- Joined
- Apr 18, 2010
- Messages
- 27,203
- MBTI Type
- INTJ
- Enneagram
- 5w6
- Instinctual Variant
- sp/sx
Thanks for the thought-provoking comments. Yes, video game characters are fair game; I just won't know who you are talking about, since I don't play them.
About Beatrice: do you relate to her because you think you are like her, or she embodies how you would like to be, or your "ideal person"?
I have had this thread idea for some time now. I have always read voraciously, and from time to time have a very strong identification with a character. For me, it is almost a physical sensation, like my whole being is flooded by some imaginary current as the character-as-thought-form goes to ground through me. The effect is less strong with movies, I think because the sound and images leave less to my imagination than the bare words on a page. I am trying to understand this better.
I used to find it curious that the characters I related to in this way seemed so dissimilar, and often quite unlike me. I was looking at external variables then, though: occupation, age, family background, skill set, etc. When I started to study personality theories, however, I realized that what we shared was a common way of seeing the world, of communicating, of solving problems and dealing with adversity. With some of my favorite antiheroes or villains, it is like seeing what I might have been had circumstances been different: "there but for the grace of God . . . "
I take it, then, that you identify primarily with characters who are like yourself. Do you find at least one such character in most books you read?I can identify with the characters in books I read, I can read a book if a character differs from me in some respects, I'll give it a chance, but if those differences are too great then I'll lose interest and stop reading.
Interesting observation. Turtledove mentioned something similar. So identifying with a character for you has more to do with the author's skill than with any particular likeness between yourself and the character?I've only really identified with a few characters in the past. And usually only on a few levels. When I relate a character to myself, I normally have an inkling that the author has an aspect of themselves or someone they know very well that also has those same resonating qualities- or some great insight into human nature- to be able to reach out to the audience well enough to resonate with them.
Same for me. I liked Mr Rochester as well. About the "illogical" characters: I wonder if they are easier to understand in fiction, where the reader is often privy to internal thoughts and feelings that remain hidden from us in real life interactions. We can understand them because we have their backstory, the context and motivation for their actions.A lot of characters that I "identify with" aren't all that similar to me at all, but I can see where they're coming from. Which is rarer than you'd think, because I tend to have a problem with "illogical" characters in movies/books/TV -- not that they're illogical but that thinking that is my first instinct, because I can't relate to them. (This is much more of a problem for me with female characters than male characters, and 99% of the time the problem is with romantic heroines, in movies or books.) So when I really relate to a character's thought processes easily, that's a moment to be savored.
Almost always, the characters I identify with are thinkers -- and usually introverted thinkers. Often they're moody and dark, and usually they're the love interest to the character that I'm SUPPOSED to identify with. e.g. Mr. Rochester from "Jane Eyre".
About Beatrice: do you relate to her because you think you are like her, or she embodies how you would like to be, or your "ideal person"?
I sometimes also turn the tables and imagine what my favorite characters would do in my shoes. Your perspective is very similar to my own, especially the highlighted.Characters that I identify with? Oh yeah, definitely similar; characters who present a mask to the outer world, but inside, tend to be secretive, dramatic, passionate, introspective, and cynical. Those are the characters I identify with the most, and that's me to a T. I also, 99% of the time, identify with the villains, or anti-heroes of the story far more than the regular heroes, as those characters tend to fit those criteria far more often. They almost always have a backstory similar to mine, though admittedly, theirs is more interesting (for now; I have quite a number of years to go, though ).
It's more or less like I'd say "yeah, that's exactly what I'd do right there". It's almost like living vicariously through the character, and the more similar to you the character happens to be, the more you enjoy being in their shoes.
I have had this thread idea for some time now. I have always read voraciously, and from time to time have a very strong identification with a character. For me, it is almost a physical sensation, like my whole being is flooded by some imaginary current as the character-as-thought-form goes to ground through me. The effect is less strong with movies, I think because the sound and images leave less to my imagination than the bare words on a page. I am trying to understand this better.
I used to find it curious that the characters I related to in this way seemed so dissimilar, and often quite unlike me. I was looking at external variables then, though: occupation, age, family background, skill set, etc. When I started to study personality theories, however, I realized that what we shared was a common way of seeing the world, of communicating, of solving problems and dealing with adversity. With some of my favorite antiheroes or villains, it is like seeing what I might have been had circumstances been different: "there but for the grace of God . . . "