It demands that we stretch our definitions of heroism and villainy, of love and hate, of good and bad, dark and light-and think of just how complicated and indiscrete and messy those things are…. But surely that’s not the sole reason why many of us engage in literature or film or narratives? At least that’s not why I’m here.This whole paragraph, man. Just, THANK YOU. Obviously I can't speak for everybody, but it seems to me that fiction is very much meant to be a mirror for ourselves. ERGO, the point is not to Other the "bad" people and only accept the "good" ones (i.e. the people we'd like to think of ourselves as being), but examine the very meaning of those concepts (the meanings WE give to them). I could sit here and cast judgment on Bonnie/Damon/Elena/whoever for whatever they've done, but I'd only be willingly distracting myself from the possibility that I AM those people and would do exactly what they did in that circumstance. Does that make me a bit of a terrible person? (That's the
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bviously I can't speak for everybody, but it seems to me that fiction is very much meant to be a mirror for ourselves. ERGO, the point is not to Other the "bad" people and only accept the "good" ones (i.e. the people we'd like to think of ourselves as being), but examine the very meaning of those concepts (the meanings WE give to them). I could sit here and cast judgment on Bonnie/Damon/Elena/whoever for whatever they've done, but I'd only be willingly distracting myself from the possibility that I AM those people and would do exactly what they did in that circumstance. Does that make me a bit of a terrible person? (That's the question, isn't it.)
YES. THIS. The minute I don't identify with the characters in a book or a television show in some way, shape or form, is the moment that I stop watching and stop caring. And I don't know, does that make us terrible people? Like, I recently watched Young Adult, have you seen it? Anyway, I was chatting with friends and they absolutely hated it (as did many reviewers), and I had the opposite
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This is a brilliant post and I do agree with all the points.
Do I think the show could stand to give some of these characters a little more self-awareness; or textually and explicitly call them out on their actions more? Yes, I do actually.
I think this too. A lot. But I can't say this isn't a well-written, persuasive post.
I agree with everything you say. This show is all about choices and people making the wrong ones and having their choices taken away. What they did to Jeremy was wrong, but that's what makes it interesting.
Actually, my biggest disappointment with this show was when Klaus took away Stefan's choice. I loved the history and backstory that the show gave to Stefan, Klaus and Rebekah, and I was so hoping to see Stefan be torn between his love for Damon & Elena, and his newly-rediscovered feelings for Klaus & Rebekah. Alas, it never came to pass. I think the show missed a big opportunity to show one of the protagonists struggling with feelings, and making the wrong choices.
Well, no, not the way the storyline has played out since "The End of the Affair." I was hoping that his recovered memories would lead to Stefan having feelings for them. But by the very next episode, he was back to hating Klaus as much as he always had. Which I found disappointing - why give them all that history and backstory if you're not going to make anything of it?
Damon Salvatore, a character who occupies this difficult space of being both victimizer and victim, who knows exactly what it feels like to have his own choice stripped from him, and specifically is own choice of whether to be a vampire or not, and has spent the better part of two centuries resenting the fact that he didn’t have a choice when it came down to it-what makes him do the exact same thing to someone else? Someone whom he claims to love? I guess this is what makes Damon so fascinating for me. I think he made a mistake, but I can't really blame him. He had his reasons for doing what he did. BUt I guess this is stuff for another post.
This particular example is an interesting one because it highlights the very fragility of how these characters self-define. She was doing it for the “right” reasons but what she actually did was unspeakably bad. I agree. I think a lot of characters in TVD do the wrong things for the right reasons. What I like the most in this show, it's that nothing is totally good and nothing is totally bad.
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It demands that we stretch our definitions of heroism and villainy, of love and hate, of good and bad, dark and light-and think of just how complicated and indiscrete and messy those things are…. But surely that’s not the sole reason why many of us engage in literature or film or narratives? At least that’s not why I’m here.This whole paragraph, man. Just, THANK YOU. Obviously I can't speak for everybody, but it seems to me that fiction is very much meant to be a mirror for ourselves. ERGO, the point is not to Other the "bad" people and only accept the "good" ones (i.e. the people we'd like to think of ourselves as being), but examine the very meaning of those concepts (the meanings WE give to them). I could sit here and cast judgment on Bonnie/Damon/Elena/whoever for whatever they've done, but I'd only be willingly distracting myself from the possibility that I AM those people and would do exactly what they did in that circumstance. Does that make me a bit of a terrible person? (That's the ( ... )
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YES. THIS. The minute I don't identify with the characters in a book or a television show in some way, shape or form, is the moment that I stop watching and stop caring. And I don't know, does that make us terrible people? Like, I recently watched Young Adult, have you seen it? Anyway, I was chatting with friends and they absolutely hated it (as did many reviewers), and I had the opposite ( ... )
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Do I think the show could stand to give some of these characters a little more self-awareness; or textually and explicitly call them out on their actions more? Yes, I do actually.
I think this too. A lot. But I can't say this isn't a well-written, persuasive post.
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♥
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Actually, my biggest disappointment with this show was when Klaus took away Stefan's choice. I loved the history and backstory that the show gave to Stefan, Klaus and Rebekah, and I was so hoping to see Stefan be torn between his love for Damon & Elena, and his newly-rediscovered feelings for Klaus & Rebekah. Alas, it never came to pass. I think the show missed a big opportunity to show one of the protagonists struggling with feelings, and making the wrong choices.
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Not that I don't ship Klefan hard. But do you actually think he has feelings for them?
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~Interesting power dynamic is interesting~
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I guess this is what makes Damon so fascinating for me. I think he made a mistake, but I can't really blame him. He had his reasons for doing what he did. BUt I guess this is stuff for another post.
This particular example is an interesting one because it highlights the very fragility of how these characters self-define. She was doing it for the “right” reasons but what she actually did was unspeakably bad. I agree. I think a lot of characters in TVD do the wrong things for the right reasons. What I like the most in this show, it's that nothing is totally good and nothing is totally bad. ( ... )
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