I think I know who all Aspies would want to be

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I like Sherlock Holmes, and I have all the books and games I know about with Sherlock Holmes as a main character. I also enjoy the Nancy Drew games (I have all of those as well). I'm not sure I would want to be them tho (I just want to be me, shortcomings and qualities included lol), but I do enjoy investigating.

Sherlock Holmes? Not so much.

I would like to be Max Tegmark.

Thanks to Brady Haran, I am also a fan of his University of Nottingham people: Ed Copeland, Phil Moriarty, Martyn Poliakoff, Meghan Gray and Mike Merrifield. I also quite like Brian Cox, but he seems a very different sort of person.

If I was someone else, I would not be my children's father or my wife's husband. I think I would most want to stay me, in the end.

You could be Mycroft. He's just as observant, but he doesn't solve crimes like Sherlock does.

But isn't Mycroft involved in all sorts of state intrigue and spycraft?

I wouldn't want to be Sherlock Holmes. I haven't even seen any of the movies, really and never read the books. I have seen a couple of episodes of "Elementary" which is about Sherlock Holmes in NYC in the 21st century. He's a recovering addict and he has a live in support person, a Dr Watson who specializes in addiction and her job is to help him stay sober. Of course he solves crimes with her help.

If I were going to be a fictional character, I have a few I'd like to be. I'd like to be Amanda in Highlander; The Series. I'd like to be Ziva David from NCIS or Abby from NCIS. If I was going to be a guy, I'd like to be Reid from Criminal Minds. I wouldn't mind being House (oddly enough the series is supposed to be similar to Sherlock Holmes but in a medical setting) but I wouldn't want his pain. I wouldn't mind being Carmella Soprano. I'd like to be Molly from Monarch of the Glen. Donna from That 70's Show. Joan Holloway from Mad Men. I'd also kind of like to be Tommy Gavin from Rescue Me, but without all the tragedy and drama, simply because he gets away with everything and he seems to enjoy his life. On a darker note, I'd like to be Mr White from Breaking Bad just because he did something so out of character and pulled it off in such a badass way and made millions. Of course, I would quit while I was ahead and before any chance of my BIL catching me and retire somewhere with my family and go back to teaching. Barbara from Big Love is intriguing too, because I've always wondered about the FLDS and she seems to have a handle on all that and is happy with her life and beliefs.

If you want literary characters, I'd like to be Julian Mayfair from Anne Rice's Witching Hour, even though he's a man but his pure enjoyment of his life appeals to me, where Rowan, the main character of the book does not. She seems too buttoned up and stubborn. And I can't mention Anne Rice's characters without wanting to be Lestat. I'm not that big a fan of hers, but those stand out to me. I'd like to be quite a few characters in Jane Austen, several in Dickens, and Dame Philippa Talbot in Rumer Godden's In This House of Brede. I can't list literary characters who I would want to be without mentioning the epitome of Southern Ladies, Scarlett O'Hara.

When I was a child I wanted to be Sarah Crew in A Little Princess, and I also wanted to be the girl in The Secret Garden (not the adult Secret Garden, the one where the two children find an overgrown garden and work on it and make it grow and beautiful and the sickly grandfather comes to see it and gets better). I also wanted to be Corrie Ten Boom from The Hiding Place.

Those are the only ones off the top of my head at the moment, but I'm sure I'll think of some more to add.

If I could be a singer, I would really want to be Joan Jett, but second runner up would be Stevie Nicks.

Me - Isaac Newton, except for the dead part.

Or

Richard Feynman - Except for the dead part.

Really rather just be me, but better at getting what I want and much less awkward around people.

Carmela, really? Being married to Tony (OMG). He sleeps with hookers and doesn't use a condom. Like sleeping with hookers isn't enough. Sure he can be cute, but he's psychopath. Besides, Carmela's entire personality revolves around trying to show off how important she is and getting b***h slapped for it (don't get me wrong, I love the character, beautifully written, just wouldn't want to be in her shoes). I'm writing a book about The Sopranos - special interest alert. And I'm going to be good and stop now!

The Sopranos was one of my favorite tv shows, I have all the CDs. I cried when they killed Adrianna tho

I think Carmela was stuck between the side of her who was religious and wanted to be a good person, and the other side of her who liked money and even used the fear of her mafioso husband to get a letter for college for her daughter (remember that? lol). I definitely wouldn't want to be her tho, she lived in a scary and dangerous world (worse than the usual dangers).

You should start a thread in the TV and movie forum! I will read your posts

Yeah, I think the brilliance of the character was that her religious desires (however weak she was) were sincere (and also hilariously tied up with the hots for the nerdoid priest).

Sorry, back to the topic!

I actually started a thread about it, but it died.

If you can find the thread you started, give me a link I will check it out. I go to imdb and youtube videos about it once in a while to see if people posted new comments lol.

And I agree with you about Carmela.

I wouldn't be Carmella like she is Carmella. There would be some things I wouldn't tolerate. I do love the show, but at times Carmella is a total wimp. And what was wrong with her about that priest she almost kissed? He was a moocher from day one and she couldn't see it! I'd change quite a few things about her if I were her. I'm no badass, and that wouldn't work with Tony anyway. Subtle manipulation with nefarious overtones. Let him pick up on it himself. I also don't like how she did Charmain at that party. Friends are loyal to friends and never treat them as servants even if they are hired to be wait staff at your party.

You know who I liked at first, of all the girls? Adriana. Until she just went all off the wall. Started the drugs, then fell backasswards into an obvious setup to find out about the family. She's not all there. Then she thought she could tell Chris and it would all be ok. She should have left town right then, alone, WitSec. She seemed a lot stronger at the beginning.

I also liked Rosalie. She went through more than anybody else and walked tall through it, except for the bad judgement with dating Ralph. I think Rosalie is a survivor. On second thought, I'd like to be her. She speaks her mind. She had that creepy priest thing too. However, I think that priest manipulated them and enjoyed doing so.

Janice is a piece of work. She's just like her mother but just with a different approach. I never liked her. She was so fake I was afraid she would start dropping limbs, wigs, boobs, voicebox, brain, etc. I didn't even feel sorry for her at the end. I'm ok with her shooting Richie, but not ok with the fact that she picked a fight about it first. He gave her plenty of reasons, but she had to feel that it was on her terms and that she worked him up into it, so she could feel as powerful as Tony, who she is so jealous of it's not funny.

The only female in that show that I see hope for is Meadow. Now, I may have forgotten a few because it's been years, but I think Meadow has it together, has goals, wants to distance herself from the business but not from her loved ones, and I think she can actually separate that. I'm sure it's all over now, and there will never be anything else about them, but I'd like to see a series in about five years about Meadow. Just Meadow and her career and life. Maybe let the mod guys be an undertone and occasionally appear but not as an important plot point. I think it would be a fun show to watch to see how she overcame it all and was able to compartmentalize her family and what they do, and while she hates what they do, she can still love them.

I recently read a really good book about the show. It's called "Reading the Sopranos". It's basically analyzing the show, the characters, the why's, the root causes of things, and how their minds work. The chapter on Dr Melfi and Richard was very interesting. I also like the contrast they show between regular successful Italians and Italians whose success comes from the mob. The guilt that Richard shows all through the show about Italian image being sullied by mob movies and his anger that his wife is treating one of the very men that he feels gives him a bad name. Yet, that Italian guilt and Italian pride doesn't extend any farther than lip service because for all his talk about how we have to stick together and show that we aren't criminals, he prefers Irish women. Of course that could be a preference, but where is his devotion to his Italian culture and people when he divorced his non-criminal, successful Italian wife - and before this, they were a power couple that proved that hard work and devotion to responsibility gets you ahead, and not guns, Sicilian neck ties, knives, fists, speeding cars, threats, extortion, blackmail, and bribes - to be with "One of his Colleens" as Jennifer said. Even she noticed the dichotomy of the proud Italian, standing up for the culture but walking away from Italian women. Then again, that could be because of mother issues. Many, many Italian men have mother issues. Ask my two son's if you don't believe me.

Look at Tony's mother issues. She was Borderline Personality Disorder, violent, distant, verbally and physically and emotionally abusive. She manipulated Tony from the time he could talk. She made him feel second best and never good enough. He tried to win her love for years and years, even going as far as to try and cover up her mistake with the airline tickets that got Junior busted. He forgave and forgave, only wanting one nice word from her, just a gesture of love from a mother to son, but she withheld it to control him and make him continue to be the 15 year old trying to please her. She had the Don of New Jersey under her thumb and ready to do anything she wanted for the simple reason that he wanted approval from her. She never approved of anyone or anything, unless it was a stranger or acquaintance and she could show that approval in front of her children so they would see what they weren't getting. He finally had enough when he found out she tried to have him killed, then faked a stroke. He cut her out of his life because she was toxic, and Carmella completely supported him with that, and how did he react? He interpreted Carmella's support of his decision as her chance to push Livia out of their lives. He could push her out, but he couldn't own his own feelings, because he was told what to feel from the time he could listen. That's a fairly common thing in Italian families, and usually it's not that bad. The sons feel the way they choose to, but pretend to feel the way the mother wants them to, when he's around her. Dysfunctional somewhat, yes, but it works and everybody's happy. Nobody was happy in the Sopranos. Tony was too needy, Livia was too cruel, Carmella just wanted to keep the peace, and the kids wanted their grandmother.

If you notice, Tony went back and forth with Dr Melfi. Sometimes he could get past his chauvinism and see her as the successful, well educated, skilled Doctor that she was, but that never lasted long. He would always have to balance that out with seeing her as just another gal whose trying to tell him what to do, or he would see his mothers demands and the guilt she laid on him in Dr Melfi's innocent questions that were meant to make Tony look at his feelings and express them out loud to her so they could work through them. She was either another girl trying to tell him what to do, or she was just like his mother trying to put him down and tell him what he should have done and point out his flaws, or she was like Carmella, always pushing for him to be the man he needed to be. When none of those gave him any satisfaction so he could file her away in whatever file he chose for her during that session, he went to another default, and this time even more ridiculous - but only in a way. He saw her as a sexual being who he felt had sexual feelings for him, and he felt that because he had been able to have any woman he wanted for years, that he could have her. When he couldn't, it was a huge blow to his ego and he didn't handle it well. Ironically enough, Jennifer did find herself attracted to him, against her will. Power is attractive, yes, but she had power as did her ex husband Richard. My opinion on this is that because Richard was such a modern man who sees men and women as equals and would never talk down to her or try to put her in "her place" or shrug off important things she tells him, Tony is the complete opposite of Richard. He has power, like Richard, but much more power. Richard seemed to be a pacifist and Tony was anything but. While Richard held dinner conversation about topical matters, Tony would come out with his exact desire for her and expect her to comply. Tony was the "brute", the "caveman" if you will. While Tony protects, Richard retreats and calls the authorities. Richard is not at all effeminate, but compared to Tony, he is. I believe this was her first regular and ongoing encounter with that type of man since high school. The adult male like Tony is much more powerful and even charismatic than the high school version. She was intrigued and I believe Tony's personality touched some hidden submissive quality she may have had. One that wasn't very important to her, and one she didn't think about often, but one that Richard never touched, nor any of the other men in her life, and she wanted to explore it because exploring that with Tony was safe. Other men would have brought it up later as a symptom of something and it would have made for an uncomfortable time at best, and a breakup at worst. Tony would have expected it and not mentioned it or thought twice about it. She would have been free to explore that side of her with him. However, his lifestyle, while somewhat interesting in the abstract to her, was so beyond the pale of anything she could condone, look the other way, tolerate, that she simply kept the feelings on the back burner, barely warm but occasionally simmering. She knew he would protect her no matter what, and by association with him, she had power that she only fully understood after she was raped. Richard was ready to let it go. She was violated, raped, beaten, yes he was angry but he wanted to let it go. His response would have been a strongly worded letter to the editor of the newspaper and the chief of police. He valued her, but he didn't value her enough to do something about it. She knew that if she told Tony about it, he would handle it for her, and handle it himself in a very unpleasant and drawn out way, because that would be how Tony reacted when people he valued and cared about were hurt. When she's contemplating telling Tony, you can imagine all these things going through her head. She knows what he will do, and she knows what Richard won't do. She knows that even if Tony kills him, she's still been raped. That won't change. But she realizes that she has the power to speak one sentence to this man who does care about her, and because of his own feelings for her, not to impress her, not because he has to do it, but because he cares about her, this rapist will die a horrible death, because Tony cares. She realizes she has this power, she realizes he cares about her that much. She knows he is not Richard and will do it. So, that's really enough for her. She doesn't have to have the proof, the body, the blood. For he, it really is the thought that counts.

Near the end when she kicks him out of her practice, I don't believe she's convinced she's helping him be a better sociopath. I believe she's caving to other professionals and to Richard. She's been through this for years now, and up and down the spectrum of feelings from flirtatious, to hatred, to fear, to concern, to motherly, and everything else in between. She sees she's not getting anywhere with him, just giving him a place to vent, which is really ok and does seem to help. But I believe that the divide between her hour with Tony, and the rest of her life is too big, and she cannot do both. I believe she sees herself becoming a different person with him and it scares her. Oh, she will never be a "gun moll", but she sees her own morals and attitudes changing to mirror his, even if she can't say them out loud. She's beginning to be two Jennifer's. The Jennifer who feels her base feelings and hides them when she's with Tony, and the Jennifer who sticks to her professional ethics and treats other less exciting patients the rest of the day. I think she longs for that Jennifer, but like many women, she thinks he can change. Not be a criminal anymore, but not change much else about himself. I think her anger in the last episode comes from that. She would have him if he wasn't a criminal, and he will always be a criminal. She's never givin him a reason to think he had a chance with her if he went straight, not that he would, but he might lie bout it. Yet she knows it won't happen and it's painful for her. So, she does the Dr/patient equivelant of a boyfriend/girlfriend split, because he won't change and she can't be with him if he won't.

Of course her romantic feelings are pushed down and not in the forefront of her mind, like any good psychiatrist, but how aware of them is she? That's something we will never know.

I'd love to discuss the Soprano's with you. I love ripping apart motives and thoughts and undercurrents like this, if you'd like to. Also, I highly suggest you read a book called "Reading the Sopranos". If you don't have it and can't pick it up near you, let me know and I'll mail you my copy if you'll return it. You'll like it.

If you want to continue this conversation, please start a thread or inbox me! I'm looking forward to our talks.

I guess I'll just be predictable and go with Spock.

What is Sherlock without Watson?

Ehh, he's involved in pretty much everything, but as a consultant. If he has to do any spycraft, he does it from the comfort of his armchair. Mycroft has very good deductive skills, but no ambition!

I've always wanted to be a mad scientist or writer, believe it or not. Usually great scientist and writers have some kind of problem, OCD, or different things. Still, they achieve the most extraordinary things. Tesla wasn't exactly what would be considered norman. Neither was Hans Christen Anderson. Yet their work is extraordinary. I guess there really is a fine line between brilliance and lunacy.

i wanna be spiderman

Hi OliveOilMom and Shadi2 - you guys are super cool Sopranos lovers. That's quite an analysis OOM! I liked Ro alot too, hated the kids, I thought they were 3 of the worst written characters (the other being Vito). The book I'm writing isn't really about the Sopranos as people, it's geared toward writers - it's about techniques used to write it. I only got the idea to write the book because I'm writing a novel myself and kept watching the Sopranos over and over and over to see how they did it. I ended up with enough notes to make a book so I thought, well hey why not?

I don't really know how to discuss them like this, I would get confused trying to do it, at least so extensively. The only way I know how to discuss the relationships and characters is how they were used to move the plot, etc. In classical terms, Tony had a problem to solve and each relationship was a reflection of that problem.

It makes me happy that you guys love the show though, to me it was one of the most beautiful pieces of art ever made. Brave and eloquent like nothing else I've ever seen.

I don't even know who most of the actors are though - it took me forever to figure out that Carmela was Edie Falco and Melfi was Lorraine Bracco (I thought it was the other way around). And I know James Gandolfini and Michael Imperioli and Syl was in Springsteen/s band. Maybe I just don't want to know that they aren't who they play. I don't recall seeing any of them anywhere else (but I haven't had a tv for about five years).

Junior was my favorite character - that guy was pretty old when he played him and he so amazing! But that's not counting Tony and Carmela because they were necessary. THe story couldn't have been told without them and been the same story. Anybody else, I think could have been left out or replaced with a different character (or in story writing terms, a different way to reflect on the problem that TOny had to solve).

OOM, I know a bunch of Italian Americans who HATE the show. Some of them HATe it without even watching it, just on the idea of it. THe funny thing is, they think it makes Italians look bad, but it is one of the most profoundly moral stories I've experienced in my life. It's not like goody two shoes moral, but it makes you ponder the human race and your own morals too when you watch it. I think the writers were just mature enough to understand that "good" is relative so they didn't try to preach, they just investigated instead. I find the idea of it making people think that all Italians are in the mafia kind of funny though, the thought would never even cross my mind.