I’m quickly realizing that reading about flawed fictional characters isn’t only about chucking books across the room or “how dare they make this mistake. I hate them and I will never forgive them” and it’s definitely not about going online and bashing others for liking things that do not exist or you do not agree with.
No. It’s also about:
“Damn. This is peak human characterization. How refreshing that this character isn’t reduced to simply a bad or a good guy. Black or white.”
It’s also about:
“How lucky am I that literal words on paper can make me feel anger or sadness or surprise on will.”
It’s also about:
“Okay. This idea or way of thinking challenges me. Let me question why. Let me see if I can push my limits to be open before I ask others to do so.”
It’s also about:
“Wow. I never thought a character who was always smiling/angry in background went through so much in their heads, now that I’m reading their POV.”
It’s also about:
Empathy. EMPATHY.
And some of us really need to remember that if we cannot keep empathy for literal fictional characters then there must be someone suffering around us from our lack of sensitivity in real life.
Reading about flawed fictional characters is a practice in empathy. No one gets it right in the first try. But overtime, instead of overreacting or blowing up online, you start pausing. You start asking yourself “okay. I don’t agree with this. But, why? Why did they do it?” instead of immediately labeling someone good or bad/jump to conclusions.
Instead of losing patience, you start thinking about “how do I put this opinion kindly without hurting anyone?”
You start looking at the grey. Because a good character isn’t black or white. It’s recognizing that grey exists in them, and grey exists in us, and sometimes the grey is just not our cup of tea. And that’s okay. But you walk out, not flashily or abruptly, but quietly. Thoughtfully. Knowing why.
A good character will always be written with such duality. And a good character analysis from a reader will acknowledge both, the good and the bad, make a sound judgement based on facts without blindly following the crowd and do it in a way that’s neither attacking anyone nor be prejudiced by strong personal opinions.
You wanna scream at a character? Good. That means they’re probably written as closely to human behaviour as possible. Pause for a second and appreciate that.
Oh, and what do we do when we want to scream at people online over characters that do not exist?
That’s right.
Step away. Take a deep breath. And touch some grass :)
I’m rooting for you!
