Continuation of previous post

[itsnotmymind]

I was thinking about my previous post, where I talked about how it bothers me when some characters get bashed, and not others, and how there seems to be little connection between how much I like the character in question and how much seeing bashing of that character annoys me. It occurred that me that how much it bothers me might be dependent on how the character him or herself likes to be perceived. Owen (Torchwood) and Willow (BtVS) want to be seen as badass, so it doesn't bother me when fans vilify them. Riley (BtVS), Buffy (BtVS), and Gwen (Torchwood) all want first and foremost to be seen as good guys, so I get annoyed when they receive unfair criticism. Newly souled S7 Spike is the Spike who is least interested in appearing badass, so that is the incarnation of Spike I get most defensive of.

What about you? Do you find yourself getting more defensive of some characters than others, even if they aren't your favorites?

Comments

[selenak.livejournal.com]

Do you find yourself getting more defensive of some characters than others, even if they aren't your favorites?

Interesting correlation, and I certainly was and am far more bothered by Gwen bashing than Owen bashing despite Owen having been my favourite while he was around.

Defensiveness on behalf of characters who weren't/aren't favourites include in my case Scott Summers in the X-Men movieverse back in the day, Angel, Wesley before he got popular (my, was Wesley hated at first during orignal broadcast in s3 of BTVS and when he took Doyle's spot in s1 of AtS - this turned around after torture by Faith, which swung a lot of fans to his side, but Wesley-as-most-popular-male-character didn't come into being until s3), Fred back in the day, and currently Amy Ponds on DW. I think I've even found myself defensive on Rose Tyler's behalf once or twice and she's probably my least favourite Companion and regular/recurring character in the entirety of New Who. (It's the virulence of the attacks and the generalisations which did it for me.) These days when reading the occasional BTVS related post I find myself getting defensive on behalf of Xander, which I never did during my more active days of original boradcast fandom, when he was far more loved then he seems to be currently. So - wanting to be the good guy thing applies to all these characters with Angel being a more complicated cast (aware he's not and trying to be?), but I think you can also draw a correlation as to whom fandom at large has it particularly in for and my rooting for the fannish underdog. It's probably why I never felt the slightest urge ever to defend Spike. Far, far too popular at least in the fannish circles I lurked or was active in.

(Favourite characters I get defensive of would make an entirely different list and would contain some outright villains as well as some heroes.)

[itsnotmymind.livejournal.com]

I get defensive of characters even if they are popular. My reaction to encountering someone who hates on a popular characters usually starts off with, "Yes! Finally someone who doesn't blindly adore so-and-so!", but very quickly turns into, "But--but--you can't say that about so-and-so! That isn't fair!"

I missed most of the Wesley hostility, although I do occasionally see people who hate him because they consider his kidnapping of Connor unforgivable (which is counterbalanced by the people who insist that he did absolutely nothing wrong and Angel's gang were complete hypocrites in kicking him out). I take the middle ground of that particular controversy--I think Wesley was acting out of the best of intentions, but his stupid choice to confide in Holtz instead of Fred and Gunn led to such terrible consequences that Angel's gang had a right to be angry.

I mildly dislike Rose Tyler, and don't really get defensive of her, but I feel a certain amount of solidarity with her fans because the hostility towards Rose reminds me of the hostility towards Gwen.

I have noticed a lot of Xander hostility lately, which actually doesn't bother me that much in and of itself. It's only when Xander hostility is combined with Spike praise that I get annoyed, especially if Xander is being put down in order to make Spike look better.

[kikimay]

I get very defensive about Buffy. I read a lot of Buffy-bashing and I became very sensitive about it. Also, in the latest years, I felt very empathic towards the chosen one.
Like you, I'm very defensive about Spike in Season Seven, because is the incarnation of Spike most criticized (At least, I saw many criticism about it). He's my favorite character, after all.
And, for example, I like Angel very much, but I don't care if he receive criticism. Many fans I know, think that Angel is the perfect man, and I don't think so.

[itsnotmymind.livejournal.com]

I have seen lots of criticism of Spike in early seasons, but I just don't care as much.

I don't think I know any fans who think that Angel is the perfect man, but I am sure they exist. I like Angel, but he is not a favorite, and I don't find myself getting overly defensive of him.

[kikimay]

Not perfect in the sense "good", but more wiser, more brave, more fair in relationship ... yes, I've read a lot of this opinion, and I like Angel but I believe that he has a lot of imperfections. So, I think a criticism is needed.