Paper characters

People do a funny thing with fictional characters that are identified as heros or protagonists. We expect them to be perfect.

I know I am guilty of this. A prime example was my traditional opinion of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I love the show, but I always bash Buffy the character for being "whiny". I have read other fan blogs that cut her character down because she is supposed to be "feminist" but she places so much importance on the men in her life. But really, does caring about individual males or crying when things go wrong make her un-feminist? Considering all the shit she goes through on a daily basis, doesn't she have a right to whine every now and then? Why do we hold "feminist" females up to such high standards that they can no longer possess any flaws?

There is also a tendency to assume that protagonists need to be likeable and as soon as a character does something unlikable it is seen as a flaw in the story. Why? Maybe the writer wanted to highlight a negative character trait. Maybe the irony of a main character being as selfish and boring as the people she criticizes is intended as a comment on society. We don't mind character flaws if they are just neat little quirks or if our protagonists are able to overcome them easily enough, or if they are dark and haunted enough to give the protagonist an almost superhuman aura. But as soon as a character becomes truly conflicted, or awful, or deluded, or annoying, we tear them apart.

And so I apologize to Buffy for ever considering her to be a whiny bitch. Just because you have physical strength everybody expects you to be strong all the time. That's not fair. Most of us can't manage to be strong on our best days so we shouldn't place such unrealistic expectations on you.

I apologize to Spiderman for making mocking boo-hoo noises towards him. Dude, for all my flippancy, being a superhero must be fucking difficult. Never mind what effects being a human-spider hybrid would have on your sense of identity.

Next time you find a literary character unappealing in some way, consider this: maybe that's the point.