I’ve seen many TV shows in my life, and looking back, many of them were particularly hard on the Main character in some way. Sometimes they give them less than admirable personality traits, and then they throw one bad experience after another at them, they even go as far as to make nearly every one of those bad experiences the main character’s own fault in some way, which i personally feel really down plays the hero aspect of their character by a lot. Often times, the writers even go as far as to make every other character in show seem more mature than the main character in some way, and that really doesn’t seem fair.
The following is a list of shows that i feel fall under the topic’s category:
American Dragon: Jake Long
Avatar (if only to a degree, but that’s still plenty)
Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes (to a degree, but again, more than enough)
Ben 10
Code Lyoko
He-man (both versions)
Jackie Chan Adventures (more of Jade Chan than anyone else)
Justice League (if only to a degree)
Pokemon
Scooby Doo (Fred Jones in recent years)
Secret Saturdays
Spider-Man (any version)
Thundercats (2011)
Wizards of Waverly Place
Young Justice (if only to a degree)
Zevo-3 (Kewl-Breeze more than anyone else)
I myself am a budding writer, so that might have something to do with this issue, but another attribute might be that i have a very active imagination. That causes me to often remember certain scenes from certain shows and movies and then reimagine them in ways that make the characters look foolish, selfish, mean or stupid, or any combination of the four, and that just doesn’t sit well with me. What’s worse, these thoughts are often brought upon me when i think of the following forms of dialogue:
Fairy Tales are real
Fairy Tales
Just doing my job
Because that’s my job
I barely know anything
How the Real world works
Real World
Maybe i’m starting to lose my mind, but at any rate, this kind of thinking keeps me from enjoying certain other things, particularly the holidays. Anyone want to comment on my issue
I actually enjoy it when characters are given challenges, especially the main character. It removes the problem of the over-powered protagonist and provides a much more interesting story. I think a lot of people are used to the cut-and-paste fairy tale hero that’s a win-all-cure-all 24/7, whether they realize it or not. I think it hurts some people on a personal level, especially when they can relate to a character, when they get too attached to the main character. It’s not something that can be fixed. Some people just get too wrapped up in the story and begin to see the main character as a friend or family member. If someone you knew got their heart broken or lost something/someone close to them, of course you would be sad. So, I’d just say try to watch for entertainment more than anything and try to remember that these are TV shows, not real life.
As i’ve said many times before, i have a very active imagination and in recent years that has backfired on me greatly. Now whenever i try to think about TV shows and movies that i like, my mind just imagines them in ways that i don’t approve of and make the characters do things that make them look bad or stupid. It’s very disconcerting.
Recently, American Dragon: Jake Long and The Secret Saturdays have both fallen into this category and the worst part was that both shows were already particularly hard on the main characters (Jake Long and Zak Saturday)
Seriously, looking back, it felt like the show was going out of its way to make sure that every day of the lives of these characters was a disaster waiting to happen. Nearly every problem that was encountered in either show was the result of something the hero did and honestly, i think that downplays the hero aspect of their character. Fixing a mess that you caused isn’t as admirable as fixing a mess that you had no hand in, yet choose to fix anyway because someone asked you for your help.
Furthermore, in both shows, it seemed like Jake and Zak were always being criticized by everyone around them. Whenever they had an idea or felt a certain way, it always seemed like those around them were telling them that they were wrong. Jake Long is always being criticized by his Grandfather, by his parents, his little sister, even his friends, Trixie and Spud, are made to look more mature by comparison. Zak is always being corrected by his parents, even his friends, Ulraj and Wadi are always correcting him somehow, not even Fisk can ever be on the wrong side with Zak. Why go through all the trouble of making sure that every other character in the show is more matured and adult than the main character?
I’ve tried to think about the positives of both shows, but the negatives always seem to stick with me more. This is a big problem for me, since these thoughts continue to haunt me until some other bad thought takes over, and at this current time frame, that distracts me from the Holiday season.
Any one want to comment? And if you do, please tell me that there were occassions where the listed problems weren’t the case
It’s all about balance. Also, I think that it is very difficult to make the main character both heroic and flawed. What is near impossible is to make the main character be a respected hero that makes mistakes, provides comic relief, and saves the day. Perhaps the increasing trend of heroes facing too many obstacles comes from the ordinary person becomes a hero while balancing an ordinary lifestyle.
I understand what you mean, srebak. These kinds of shows sometimes get to me so much that whenever they show re-runs of them, I merely hide away and go to my computer or something until they’re finished. Especially this totally AU Disney show, ‘Stitch!’ I hate it cos Yuna (the AU friend of Stitch) is always getting bullied by this stuck-up snobbish character. Yeah, I know what you mean. But still, shows like these are bound to have happy endings. Take Generator Rex. Rex had so much thrown at him, amnesia, girlfriend siding with the enemy, being outcast, dead parents, estranged brother, the works. But it all came full-circle. Sort of, cos the enemies are still out there, as are the possibilities of a sequel.
As my last post would indicate, i was on a kick where i couldn’t help but think about the hardships that Jake Long and Zak Saturday both went through in their respected shows. Now, my mile-a-minute brain has me thinking about Gosalyn Mallard from “Darkwing Duck” and Jade Chan “Jackie Chan Adventures”.
This time, i’m being bothered by how much i feel sorry for the aforementioned characters due to the way they are scolded by the titular characters. Gosalyn by Darkwing Duck/Drake Mallard and Jade by Jackie Chan and every other adult in the series. I know that your all probably going to point out reasons why the scolding was called for, but i have to say, i feel sorry for any TV show character who gets scolded for having a sense of adventure . That’s as bad as a character who wants to live a normal life but is thrusted into a life of adventure with no regard for their feelings. Or a character being treated like they’re helpless, weak or just nothing because they’re children.
For the latter, i find it both annoying and ironic: when your a child, the adults are always telling you that you’re too small or too young, however, the moment you are old enough, they’re frequently telling you to pull your weight.
Any way, like i said, i feel sorry for Gosalyn and Jade