Do you ever wonder how you choose which character becomes your favorite on a television series? What are your criteria? Do you attach yourself to characters that are fun? Nice? Relatable? Have intricate backgrounds? Suffer from an ailment? Or is the attraction unexplainable and differs with each genre? From Tony Soprano to Dr. Gregory House, how do we choose? And what storyline keeps us most fascinated? Let’s take a look at three of my own favorites.
ally admits to needing therapy and actually sought it out. Unresolved issues abound, this character throws some of the wrenches into her own life, and then puzzles at how and why the wrenches managed its way into the mechanism of her world. Second up, Dexter Morgan of the series Dexter. By day Dexter is a forensic scientist specalizing in blood-spatter, by night, a serial killer—who lives by the “Code of Harry” (his adopted father). His sociopathic tendencies can be directly traced back to the traumatic childhood murder of his parents. Dare I say post-traumatic stress syndrome? This character is dark and claims to have no human emotions, yet his intricacies keeps me watching. The season two finale has Dexter sailing away into the sunset with his on-again girlfriend Rita and her two children. He’s cultivated human bonds and realizes he needs them, even if it makes him vulnerable. What troubles will season three bring I wonder…
Lastly, this season, I had to bid farewell to one of my favorite CSI investigators: Sara Sidle. Since she landed on the crime scene in 2000, Sara’s confidence, sassiness, and her disregard for authority, landed her onto my list of “great” to watch characters. During the first couple of episodes, Sara managed to ruffle the feathers of many of the other CSI, making her somewhat of an outcast, and as we learn—a loner. She had an abusive father who battered both his wife and his children, and was later killed by Sara’s mother. Her mother landed in jail, and Sara landed in foster care—at the age of thirteen. Despite her disposition, Sara managed to graduate from Harvard to become one of the top forensic scientists in her field. But her childhood incident later leads to alcoholism, challenges in her career, depression, and inevitably, her choosing to face “the ghosts of her past,” by leaving Las Vegas.
In her last episode “Goodbye and Good Luck,” which aired November 15, 2007, Sara places her vest in Ronnie's (a new CSI) locker and on her way out of the building she passionately kisses Grissom (they were newly engaged) in the hallway. The scene ends with Sara in a cab, driving away, and the words in the letter that she had left for Grissom heard in a voice-over narration saying: "Know that you are my one and only. I will miss you with every beat of my heart. Our life together was the only home I've ever really had. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I love you. I always will. Goodbye." I almost cried… but as sad as it was for me to watch Sara leave, I couldn’t envision a better exit then that of a character choosing her mental health. The viewers will miss you Sara Sidle!
Even though they are fictionalized characters that provide us with a sense of entertainment, they all have a very real common factor: the struggle for identity. It is that kind of journey—the journey of self-discovery that attracts me to these characters, these shows, their world. With no internal conflicts, these characters would be an empty shell with no relatable factors and we would all cease to care about what happens to them. That is how I feel. Great shows produce great characters that in your imagination will live lives long after the show has ended. Take Sex and the City for example. What a reunion the movie was! And how about Lorelai Gilmore of the Gilmore Girls? I still imagine seeing her sipping coffee at Luke’s everyday of the week.
What do you think? Who are your favorites? And why?
-Caylee So
No comments:
Post a Comment