Characters you're sick of seeing.

Discussion in 'The Lounge' started by JessaNova, Aug 13, 2010.

  1. JTheGreat

    JTheGreat New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2010
    Messages:
    381
    Likes Received:
    10
    Location:
    Everywhere and Nowhere
    In fact, the term "Mary Sue" came from a Star Trek story in a magazine. Just a little tidbit.

    I really kind of hate the "tsundere" female characters. Tsundere, for those who don't know, is a term describing a girl who is part-jerk and part-sweetheart. The times when it really annoys me is when the girl is potrayed with the tsun (the meaness) on the outside. Characters like these are usually potrayed as cruel and horrible to their very nice male suitor. Then, when the dere comes out she just expects him to hold her in his arms and comfort her.

    I mean, it's kind of acceptable when she's just a little mean, but when it gets to the point of borderline physical/emotional abuse, I am no longer rooting for this character.

    Of course, all tropes can be deconstructed and reconstructed. It's justnot done very often with this one.
     
    Christopher Snape. likes this.
  2. Gigi_GNR

    Gigi_GNR Guys, come on. WAFFLE-O. Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2009
    Messages:
    12,140
    Likes Received:
    257
    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Oh god, THESE. ^ Absolutely, absolutely hate characters that fit those descriptions.

    This probably isn't a good description, but I hate, hate, HATE the Nicholas Sparks-type character, the kind that's full of cliches and poor writing (Sparks books are so cliche and crap it's not funny). Probably not a good description, unless you've read his books and know what I mean.
     
  3. Peerie Pict

    Peerie Pict Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2009
    Messages:
    722
    Likes Received:
    29
    Location:
    Scotland
    I hate it when you come across a supporting character who is merely concocted so the protagonist can get their rocks off. Usually it is male writers writing their fantasy women. Yawn.
     
  4. Xeno

    Xeno Mad and Bitey Contributor

    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2008
    Messages:
    4,777
    Likes Received:
    53
    Location:
    Stratford-upon-Avon, England
    I don't know if you would consider this a type of character, but I've always had a dislike for characters that seem to have no obvious advantage over any of their supporting characters, yet always survive due to nothing else but BEING THE MAIN CHARACTER. I know I may be missing the point a little, but the feeling that the person you're rooting for could be killed any minute heightens the tone of a film for me.
     
  5. Lemex

    Lemex That's Lord Lemex to you. Contributor

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2007
    Messages:
    10,704
    Likes Received:
    3,425
    Location:
    Northeast England
    I know what you mean, and female writers are not exempt from this either.
     
  6. Gigi_GNR

    Gigi_GNR Guys, come on. WAFFLE-O. Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 25, 2009
    Messages:
    12,140
    Likes Received:
    257
    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    This happens in a lot of movies I've noticed. How characters are basically all equal and yet the main character is exempt from the carnage. Which is why I like it when the movie isn't afraid to kill off the main character (or person who appears to be the main character, a la "Psycho").
     
  7. Lemex

    Lemex That's Lord Lemex to you. Contributor

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2007
    Messages:
    10,704
    Likes Received:
    3,425
    Location:
    Northeast England
    ^ Jacob's Ladder is one of my favourite films simply because of that.
     
  8. minstrel

    minstrel Leader of the Insquirrelgency Supporter Contributor

    Joined:
    Jul 11, 2010
    Messages:
    10,742
    Likes Received:
    9,991
    Location:
    Near Sedro Woolley, Washington
    I hate seeing tortured artist types. Anyone totally consumed by their own angst. Characters whose heads are so far up their own butts they can't get over themselves, if you can fit that image into your minds (and you're all writers, so you can).

    I don't mind artists or other characters who are put upon by external forces and still manage to carry on. I mind the ones who only think they're put upon by external forces. The rebels without a cause. Rebels WITH a cause are fine, but if they're just rebelling because they're rebellious, screw 'em.
     
  9. Link the Writer

    Link the Writer Flipping Out For A Good Story. Contributor

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2009
    Messages:
    15,021
    Likes Received:
    9,676
    Location:
    Alabama, USA
    Is Charles Dickens an example of the tortured artist?

    IMO, I was somewhat put off by his stories. Yes, I know, living in the streets (or being anything not royal or high status) of Victorian-era London could NOT have been be a pleasant experience, but still, no one's luck is as bad as he made his chararacter's to be. (I'm looking at you, Mister Oliver Twist.) I mean, sheesh, it was like 99% of the characters either wanted Oliver's blood or wanted to see the boy as miserable as humanly possible. The ones who stood up for him (the 1% mind you) were either totally ignored or killed outright.

    I almost said out loud to Oliver, "Kid, just go to the nearest port and ask to be pressed into the Royal Navy. If anything, you'll die like a hero for your countrymen."
     
  10. Aconite

    Aconite New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 29, 2010
    Messages:
    178
    Likes Received:
    3
    Location:
    Albany, NY, USA
    Since we aren't limiting this to books, I guess:

    The Mel Gibson character. By which I mean, many movies after Mad Max in which Mel Gibson plays Mel Gibson. Put him in a kilt, and he's William Wallace. Make him a little loopy, and he's Riggs of Lethal Weapon. Make him a Revolutionary American, and he's the lead in The Patriot. Kidnap his son, and he's what's-his-face from Payback. This is not to say Gibson is necessarily a bad actor, just that I get tired of that character. You know the one. Self-important, utterly convinced that he's right, willing to walk through fire for his ideals... zzz.

    Tom Hanks' aw-shucks/apple pie Everyman character (slow version: Forrest Gump; WW2 version: Saving Private Ryan; soliloquy version: Castaway, etc.) is also another candidate for this, as is Tom Cruise's boy who wouldn't grow up, or John Travolta's arrogant blowhard character. Despite playing the same character role after role, some actors like Steve Buscemi escape this curse, and I'm not quite sure why (maybe I just like their one note better.)
     
  11. Phlogiston

    Phlogiston New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 8, 2010
    Messages:
    74
    Likes Received:
    4
    Location:
    UK
    Bear in mind, Dickens wrote his books as serialized fiction, like soap operas, so to make money he needed regular jeopardy and suspense.

    Having said that I must admit Dickens is the one classic author I cannot stand to read.
     
  12. Mercurial

    Mercurial Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2009
    Messages:
    3,451
    Likes Received:
    116
    Agreed; apparently his books were like Harry Potter of his time --people were lining up outside of bookstores for the next chapter. Despite the popularity in his time, I cant see what they were on about. :rolleyes:

    I agree with Mallory over the fact that I cant stand it when particularly a female character will play into the very traditional role of the wife the moment she meets her 'one true love.'

    In the 'characters we love' thread I mentioned that I like characters who are neither good nor bad and have both redeemable and repulsive qualities; the focused and noble heroes, bad-to-the-bone villains, and clumsy yet loyal best friends bore me. That is to say I suppose that I just dont like stereotypes in general, unless that is in fact the point of the character. I cited American Psycho in the same post, and I do think the yuppie colleagues of Bateman were cardboard cutouts, but they worked very well for the piece and were perfectly suited for the message Brett Easton Ellis was trying to get across.
     
  13. Link the Writer

    Link the Writer Flipping Out For A Good Story. Contributor

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2009
    Messages:
    15,021
    Likes Received:
    9,676
    Location:
    Alabama, USA
    A friend of mine wanted me to list what she was sick of.

    She's sick of disabled characters being protrayed as:

    1) Crazy psychopathic killers.

    2) Existing only to be pitied on and inspired from. (and I don't mean like "Hey, that's a brave dude for killing that huge dragon that was a million times his size." inspired, I mean inspired like he wins a race or something mundane that anyone can do.)

    3) Being the big, brazen, tough person that's overly arrogant.
     
  14. Peerie Pict

    Peerie Pict Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    Sep 10, 2009
    Messages:
    722
    Likes Received:
    29
    Location:
    Scotland
    I couldn't agree with you more. In cult fiction characters like these 'tortured' narcissists are designed to be hip and alternative. In real life they're called w*****s. Lol.
     
  15. solarstarrkatt

    solarstarrkatt New Member

    Joined:
    May 20, 2010
    Messages:
    68
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    Indiana
    I don't think I can put it in a category, so I'll just throw it on the table:

    If you've read House of Night, then you know about Zoey, and all of her special gifts and her hot boyfriends and her "totally awesome friends" and Neferet is just so awesome- but really, I hate Zoey. I hate main characters that have all these special things about them and constantly say so. And then something happens so they're miserable but it's too late!!! They're already special and unique and have all these things and no one else has anything!! No turning back!
    (And I've read the books to three, so I know what happens ;))
    I could rant more, but this isn't the thread.
    Long story short: Spoiled characters that act humble but wait! Something bad happens so we're supposed to love them again! :O
     
  16. jonathan hernandez13

    jonathan hernandez13 Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    May 12, 2009
    Messages:
    5,039
    Likes Received:
    64
    Location:
    Mount Vernon New York


    Very true, crazy people make very convenient bad guys. All too often the insane are depicted inaccurately and without compassion. When I was studying psychology (independently, not in any real school:D) I sort of became sensitive to certain conditions (the 'film a beautiful mind' was a very thoughtful and touching exception)
     
  17. Aconite

    Aconite New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 29, 2010
    Messages:
    178
    Likes Received:
    3
    Location:
    Albany, NY, USA
    Watch King of Hearts (from 1966, starring Alan Bates), jon. You'll like it.
     
  18. jonathan hernandez13

    jonathan hernandez13 Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    May 12, 2009
    Messages:
    5,039
    Likes Received:
    64
    Location:
    Mount Vernon New York
    wow, 1966 eh? that's an oldie:D

    I forgot to mention Fisher King too with Robin Williams:rolleyes:
     
  19. miss_darcy

    miss_darcy New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 4, 2010
    Messages:
    82
    Likes Received:
    2
    Location:
    United States
    Hmmm the type of characters I'm sick of seeing? Well, only 2 come to mind: 1. Egotistical Know-it-alls and 2. The Geeky guy always managing to get the hottest girl

    Mostly number 1 though!
     
  20. Nervous1st

    Nervous1st New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2009
    Messages:
    188
    Likes Received:
    3
    Location:
    Australia
    It's probably already been said but i'll add:

    The cop, detective, investigator, whatever who is a single woman, no kids, celibate, workaholic, lives in an apartment, never has any food in the fridge, lives on frozen meals, smart ass, hard as hell, emotionless blah blah blah. AKA - Sandra Bullock.

    Please can we have a cop, detective whatever who is a mother, a wife, a sister. Cries when it's sad or laughs when it's funny. Someone who has friends or God forbid a family and someone who sometimes gets it wrong.
     
  21. jonathan hernandez13

    jonathan hernandez13 Contributor Contributor

    Joined:
    May 12, 2009
    Messages:
    5,039
    Likes Received:
    64
    Location:
    Mount Vernon New York
    I almost forgot to mention, the arrogant and hubristic 'mad' scientist who threatens to destroy the world or humanity with his/her creation.

    In real life scientists have given us life-saving vaccines and liberate us from ignorance, often without any hope of reward other than a chance of being published and a firm handshake or pat on the back. Without them and engineers we would still be using smoke signals to communicate instead of cell phones, but they are often negatively portrayed with such a tired old cliche. Often scientists are very humble and inspiring people, like my idol Carl Sagan.
     
  22. Xeno

    Xeno Mad and Bitey Contributor

    Joined:
    Jun 28, 2008
    Messages:
    4,777
    Likes Received:
    53
    Location:
    Stratford-upon-Avon, England
    See The Naked Gun for a FANTASTIC parody of this character. :D
     
  23. Link the Writer

    Link the Writer Flipping Out For A Good Story. Contributor

    Joined:
    Sep 24, 2009
    Messages:
    15,021
    Likes Received:
    9,676
    Location:
    Alabama, USA
    What I will refuse to read now, is naval battles in the 1800s. Historical fiction is choked full of books set in the early 1800s England and the hero’s some dashing swordsman. (I am looking at you, Mister Richard Sharpe!)

    Don’t get me wrong. I don’t mind the books and the history but still, I would really like to read a book set in the early 1800s (I don’t care which country) that has absolutely NOTHING to do with sailing.

    I can pretty much tell you that if there’s a book about ships in the 1800s, it’s set in England during the Napoleonic Wars and the hero’s in his mid-twenties, a loner, is not married (or is a widower).
     
  24. Lemex

    Lemex That's Lord Lemex to you. Contributor

    Joined:
    Oct 2, 2007
    Messages:
    10,704
    Likes Received:
    3,425
    Location:
    Northeast England
    I always found Dicken's characters to be pretty good, and his depition of poverty could - with a few things changed yes - still apply today. But of course, I do live in England.
     

Share This Page

  1. This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
    Dismiss Notice