O.T.H.E.R. (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} other) wrote,@ 2009-06-12 00:20:00 |
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Personality on TV
I'm watching the fourth season of The Wire right now and I've been thinking about the characters a lot. The stand out from this season is Snoop, but there is a lot of interesting stuff going on with the kids as well. I'm trying to figure them out.
It's very realistic. It's strange how it seems even more realistic when the story gets a little stylized and the characters do something that makes you say 'WTF!'. As if it were so odd that it could only be based on something that actually happened. On another show you might give it as an example of how the show is unrealistic and yet it works here.
It then struck me how weird it is how in my psychology class the grad student teaching the class keeps using particular tv characters. Is she using characters from shows like The Wire that feel real and whose personalities have depth to them? No, she uses characters from Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, and cartoons. Empty sitcom cutouts that are there simply to repeat lame jokes. We did a section on stereotypes and that would be a great time to use something from The Wire, but no, every example of stereotypes involved characters from Big Bang Theory. We've watched lame clips to learn about social psychology, including the Chicken Joke, Klingon Boogle, and Barney's awesome job application video. Do I have a better insight into the nature and inner soul of humanity from those videos? No, they were as helpful as they were funny.
It's funny that I was thinking all this earlier today and one of my roommates just volunteered that he likes How I Met Your Mother because of the great characters that he cares about. Wha? The characters have zero personality. Yes, even Barney. Don't believe me? Let's play a game. Tell me something about Robin. You know, about her personality. Okay, we know that she is Canadian and she likes guns, but those are just random items they bring out on occasion for a joke or two and they don't inform us about her personality at all. Tell me something about her. Go ahead. I'll wait. [*waits*] You couldn't do it, could you? There is nothing to say. She has no personality. There is nothing there to describe.
Now take Snoop. We don't know much about her and I'd have a hell of a time trying to explain her personality to someone who hasn't seen the show, but damn she exudes personality. That scene in the hardware store that opens up the fourth season? Whoa. If she didn't scare the hell out of me, that is someone interesting I'd want to know.
Another great thing is that the characters actually change and grow. Carver, for example, takes criticisms to heart and evolves. This reminded me of a postradtea made about how the writers will do anything to avoid letting Dr. Gregory House grow as a character.
I'm watching the fourth season of The Wire right now and I've been thinking about the characters a lot. The stand out from this season is Snoop, but there is a lot of interesting stuff going on with the kids as well. I'm trying to figure them out.
It's very realistic. It's strange how it seems even more realistic when the story gets a little stylized and the characters do something that makes you say 'WTF!'. As if it were so odd that it could only be based on something that actually happened. On another show you might give it as an example of how the show is unrealistic and yet it works here.
It then struck me how weird it is how in my psychology class the grad student teaching the class keeps using particular tv characters. Is she using characters from shows like The Wire that feel real and whose personalities have depth to them? No, she uses characters from Big Bang Theory, How I Met Your Mother, and cartoons. Empty sitcom cutouts that are there simply to repeat lame jokes. We did a section on stereotypes and that would be a great time to use something from The Wire, but no, every example of stereotypes involved characters from Big Bang Theory. We've watched lame clips to learn about social psychology, including the Chicken Joke, Klingon Boogle, and Barney's awesome job application video. Do I have a better insight into the nature and inner soul of humanity from those videos? No, they were as helpful as they were funny.
It's funny that I was thinking all this earlier today and one of my roommates just volunteered that he likes How I Met Your Mother because of the great characters that he cares about. Wha? The characters have zero personality. Yes, even Barney. Don't believe me? Let's play a game. Tell me something about Robin. You know, about her personality. Okay, we know that she is Canadian and she likes guns, but those are just random items they bring out on occasion for a joke or two and they don't inform us about her personality at all. Tell me something about her. Go ahead. I'll wait. [*waits*] You couldn't do it, could you? There is nothing to say. She has no personality. There is nothing there to describe.
Now take Snoop. We don't know much about her and I'd have a hell of a time trying to explain her personality to someone who hasn't seen the show, but damn she exudes personality. That scene in the hardware store that opens up the fourth season? Whoa. If she didn't scare the hell out of me, that is someone interesting I'd want to know.
Another great thing is that the characters actually change and grow. Carver, for example, takes criticisms to heart and evolves. This reminded me of a post
radtea made about how the writers will do anything to avoid letting Dr. Gregory House grow as a character.
