[ POLL ] Fictional Characters in Books, Movies, & TV.

Page 1 of 1 [ 16 posts ] 


Which is most important for fictional characters?
Ability / Disability 9%  9%  [ 3 ]
Appearance / Attractiveness 6%  6%  [ 2 ]
Believability / Realness 41%  41%  [ 13 ]
Development / Growth 38%  38%  [ 12 ]
Gender Expression (LGBTQ+) 3%  3%  [ 1 ]
Sex (MFHA) 3%  3%  [ 1 ]
Superpowers 0%  0%  [ 0 ]
Total votes : 32

Fnord
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 May 2008
Age: 66
Gender: Male
Posts: 59,750
Location: Stendec

18 Jun 2019, 11:49 am

When it comes to fictional characters in books, movies, and TV shows, which of these aspects do you think is most important?

• Ability / Disability
• Appearance / Attractiveness
• Believability / Realness
• Development / Growth
• Gender Expression (LGBTQ+)
• Sex (MFHA)
• Superpowers

You may choose up to 6 options. You may chance your choices at any time.



IsabellaLinton
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 1 Nov 2017
Gender: Female
Posts: 67,988
Location: Chez Quis

18 Jun 2019, 11:56 am

I chose Development and Growth. I'm not interested in characters with superpowers and the other choices are largely irrelevant. Not to say ability or gender aren't important, but I can like a character regardless of either presentation. Most of my novels are Bildungsroman, and my favourite characters are those who change over time (Lucy Snowe, Isabella Linton :wink: , Shirley Keeldar, Helen Graham, Tess Durbeyfield, Maggie Tulliver, Becky Sharp, Ruth Hilton, Clarissa Harlowe, Ruth Fisher, David Fisher, George Bailey and Professor Emanuel, to name a few).



magz
Forum Moderator
Forum Moderator

User avatar

Joined: 1 Jun 2017
Age: 39
Gender: Female
Posts: 16,283
Location: Poland

18 Jun 2019, 12:07 pm

I don't really see my favorite trait... it's psychological complexity and coherence, neat construction of character's personality. I find believability the closest choice but it's not exactly this. Like, Pratchett's Death is definitely not a real / probable character but I find his personality relatable.


_________________
Let's not confuse being normal with being mentally healthy.

<not moderating PPR stuff concerning East Europe>


xxZeromancerlovexx
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 24 Jul 2010
Age: 30
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,882
Location: In my imagination

18 Jun 2019, 1:23 pm

Appearance. Not only are the aesthetic appeal of my characters crucial to my genre, my appearance is crucial to me in real life. It goes hand in hand.


_________________
“There’s a lesson that we learn
In the pages that we burn
It’s written in the ashes of the fire below”
-Down, The Birthday Massacre


TheRevengeofTW1ZTY
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 23 Apr 2019
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,102
Location: Um...

18 Jun 2019, 1:34 pm

Personally I love a character who is beautifully flawed.

Take The Golden Girls for example.

Blanche was slu*ty and selfish but also very loving and loyal to her friends and family.

Rose was very sweet and kind but also annoyingly naive.

Sophia was a mean old lady but she had a lot of love for people and gave great advice.

Dorothy was always a downer and kind of mean too but she was also smart, capable, and spoke her mind


_________________
The Hearts teach us to feel pleasure and pain.
The Diamonds teach us to enjoy that we gain.
The Clubs teach us to work the goals we aim.
The Spades teach us to conquer all we claim.


naturalplastic
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 26 Aug 2010
Age: 69
Gender: Male
Posts: 33,875
Location: temperate zone

18 Jun 2019, 3:05 pm

Believability, and having the character grow. Those would be the top two.



hurtloam
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 27 Mar 2011
Gender: Female
Posts: 8,743
Location: Eyjafjallajökull

18 Jun 2019, 3:50 pm

xxZeromancerlovexx wrote:
Appearance. Not only are the aesthetic appeal of my characters crucial to my genre, my appearance is crucial to me in real life. It goes hand in hand.


May I ask why? I tend not to describe my characters in much detail physically.



Joe90
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 23 Feb 2010
Gender: Female
Posts: 26,492
Location: UK

18 Jun 2019, 3:56 pm

I selected attractiveness. I like watching a movie if there's a cute guy in it, especially if he's the main character. But I also like women and children to be attractive too (I do NOT mean in a sexual way).


_________________
Female


TheRevengeofTW1ZTY
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 23 Apr 2019
Gender: Male
Posts: 3,102
Location: Um...

18 Jun 2019, 4:03 pm

I'm not trying to be overly critical of opinions.

But honestly I personally don't care much about physical attractiveness in characters. The ladies from The Golden Girls all looked like typical old women, but they were beautiful on the inside. :heart:


I need to go back to obsessing on something as wholesome as The Golden Girls, instead of obsessinf on dark and scary stuff that makes me so paranoid aboit the world. :(


_________________
The Hearts teach us to feel pleasure and pain.
The Diamonds teach us to enjoy that we gain.
The Clubs teach us to work the goals we aim.
The Spades teach us to conquer all we claim.


Fnord
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 May 2008
Age: 66
Gender: Male
Posts: 59,750
Location: Stendec

18 Jun 2019, 4:09 pm

I selected "Believability / Realness" and "Development / Growth" as the two most important aspects of fictional characters in books, movies, and TV shows.

If I cannot believe in the character or if the character does not seem real to me, then it is unlikely that I will identify with the character and experience the story through that character. If that identification -- that vicarious experience -- does not occur, then I will cease to be interested in what happens to that character and how that character reacts.

If the character is not changed in some way by the events surrounding it, then that character may as well be a robot that records conditions and events in its immediate environment -- it is a static, unmotivated thing and not a dynamic, caring person to me.


_________________
 
No love for Hamas, Hezbollah, Iranian Leadership, Islamic Jihad, other Islamic terrorist groups, OR their supporters and sympathizers.


Prometheus18
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 18 Aug 2018
Age: 28
Gender: Male
Posts: 2,866

18 Jun 2019, 5:36 pm

The first four.



xxZeromancerlovexx
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 24 Jul 2010
Age: 30
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,882
Location: In my imagination

18 Jun 2019, 8:29 pm

hurtloam wrote:
xxZeromancerlovexx wrote:
Appearance. Not only are the aesthetic appeal of my characters crucial to my genre, my appearance is crucial to me in real life. It goes hand in hand.


May I ask why? I tend not to describe my characters in much detail physically.


My character’s clothing choices convey their overall image and personality. If I have an innocent, meek character she’s going wear soft colors and look fragile and doll like. If I have a fiery, seductive male character I’ll make his clothes and image all about black leather and his facial expressions.

Just like my high matenince outfits and appearance routine conveys that I have a trendy, cultured personality.

Note: I write and these are my characters I am referring to


_________________
“There’s a lesson that we learn
In the pages that we burn
It’s written in the ashes of the fire below”
-Down, The Birthday Massacre


KT67
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 6 May 2019
Gender: Female
Posts: 3,807

19 Jun 2019, 3:45 am

I'm surprised that ability/disability didn't get more votes. If this was on Autostraddle, everyone would vote for lgbt stuff and a few would vote for race as well.

I think it's important to have decent, realistic, adult representation of autistic characters out there. And kids who aren't objectified as 'poor little autistic kids' but given their own lives, personalities and stories.

I voted for everything that affects me as well as the things which generically matter about a character. But they have to work hand in hand. Diversity on its own isn't good either for the representation of minorities or for the character in particular.


_________________
Not actually a girl
He/him


hurtloam
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 27 Mar 2011
Gender: Female
Posts: 8,743
Location: Eyjafjallajökull

19 Jun 2019, 6:24 am

Because we're open-minded enough to read about people who aren't exactly like us.

I do think there should be a variety of characters in story telling, but in selecting the films and books I consume, I don't seek out only those characters like me.

Plot, dialogue and character development are much more important to me than a dull book, with bad dialogue about someone like me.



Fnord
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 May 2008
Age: 66
Gender: Male
Posts: 59,750
Location: Stendec

19 Jun 2019, 8:28 am

KT67 wrote:
I'm surprised that ability/disability didn't get more votes. If this was on Autostraddle, everyone would vote for lgbt stuff and a few would vote for race as well...
Haven't you ever noticed that for many people, appearance and sexuality are more important than anything else? Things like education, employment, or artistic talent are secondary to the character's appearance and sexuality, for example. That's why many books and shows have "The Gay Character", "The Disabled Character", "The Autistic Character", "The Asian/Black/Foreign/Hispanic Character" and so forth, as well as the regular cast of characters with first and last names. It's called "Tokenism", where it is only necessary to include characters that are not straight, white, English-speaking adults, but not at all necessary keep them active in the main part of the story or in every episode.

Another way to do it is to introduce a main character, mention once in the first episode that he or she is of "other" sexuality or ancestry, and then never mention it again.


_________________
 
No love for Hamas, Hezbollah, Iranian Leadership, Islamic Jihad, other Islamic terrorist groups, OR their supporters and sympathizers.


hurtloam
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 27 Mar 2011
Gender: Female
Posts: 8,743
Location: Eyjafjallajökull

19 Jun 2019, 9:21 am

Shoehorning isn't a thing I'm in a favour of. I will read a book or watch a film about a minority character as the protagonist quite happily, it only if it's got a good story, dialogue etc.

It's the half heartedness I'm against.

But yes please, more characters from all sorts of backgrounds.