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xparrotI've been in a very meta mood lately. And thinking about character love and character hate and the like/dislike in between has illuminated a general writing/storytelling principle for me, one that I think TV shows might ignore or mistake at times, and one that needs close attention paid, because I think writers (professionals as much as amateurs) sometimes confuse it:
"Everybody likes a character" is not a way to make that character be liked by the audience.
The key is - it's not a way to make that character be disliked, either. It's actually an emphasizing storytelling device, reinforcing the feelings the audience already has, but it's often mistaken for a positive or a negative one.
"Everybody likes a character" is a classic trope that takes different forms. I'm thinking of it as when the main theme, the point of the plot, is to show how much a character is liked/loved, by having all the other characters express their love through words or deeds. The damsel in distress is a classic example: the damsel's in trouble, everyone frets and rushes to save her, because they adore her so. Most h/c is some variation on this theme. You sometimes get episodes of a TV show that are "everybody likes a character" eps. In SGA I think Rodney has gotten the most of these - "Tao of Rodney" and "The Shrine" are all about how much everyone loves and appreciates Rodney.
It's not a coincidence that those are two of my favorite episodes of the show. Because Rodney is my favorite character - I enjoy watching the other characters love him as much as I do.
The trick is - and here's where writers get confused - those episodes are not why I love Rodney. I loved Rodney already; those episodes simply reinforced my love for him.
Fans who don't like Rodney do not like those episodes, I've noticed. They get annoyed that Rodney's getting screentime instead of their favorite characters - they also, I believe, get annoyed watching their favorites love a character they don't love. Anytime a favorite character thinks or feels or does something you disagree with, it causes cognitive dissonance. So you tend to either ignore the cause, forget the episode happened; or you find a way to explain it - Sheppard's a good team leader, it's not that he loves Rodney, it's just that he's responsible for him. (While all of us Rodney fans gawk in uncomprehending disbelief at such rationalizing, since one of the reasons we love Sheppard is because he loves Rodney!)
If you're neutral about a character, "everybody likes the char" tends to leave you cold - it doesn't cause that negative dissonance, but it leaves you a bit confused - you aren't that worried for the character, so it's hard to sympathize with the concern of the characters you do like. Additionally, "everybody likes the char" plots often don't show the beloved char themselves in the best light - they're helpless, in need of rescue; they're not being the heroes. It's not a character's best side, usually.
If you already like the character, that's not a problem. When you like a character, you sympathize with them. Helplessness is more a neutral trait than a negative one; unless you already view the character in a negative light, seeing a character helpless probably won't make you like them any less. But it won't make you like them any more, either. So an "everybody likes a character" episode for a character you're neutral about will wind up being uninteresting to you - will be boring. And any character that bores you, you start to dislike.
This is one of the major problem with Mary Sues - Mary Sue stories are one long "everybody loves Mary Sue" romp, and with a dearth of other reasons to like Mary Sue, the audience gets bored, gets resentful of being made bored, and starts to dislike Mary Sue. While as if you like the so-called Mary Sue for some reason or other - because you're the writer and she's you, or the girl of your dreams; because she reminds you of yourself; because she's pretty or funny or whatever - then you'll like the story, and will disagree that the character is a Mary Sue (since part of the definition of Mary Sue these days seems to be that the audience doesn't like them.)
This is also why h/c stories don't often work as well right out of the gate, why intensive h/c is more enjoyable with established characters. Hurt/comfort won't make you like a character, it only reinforces your feelings about a character. You have to like them for some other reason first.
TV screenwriters mix this up sometimes. The reason is because, if a character is liked, "everybody loves the char" episodes will be hugely popular. Rodney has many fans, and most Rodney fans love "everybody loves Rodney" episodes. Rodney's the biggest damsel in distress of the show, and a lot of us love that - but it's not why we love him (rather, it's why we like the show, for catering to our Rodney-love. But the Rodney-love originated somewhere else, I believe.)
But it's easy to mistake the direction of causation. So, realizing that many fans didn't especially like Keller, the SGA writers tried to do "everybody likes Keller" with "The Seed", hoping to work the same magic as with Rodney - except it backfired, because if you don't like a character, "everybody likes that character" will just reinforce your dislike of that character. Those people who do like Keller will enjoy it (well, maybe not "The Seed," because it was a problematic episode on multiple levels) - but it won't do anything to change the mind of fans who don't; it'll just make them feel more negative. "Why does she get all the love? She doesn't deserve it!"
I think this might be why many fans who were fairly neutral about Keller last season are finding themselves disliking her more this season. The "everybody likes Keller" vibe of some of the episodes is grating on us, pushing a mild disinterest/dislike into increasingly negative response. (I wonder if it would've been wiser on the writers' part to flip it around - in "Trio" Keller was liking Rodney more than vice versa, and even Rodney fans who don't like Keller can respond to that - of course she likes Rodney, don't we all! And we all like to see Rodney being liked. Now the storyline is more focused on Rodney's like for Keller than Keller's like for Rodney, and that's not as appealing to the majority of fans.)
(Interestingly, I think there might be an odd corollary, that "everybody hates a character" works the same way, reinforcing the audience in either direction - if you already dislike the character, you'll just dislike them more; but if you like them, even mildly, and you see them being hated on, you'll start to like them more - you'll feel sorry for them, want to defend them; and often you'll start to dislike the characters who are hating on them. Smallville's Lex gained quite a few fans thanks to this perverse principle.)
"Everybody loves a character" is a great plot device (hey, I'm an h/c fan, it's one of my very favorites!) But it has to be used carefully, especially when you're writing a TV show to a broad audience, as opposed to a fanfic targeted to specific fans. For it to be effective, you have to pay attention to the audiences' tastes, and write accordingly.
"Everybody likes a character" is not a way to make that character be liked by the audience.
The key is - it's not a way to make that character be disliked, either. It's actually an emphasizing storytelling device, reinforcing the feelings the audience already has, but it's often mistaken for a positive or a negative one.
"Everybody likes a character" is a classic trope that takes different forms. I'm thinking of it as when the main theme, the point of the plot, is to show how much a character is liked/loved, by having all the other characters express their love through words or deeds. The damsel in distress is a classic example: the damsel's in trouble, everyone frets and rushes to save her, because they adore her so. Most h/c is some variation on this theme. You sometimes get episodes of a TV show that are "everybody likes a character" eps. In SGA I think Rodney has gotten the most of these - "Tao of Rodney" and "The Shrine" are all about how much everyone loves and appreciates Rodney.
It's not a coincidence that those are two of my favorite episodes of the show. Because Rodney is my favorite character - I enjoy watching the other characters love him as much as I do.
The trick is - and here's where writers get confused - those episodes are not why I love Rodney. I loved Rodney already; those episodes simply reinforced my love for him.
Fans who don't like Rodney do not like those episodes, I've noticed. They get annoyed that Rodney's getting screentime instead of their favorite characters - they also, I believe, get annoyed watching their favorites love a character they don't love. Anytime a favorite character thinks or feels or does something you disagree with, it causes cognitive dissonance. So you tend to either ignore the cause, forget the episode happened; or you find a way to explain it - Sheppard's a good team leader, it's not that he loves Rodney, it's just that he's responsible for him. (While all of us Rodney fans gawk in uncomprehending disbelief at such rationalizing, since one of the reasons we love Sheppard is because he loves Rodney!)
If you're neutral about a character, "everybody likes the char" tends to leave you cold - it doesn't cause that negative dissonance, but it leaves you a bit confused - you aren't that worried for the character, so it's hard to sympathize with the concern of the characters you do like. Additionally, "everybody likes the char" plots often don't show the beloved char themselves in the best light - they're helpless, in need of rescue; they're not being the heroes. It's not a character's best side, usually.
If you already like the character, that's not a problem. When you like a character, you sympathize with them. Helplessness is more a neutral trait than a negative one; unless you already view the character in a negative light, seeing a character helpless probably won't make you like them any less. But it won't make you like them any more, either. So an "everybody likes a character" episode for a character you're neutral about will wind up being uninteresting to you - will be boring. And any character that bores you, you start to dislike.
This is one of the major problem with Mary Sues - Mary Sue stories are one long "everybody loves Mary Sue" romp, and with a dearth of other reasons to like Mary Sue, the audience gets bored, gets resentful of being made bored, and starts to dislike Mary Sue. While as if you like the so-called Mary Sue for some reason or other - because you're the writer and she's you, or the girl of your dreams; because she reminds you of yourself; because she's pretty or funny or whatever - then you'll like the story, and will disagree that the character is a Mary Sue (since part of the definition of Mary Sue these days seems to be that the audience doesn't like them.)
This is also why h/c stories don't often work as well right out of the gate, why intensive h/c is more enjoyable with established characters. Hurt/comfort won't make you like a character, it only reinforces your feelings about a character. You have to like them for some other reason first.
TV screenwriters mix this up sometimes. The reason is because, if a character is liked, "everybody loves the char" episodes will be hugely popular. Rodney has many fans, and most Rodney fans love "everybody loves Rodney" episodes. Rodney's the biggest damsel in distress of the show, and a lot of us love that - but it's not why we love him (rather, it's why we like the show, for catering to our Rodney-love. But the Rodney-love originated somewhere else, I believe.)
But it's easy to mistake the direction of causation. So, realizing that many fans didn't especially like Keller, the SGA writers tried to do "everybody likes Keller" with "The Seed", hoping to work the same magic as with Rodney - except it backfired, because if you don't like a character, "everybody likes that character" will just reinforce your dislike of that character. Those people who do like Keller will enjoy it (well, maybe not "The Seed," because it was a problematic episode on multiple levels) - but it won't do anything to change the mind of fans who don't; it'll just make them feel more negative. "Why does she get all the love? She doesn't deserve it!"
I think this might be why many fans who were fairly neutral about Keller last season are finding themselves disliking her more this season. The "everybody likes Keller" vibe of some of the episodes is grating on us, pushing a mild disinterest/dislike into increasingly negative response. (I wonder if it would've been wiser on the writers' part to flip it around - in "Trio" Keller was liking Rodney more than vice versa, and even Rodney fans who don't like Keller can respond to that - of course she likes Rodney, don't we all! And we all like to see Rodney being liked. Now the storyline is more focused on Rodney's like for Keller than Keller's like for Rodney, and that's not as appealing to the majority of fans.)
(Interestingly, I think there might be an odd corollary, that "everybody hates a character" works the same way, reinforcing the audience in either direction - if you already dislike the character, you'll just dislike them more; but if you like them, even mildly, and you see them being hated on, you'll start to like them more - you'll feel sorry for them, want to defend them; and often you'll start to dislike the characters who are hating on them. Smallville's Lex gained quite a few fans thanks to this perverse principle.)
"Everybody loves a character" is a great plot device (hey, I'm an h/c fan, it's one of my very favorites!) But it has to be used carefully, especially when you're writing a TV show to a broad audience, as opposed to a fanfic targeted to specific fans. For it to be effective, you have to pay attention to the audiences' tastes, and write accordingly.
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Date: 2009-10-17 02:41 am (UTC)Tony/Ziva - there's no denying the UST. It's just...they need to move the relationship beyond mutual stalking for me to really buy into it being a real possibility I guess.
SG-1 - Yeah, they certainly could have done better with the whole team aspect in S9-10. And I agree - I too thought the show was restablizing, and it was a shame it didn't get to develop any further awesomeness.
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Date: 2009-10-17 03:23 am (UTC)*shrugs* Anyway. I'll get over it as the season progresses I'm sure. Sorry about all this - I way overthink everything I think. :) I'm always trying to analyze and figure out "why" I'm reacting in a certain way, and I suppose I should just go with it sometimes. :)
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Date: 2009-10-17 09:36 am (UTC)