(no subject)
Sep. 16th, 2010 06:08 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shadowkatWell, tornado warnings are all called off now. New York is hilarious when it comes to tornado warnings. They aren't quite sure what to make of them. LIRR suspended service. Let's face it if a Tornado hit - we'd be dead. This was a weird ass storm....haven't seen anything like it.
Read this blurb in an interview with Brian Lynch regarding the Spike mini-series which more or less captures in a nutshell what I look for in leading male character or hero:
CBR asked Lynch about the dynamics of having Spike in the lead rather than as a supporting character, however prominent. "Having Spike headline a comic definitely makes for a different story than if Angel or Buffy took the lead," Lynch said. "He handles things differently, he's got a great, dark sense of humor about most situations, but above and beyond all that, he leads with his heart. He's emotional, and that can either pay off great for him, or blow up in his face. Now that he's taking the lead, he has this huge responsibility on his hands: not only to deal with the big threats but to look out for the core group he's assembled. So there are some growing pains. It's much easier to be part of a team than to lead it. And his solutions to things aren't always clean or easy.
Now here's the thing - why do so many heroic characters on tv, comics and books lack a sense of humor? Also why are villains gifted with a dark sense of humor (and a smoking habit) while the heroes don't? It's unrealistic. I have a dark sense of humor, most of my family does, and
I know or have met more than a few horrific nasty people who don't.
It's poor writing. I give Whedon a lot of credit for giving Buffy, Wash and Mal a dark quippy sense of humor, as well as Xander. Not to mention Willow. Angel and Riley would have been more interesting to me if they were a bit less stiff and had a bit more wit - both characters take themselves far too seriously. I kept wanting to say, lighten up! Have the same problems with Vampire Diaries, Lost, Smallville, and Being Human. Humor is important. Characters with no sense of humor aren't fun to watch or read...at least for me. Life is tough enough, I need to laugh, people! Supernatural - at least has wit. Dean is snarky as all get out. Is there like an unwritten rule that good guys shouldn't have a sense of humor?
Read this blurb in an interview with Brian Lynch regarding the Spike mini-series which more or less captures in a nutshell what I look for in leading male character or hero:
CBR asked Lynch about the dynamics of having Spike in the lead rather than as a supporting character, however prominent. "Having Spike headline a comic definitely makes for a different story than if Angel or Buffy took the lead," Lynch said. "He handles things differently, he's got a great, dark sense of humor about most situations, but above and beyond all that, he leads with his heart. He's emotional, and that can either pay off great for him, or blow up in his face. Now that he's taking the lead, he has this huge responsibility on his hands: not only to deal with the big threats but to look out for the core group he's assembled. So there are some growing pains. It's much easier to be part of a team than to lead it. And his solutions to things aren't always clean or easy.
Now here's the thing - why do so many heroic characters on tv, comics and books lack a sense of humor? Also why are villains gifted with a dark sense of humor (and a smoking habit) while the heroes don't? It's unrealistic. I have a dark sense of humor, most of my family does, and
I know or have met more than a few horrific nasty people who don't.
It's poor writing. I give Whedon a lot of credit for giving Buffy, Wash and Mal a dark quippy sense of humor, as well as Xander. Not to mention Willow. Angel and Riley would have been more interesting to me if they were a bit less stiff and had a bit more wit - both characters take themselves far too seriously. I kept wanting to say, lighten up! Have the same problems with Vampire Diaries, Lost, Smallville, and Being Human. Humor is important. Characters with no sense of humor aren't fun to watch or read...at least for me. Life is tough enough, I need to laugh, people! Supernatural - at least has wit. Dean is snarky as all get out. Is there like an unwritten rule that good guys shouldn't have a sense of humor?
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2010-09-16 10:51 pm (UTC)I have a lot of thoughts on the subjects of the broody guys, but that's the gist of it. And I will always love Spike for the reasons Brian mentions: his sense of humor and his heart.
no subject
Date: 2010-09-18 01:54 am (UTC)Granted, I don't consider Angel a hero, nor do I think Whedon ever intended him to be one - he appears to be written more as an anti-hero actually. But that said - in Buffy, as nice-guy brooding Angel, he barely cracks a smile and is all sturm and drang. But as Angelus, he's gleeful,
witty, and laughs.
Same deal on Vampire Diaries - Katherine is sarcastic, snarky and witty, Elena - not so much. Same with Anna and Vicky vs. Caroline. Or Aunt Jenna vs. Isobel. True Blood - has similar issues...although I will give Tara credit for her wise-cracks, along with Lafayette. True Blood is a tad more diverse in its casting choices than any of the other vamp shows out there. But you are right nice guy Bill is far too serious, and bad boy Eric is hilarious.
What's up with that? Can't the writers figure out how to make someone who is brooding funny? Marvel actually did figure it out - in one of the X-men arcs - where broody Scott Summers (Cyclops of the X-men)- started cracking jokes, very dry witty jokes. But it took them ten-fifteen years to get there. And it didn't last.