that, and I am very good at ignoring stuff I dislike), and if necessary I can fanwank their existence into something useful, because I hate just tearing things down - much more rewarding to try to work out how something might fit in. ETA: See my meta on Caleb f.ex. (And this is one reasons s8 is frustrating - it is impossible for me to fanwank any of it! But I don't hate it.)
Actually - I've thought of an exception: The Slitheen. Not to mention their even more pointless relatives, the Blathereen. But then they truly are the absolute epitome of pointlessness. (I might look on them with kinder eyes if they hadn't been so overused on SJA. If I wanted to see people covered in goo, I'd watch Dick and Dom!)
