Do you think Jamie would still have as many fangirls/fanboys if he wasn't hot af? I'm not throwing stones, simply curious...
idk I think you could ask the question but it’s not really something you can measure the answer to. like maybe him being a hot character means he has collectively more fans than he might otherwise, and that’s unfortunately the trend for fanbases across all media - I think we can generally observe, without blowing any minds, that attractiveness unfortunately tends to make for a more sympathetic audience.
but no individual fan just likes Jaime because he’s hot: he has a compelling story that people have enjoyed discussing for nearly 30 years. does his attractiveness make audiences more sympathetic?? yeah probably. just like I think Brienne would have a lot more fans if she were pretty, and Tyrion would have more if he were born able-bodied.
but it would be reductive to suggest that attractiveness is a primary appeal of Jaime’s story. redemption stories are generally popular, and Jaime’s has a lot of popular tropes that are played with in interesting ways. there are countless hot characters who don’t have fanbases, because they aren’t that interesting.
so basically I think you could ask the question, but the question has much broader implications than Jaime Lannister’s fanbase, like if that’s true then next we need to ask about Dany and Sansa’s fans, and then Tyrion’s comparative lack, and then why that’s the case, and then suddenly the conversation is a lot bigger than asoiaf anyway
i do find it interesting that jaime often gets singled out with this, possibly bc he is the one major male character that is emphasized to be attractive like nearly all the women, but yeah, u can apply this argument and question to a lot of characters here. what is particularly interesting to me with this conversation with regards to asoiaf though is the medium lol. these are books, u imagine theon, jon, etc as you like. u r not actually seeing these characters
Sorry for giving my two cents, but what would actually happen if Jamie was unremarkable or straight up ugly, imo, would be that his fans would go "mmmmmm... you're wrong, George" and would pretend he's hot.
Like. That's what fandom always does. "This guy is fine looking, I guess" and you get a thousand fics talking about the hazel of his eyes and the line of his throat and how soft his hair is and the strength of his hands and the way his smile changes his face and--
Unless being ugly is a character trait that affects their development, fandom is going to pretend they're a super model and Jamie would be no different lol
Occasionally even when being ugly is a character trait that affects their development 👀
