Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2019 15:06:37 GMT -5
Which characters from books, movies and TV shows left the strongest impression on you?
A few years ago I recall there was a meme going around asking everyone to summarize themselves in 3 characters. I went with Clarissa Darling, Jay Gatsby and Willy Wonka. I see myself as Clarissa because we're both creative free spirits who chat to anyone who will listen about our thoughts and ideas. Jay Gatsby because I've suffered from limerence in the past and I know what it's like to tie up your sense of self-worth into another person. Willy Wonka because he's the perfect depiction of an eccentric genius--Im no genius but I do think Im eccentric and childlike as is he.
In my first blog under the heading "Feminine Role Models" I talked about Clarissa Darling and Lauren Zelmer (a character on a forgotten one-season tween sitcom called Just for Kicks.) I compared Clarissa to my idealized "me at my best" half of my personality and Lauren (who's shy, repressed and pushed into being something she doesn't want by her Mom) as representing the aspects of me that I'd like to change.
Nowadays I've been really compelled towards Leni Loud (obviously) and the reasons why have been largely explored in my posts on the Books thread here. Basically, I see her as an adorable counterpoint to the ditzy blonde hot girl trope. Instead of a vacuous mean girl cheerleader, she's played more as a naive childlike soul incapable of growing up. In the fanfic My Sister Leni she's on the autistic spectrum and struggles to make friends--something I can relate to. In a lot of tween shows that were on in the 2000s (around when I stopped watching but my sister got into the Disney Channel) it seemed like so many teen characters were mean and had an attitude like they were above their siblings or less "cool" peers. It's nice to see a counterpoint to that, who's sweet and supportive to the people in her life. That's why the character left such a big impression on me.
And in the last few days watching Neon Genesis Evangelion, I've come to really love the character Asuka Langley Soryu. I'd like to write up a complete character analysis for her sometime in the near future (because I have no life) but essentially what you need to know is that she's Helga from Hey Arnold (mean girl on the surface, hides her crush on a boy by bullying him) if Hey Arnold were targeting a more mature audience. As a result of the trauma of seeing her mother commit suicide when she was young, Asuka always strives to be the best and independent of anyone else's sympathy or protection.
When she fails in a mission and has to be rescued by Shinji (the other mech-piloting kid in the show and the object of her crush) it sends her on a downward spiral. Suddenly she can't pilot the robot well anymore and there's even talk among her superiors about having her replaced. In a desperate effort to prove herself again, she rushes recklessly into a confrontation with a monster who it turns out, is able to "hack" into people's minds and force them to relieve their darkest fears and insecurities. This leads to the infamous "mind rape" scene I've posted on the forum before, which is maybe the best depiction of what it's like to suffer a bad trip and/or suffer ego death when you're not prepared to accept it that I've ever seen depicted in media. Asuka has to be rescued yet again and this leads to a complete nervous breakdown. The last two times we see her, she's curled up in a fetal position inside the mech physically incapable of getting it to move, and catatonic in a hospital bed.
I guess if I were to summarize it, I like Asuka because she's maybe the best executed Greek Tragedy (as in, a powerful character brought low by a fatal personality flaw) I've ever seen. Movies tend to be just a little too short in terms of runtime to really allow that kind of fall to achieve the full impact in my opinion. And most American TV shows get dragged out so long, and have so many sideplots that the central fall gets somewhat diluted (as fantastic as they are, Breaking Bad and Mad Men suffer from this a little bit.) Evangelion is the perfect length to make us feel the tragedy without dragging it out and losing the momentum. Also, I tend to really like younger women characters in the media I watch (my fave Mad Men character is Sally Draper for example) so it was fascinating to see a Greek Tragedy arc played out on a little girl.
Anyway, what are some of your faves?
A few years ago I recall there was a meme going around asking everyone to summarize themselves in 3 characters. I went with Clarissa Darling, Jay Gatsby and Willy Wonka. I see myself as Clarissa because we're both creative free spirits who chat to anyone who will listen about our thoughts and ideas. Jay Gatsby because I've suffered from limerence in the past and I know what it's like to tie up your sense of self-worth into another person. Willy Wonka because he's the perfect depiction of an eccentric genius--Im no genius but I do think Im eccentric and childlike as is he.
In my first blog under the heading "Feminine Role Models" I talked about Clarissa Darling and Lauren Zelmer (a character on a forgotten one-season tween sitcom called Just for Kicks.) I compared Clarissa to my idealized "me at my best" half of my personality and Lauren (who's shy, repressed and pushed into being something she doesn't want by her Mom) as representing the aspects of me that I'd like to change.
Nowadays I've been really compelled towards Leni Loud (obviously) and the reasons why have been largely explored in my posts on the Books thread here. Basically, I see her as an adorable counterpoint to the ditzy blonde hot girl trope. Instead of a vacuous mean girl cheerleader, she's played more as a naive childlike soul incapable of growing up. In the fanfic My Sister Leni she's on the autistic spectrum and struggles to make friends--something I can relate to. In a lot of tween shows that were on in the 2000s (around when I stopped watching but my sister got into the Disney Channel) it seemed like so many teen characters were mean and had an attitude like they were above their siblings or less "cool" peers. It's nice to see a counterpoint to that, who's sweet and supportive to the people in her life. That's why the character left such a big impression on me.
And in the last few days watching Neon Genesis Evangelion, I've come to really love the character Asuka Langley Soryu. I'd like to write up a complete character analysis for her sometime in the near future (because I have no life) but essentially what you need to know is that she's Helga from Hey Arnold (mean girl on the surface, hides her crush on a boy by bullying him) if Hey Arnold were targeting a more mature audience. As a result of the trauma of seeing her mother commit suicide when she was young, Asuka always strives to be the best and independent of anyone else's sympathy or protection.
When she fails in a mission and has to be rescued by Shinji (the other mech-piloting kid in the show and the object of her crush) it sends her on a downward spiral. Suddenly she can't pilot the robot well anymore and there's even talk among her superiors about having her replaced. In a desperate effort to prove herself again, she rushes recklessly into a confrontation with a monster who it turns out, is able to "hack" into people's minds and force them to relieve their darkest fears and insecurities. This leads to the infamous "mind rape" scene I've posted on the forum before, which is maybe the best depiction of what it's like to suffer a bad trip and/or suffer ego death when you're not prepared to accept it that I've ever seen depicted in media. Asuka has to be rescued yet again and this leads to a complete nervous breakdown. The last two times we see her, she's curled up in a fetal position inside the mech physically incapable of getting it to move, and catatonic in a hospital bed.
I guess if I were to summarize it, I like Asuka because she's maybe the best executed Greek Tragedy (as in, a powerful character brought low by a fatal personality flaw) I've ever seen. Movies tend to be just a little too short in terms of runtime to really allow that kind of fall to achieve the full impact in my opinion. And most American TV shows get dragged out so long, and have so many sideplots that the central fall gets somewhat diluted (as fantastic as they are, Breaking Bad and Mad Men suffer from this a little bit.) Evangelion is the perfect length to make us feel the tragedy without dragging it out and losing the momentum. Also, I tend to really like younger women characters in the media I watch (my fave Mad Men character is Sally Draper for example) so it was fascinating to see a Greek Tragedy arc played out on a little girl.
Anyway, what are some of your faves?
I'll see what tomorrow brings. 
