Re. character hate.

[elisi]

I'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!)

Comments

[solitary-summer.livejournal.com]

I don't get it either, and most of all I don't get why people chose to obsess on that hatred to the point of forming communities. I do to an extent understand reacting immediately to the character rather than taking the dislike to a meta/writer level; there are a few issues, especially violent misogyny, that for me trigger—without actually being a trigger—a strong, irrational emotional reaction. Characters like Warren or Caleb, or even Angelus, simply repulse me, but that means that I want to spend as little time as possible thinking about them, not turn my dislike into a hobby.

But all of the above are pretty extreme cases, and when a character isn't an outright sociopath, but a normal human being with (give or take) normal weaknesses and strengths and (again, give or take) normal human reactions, I really don't understand the virulent hatred. And it's not as if people are setting up communities to hate on characters like Warren; it's characters like Gwen that get bashed, and this is something I simply don't get. With people like that I can't help but wonder if they go through life judging others this harshly, too, and mostly it makes me want to stay away from them.

[elisi]

I do to an extent understand reacting immediately to the character rather than taking the dislike to a meta/writer level; there are a few issues, especially violent misogyny, that for me trigger—without actually being a trigger—a strong, irrational emotional reaction.
See that I can understand. I don't feel like that, but I can understand it. I don't understand how hating a character can be *fun*. (Well - I like to mock. I can mock until the cows come home - see Twilight - but it comes from a place of not taking the subject seriously.)

And it's not as if people are setting up communities to hate on characters like Warren; it's characters like Gwen that get bashed, and this is something I simply don't get.
You know, I'd managed to forget (or probably repress) the Gwen-bashing. *shudders* Like you, I find it unappealing in the extreme. It's one of the reasons I stay far away from most of TW fandom.

[zanthinegirl.livejournal.com]

Gwen is standing in the way of that pure, pure Jack/Ianto love.

I'm convinced that a got 75% of the hating has to do with characters who are perceived as a threat to the ship of choice.