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

[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.