Interesting post! It's something I often think about, but I could never really put it into words, so I'm glad you did. ^_^
I don't believe you can construct an argument to convince people to like or dislike a character. It's not a rational decision. It's not a question of fitting some objective standards. It's a question of taste and you cannot ever say you MUST or you MUST NOT like this character.
Well said. Especially the part about not fitting objective standards, I think, because it varies from character to character even for the same person.
For me, it goes all over the place. Sure, a lot of the ones I like are really nice people (Sam Gamgee); but there are others who, although they are basically good, still have plenty of flaws (Remus). And then there are others that I wouldn't stand in real life, but as characters I adore them (the Musketeers!).
I honestly can't think of any specific flaws that put me off a character. For example, I never really liked Indiana Jones, but I couldn't tell you why. Yes, I could mention some reasons: he's a womanizer, he gets away with killing people, he's the Action Hero type. But I do like other characters with those same traits. Sometimes I like them because of those traits (hi, D'Artagnan!).
In general, with a few exceptions, I don't really know why I like the characters I like and not others. But I do know that liking a character doesn't mean I approve of everything they do.
As for finding them sexy... well, that is difficult. I couldn't really say what makes a character sexy per se, because I usually like their personality too (unless it's something obvious like "they're played by a really hot actor", of course ^_^ ).
I'll say something that might come of a surprise, though: I never find anime/manga characters sexy, not for their looks, at least. I can tell when they're supposed to be sexy (Kurogane), or I can find them sexy because of their personality and/or attitude (Clooow...), but it always puzzles me when people say "so-and-so is so hot!" about these kind of characters. I just can't get past the "2D drawings without noses" thing.
no subject
I don't believe you can construct an argument to convince people to like or dislike a character. It's not a rational decision. It's not a question of fitting some objective standards. It's a question of taste and you cannot ever say you MUST or you MUST NOT like this character.
Well said. Especially the part about not fitting objective standards, I think, because it varies from character to character even for the same person.
For me, it goes all over the place. Sure, a lot of the ones I like are really nice people (Sam Gamgee); but there are others who, although they are basically good, still have plenty of flaws (Remus). And then there are others that I wouldn't stand in real life, but as characters I adore them (the Musketeers!).
I honestly can't think of any specific flaws that put me off a character. For example, I never really liked Indiana Jones, but I couldn't tell you why. Yes, I could mention some reasons: he's a womanizer, he gets away with killing people, he's the Action Hero type. But I do like other characters with those same traits. Sometimes I like them because of those traits (hi, D'Artagnan!).
In general, with a few exceptions, I don't really know why I like the characters I like and not others. But I do know that liking a character doesn't mean I approve of everything they do.
As for finding them sexy... well, that is difficult. I couldn't really say what makes a character sexy per se, because I usually like their personality too (unless it's something obvious like "they're played by a really hot actor", of course ^_^ ).
I'll say something that might come of a surprise, though: I never find anime/manga characters sexy, not for their looks, at least. I can tell when they're supposed to be sexy (Kurogane), or I can find them sexy because of their personality and/or attitude (Clooow...), but it always puzzles me when people say "so-and-so is so hot!" about these kind of characters. I just can't get past the "2D drawings without noses" thing.