[ SECRET POST #2825 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2825 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 065 secrets from Secret Submission Post #404.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

06. http://i.imgur.com/wlcT0Hu.png

[dreemyweird]

That's perfectly fine. Different strokes for different folks. This attitude is pretty common - I know a lot of people who are like this.

Saying that a character is technically bad because you "hate reading about horrible people" is idiocy, though. Technique=/=tropes, and personal tastes=/=actual literary analysis.

[rubbertea]

well i generally hate reading about goody two shoes characters. it's almost like different things appeal to different people! how novel! how mind-blowing!!

[cabler]

So… you think characters that are bad people are necessarily badly written?

[kaijinscendre]

You can do both.

What about villains, though?

[(Anonymous)]

Do you just think they're all horribly characterized by default then?

This just seems odd to me because people doing terrible things is not at all uncommon in real life, sadly. And it seems odd to me that this is part of your criteria as to whether or not the characterization is well done.

[helenadax]

It's your choice, but it isn't the only choice. I can love shady characters if they're interesting enough: Eric Northman, Ben Linus, Batiatus and Lucretia, Regina Miller, Jaime Lannister... And assholes like Don Draper or Sheldon Cooper. I don't know, I hate Ramsay Bolton; I didn't hate Joffrey, not in the same way. And both are little pieces of shit. So it can't be about being good or evil.

[(Anonymous)]

Being a "terrible person" doesn't mean they're poorly written, though.

Which is, you know, the whole point behind that Tumblr post.

[(Anonymous)]

You sound boring tbh :(

[(Anonymous)]

Do you also hate villains who are terrible people? Do you only like stories in which the villains somehow end up being good?

[(Anonymous)]

Some of the most brilliantly written characters are those you love to hate.

[(Anonymous)]

I will say this: I hate characters that are terrible people that the narrative tries to paint as a pure hero. It's one of the things that will make me nope the hell out of the story.

[visp]

Well I'm sure we can find the 'Dick and Jane' series for you to read, then. Enjoy.

[(Anonymous)]

Heh, I just submitted a secret about having the opposite opinion from you because I think your opinion is becoming way too common in fandom and it's annoying to hear all the ranting from you holier-than-thous.

[(Anonymous)]

But OP, a person being "terrible" is incredibly subjective. I mean, you could argue that a character such a Jean Valjean (for example) is a "terrible" character because he intended to steal from a church. And he was originally thrown in prison for stealing a loaf of bread. He's a thief.

Yet he also does some very good things with his life later on.

I can't help but wonder if you are young to have such a black and white view of the world.

There's also nothing wrong with having characters one loves to hate. If everyone unironically loved every single character ever, life would be very boring indeed.

[(Anonymous)]

Well, you can do that. I think most people usually end up with at least an opinion on a character's morality, and a lot of people choose which characters they like or dislike based on it. Just be aware that judging a character on their morality as a person is a separate judgement to judging their effectiveness as a character in the narrative. You can think that a character is the biggest scumbag in the universe and deserves to die in a fire on a personal level, and still think they're spectacular for their role in pushing the story forward and evoking such a visceral response from the audience.

Saying you like/dislike a character because they're a wonderful/terrible person is not the same as saying they're a good/bad character who should/shouldn't have this role in the story.

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know. A well-written character doesn't have to be one you agree with, or even like. They just have to be interesting, imo. I like a lot of villains, and morally grey characters, but it doesn't mean I would want to know them in real life, or I agree with their thoughts and actions.

[ketita]

Different people can like characters in different ways.

I know that for me, often if a character crosses a certain moral event horizon, even if they are excellently written I will enjoy reading about them less. I'd need somebody to 'like' in order to continue enjoying the work.

Still, doesn't mean they aren't good characters, though.

[kallanda_lee]

Well, it's okay not to like things.

That doesn't mean it's universal truth, though. Some of us care more about a character being interesting, than about them being good.

[(Anonymous)]

don't read gone with the wind then

[alwaysbeenasmiler]

I think that everyone looks for different things when reading. I love the characters who are kinda unredemable because it makes me feel better about myself as a human being. You can go "at least I am not 'that' person'. One of my favorite villains is Kefka from FF3. He poisoned a water supply, that's seriously messed up. There were no inner resolved issues he had, he just did it to fuck shit up. He is a horrible person but he is unrepentant about it and maintains that stance until the bitter end.

[a_potato]

I...feel like there might be a disconnect, here. Like, a pretty serious one.

[diet_poison]

This sort of makes sense, but sort of not? Stories would be bland and often pointless if they didn't contain bad people to drive the plot, wouldn't they? I mean I get hating them, fine, but is it not possible to write a bad person skillfully and engagingly?

True, you don't have to like a character just because they are well-written.

[(Anonymous)]

And I do think the morality of the character should be part of the discussion, but I think you are conflating two things here - the technical aspect (the character as a character) and the emotion aspect (the character as a person).

[elaminator]

I sort of get you in the sense that sometimes characters cross lines and you can't like or enjoy them no matter how well written they are. However, I do feel like the poster has a point re: a character can be great without being a great person. (There are lots of examples I'm sure, but I find Hannibal fascinating. Obviously you don't want to model your life after the guy, but he's intriguing.)

Now don't get me wrong, I love good characters; most the time I will pick the hero over the villain, but that said, I do think variety is a necessity, and I can't imagine wanting to read/watch/play only good characters. (I mean...imagine if stories only contained good people with nothing or no one to fight against.)