With you 100% on Downton Abbey~ Though I rather liked Mary's streak of petty vindictiveness, it made her more real and relatable to me. I see how it makes a good deal of sense with her situation and character, and I did "enjoy" the juvenile realism of the relationships between all the sisters in the first season because I feel like it's something that tv and movies don't often get right. But in the end it's a very difficult character trait for me to deal with . . .
I did find many of the characters much harder to relate to than they had previously been, but I think that's the thing--they're very definitely young adult characters, and they feel like young adult characters, and that makes it sometimes difficult to directly connect to them, in the way it's difficult to be anything but a certain type of friend to a twelve-year-old. That's a very good point, and something I often find happening with YA stuff for me (and I seem to recall a similar conversation between us about Harry Potter--I just feel removed from all the student characters). I wasn't quite sure if that was the deciding factor here, though, or if there was just something about these particular characters and it wouldn't have mattered if they were adults. It's nice to get someone else's confirmation on that.
I felt like in the end they just gave the hero the girl because That's What Happens In Fairytales. Dear god, this! It wasn't a show I needed to see much romance in, to be honest, but Katara/Aang was something that really didn't need to happen.
I don't like Katara much. :/ I realize this is an Unpopular Opinion but there have been very few female characters I have found more irritating than her. I was debating saying something about her along these lines, but decided to just skim over it. I wanted to like her a great deal more than I did. There's a lot there that I should have liked. And I was, in particular, impressed that they routinely surprised me with where they took her characterization: giving her an extra twist or layer that I wasn't expecting and that took her that step beyond a generic female lead character. I liked her combination of traditionally feminine/nurturing traits and more assertive, aggressive ones. I like that she had some pretty flagrant flaws and screw-ups that got dealt with very openly. I thought her relationship with Sokka had some really good sibling dynamics to it. And overall I liked watching her well enough.
But then there were just times when I found her So Insanely Annoying I had to stop watching for awhile.
*sigh* But usually I'm the one who adores the Female Character Who All the Fangirls Loathe and Attack from One End of Fandom to the Other (Gwen Cooper <3, Allison Cameron <3, Ammyyy <3), and lord knows I don't want to play into that nastiness, so . . .
I'm hoping Korra will give me a broader selection of female characters.
It's just so rich and elaborate and fantastic, and I find myself from time to time wishing I could go, I don't know, vacation there or something. Yes! I love a good fantasy world so much--often more than I like the characters in it, as happened here. And this was a very good fantasy world.
This Has Been Zayne, Giving Unsolicited Opinions. Have A Nice Evening. LOL! But I did solicit them! Right at the top of the post ; ) Thank you.
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I see how it makes a good deal of sense with her situation and character, and I did "enjoy" the juvenile realism of the relationships between all the sisters in the first season because I feel like it's something that tv and movies don't often get right. But in the end it's a very difficult character trait for me to deal with . . .
I did find many of the characters much harder to relate to than they had previously been, but I think that's the thing--they're very definitely young adult characters, and they feel like young adult characters, and that makes it sometimes difficult to directly connect to them, in the way it's difficult to be anything but a certain type of friend to a twelve-year-old.
That's a very good point, and something I often find happening with YA stuff for me (and I seem to recall a similar conversation between us about Harry Potter--I just feel removed from all the student characters). I wasn't quite sure if that was the deciding factor here, though, or if there was just something about these particular characters and it wouldn't have mattered if they were adults. It's nice to get someone else's confirmation on that.
I felt like in the end they just gave the hero the girl because That's What Happens In Fairytales.
Dear god, this! It wasn't a show I needed to see much romance in, to be honest, but Katara/Aang was something that really didn't need to happen.
I don't like Katara much. :/ I realize this is an Unpopular Opinion but there have been very few female characters I have found more irritating than her.
I was debating saying something about her along these lines, but decided to just skim over it. I wanted to like her a great deal more than I did. There's a lot there that I should have liked. And I was, in particular, impressed that they routinely surprised me with where they took her characterization: giving her an extra twist or layer that I wasn't expecting and that took her that step beyond a generic female lead character. I liked her combination of traditionally feminine/nurturing traits and more assertive, aggressive ones. I like that she had some pretty flagrant flaws and screw-ups that got dealt with very openly. I thought her relationship with Sokka had some really good sibling dynamics to it. And overall I liked watching her well enough.
But then there were just times when I found her So Insanely Annoying I had to stop watching for awhile.
*sigh* But usually I'm the one who adores the Female Character Who All the Fangirls Loathe and Attack from One End of Fandom to the Other (Gwen Cooper <3, Allison Cameron <3, Ammyyy <3), and lord knows I don't want to play into that nastiness, so . . .
I'm hoping Korra will give me a broader selection of female characters.
It's just so rich and elaborate and fantastic, and I find myself from time to time wishing I could go, I don't know, vacation there or something.
Yes! I love a good fantasy world so much--often more than I like the characters in it, as happened here. And this was a very good fantasy world.
This Has Been Zayne, Giving Unsolicited Opinions. Have A Nice Evening.
LOL! But I did solicit them! Right at the top of the post ; ) Thank you.