When watching TV dramas and comedies, do you find yourself more often identifying with characters who are...?

Question

of the same sex as you or the opposite sex.

A follow-up to this http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100419181701AAnWCeB

I thought it was interesting that despite being someone who doesn't have a strong commitment to gender roles, I still tend to usually identify with female characters (though they aren't stereotypical women) but someone who I consider very feminine in many ways (more so than myself anyway) actually most identified with a male TV character.

Answer 1

Most often when I watch television or movies I identify more with characters who are of the opposite sex. Many women in television and movies are so stereotypically girly and emotional that I can't understand where they're coming from. But male charcters are not always so confined by stereotypes. It's not that I'm not a feminine person, I just don't identify with Hollywood's idea of femininity. I watch more "guy" movies than "chick flicks" because it's just so hard for me to feel that I have anything in common with the characters in typical chick flicks.



I think the only female character I've ever closely identified with on a show was probably Cyd/Codex from "The Guild." :)

And as far as movies I identified with Amelie.

Answer 2

I've tried to be open to the perspectives of some of the female characters on some tv dramas, but the fundamental difference between how men and women register different emotional reactions can be so stereotypically scripted I tend to find myself rolling my eyes at the screen, even if its a male role. When there are situations where I can start predicting the plot and the direction the character takes even without seeing the episode before I tend to lose interest...because quite frankly, everything has been done before. Maybe my expectations are too high in terms of drama formula. If I cannot predict the plot then that will most likely keep my interest.



Even though I don't watch too much TV anymore, the last drama that I did want to invest the time in and get to know the characters and where the plot was so intriguing was Twin Peaks (a David Lynch series)...and the particular character in question that I identified with the most was the protagonist: Agent Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan).



I'm not going to say why though, because when and if you've watched Twin Peaks and the movie Fire Walk with Me (after the 15th episode of the series) you tend to try and not explain anything unless someone else has watched it. I hate giving away spoilers. ;)

Answer 3

I sometimes identify with the characters but usually just someone standing nearby, with the camera being my eyes (except for some of the impossible views).



On the Mentalist, the Teresa Lisbon and Grace Van Pelt figures are both close to me in various aspects, so I don't often see me as one or the other, which is one of the few shows that force me to be an outsider even in my musings. On NCIS, neither Abbey nor Ziva are remotely close for me to personally identify with. Then on 24, Chloe's perpetual pout and high pressure work keep me at arms length. Those few episode segments of Cold Case that I've seen show Lily Rush as too plastic and contrived: Kathryn Morris plays her character like that annoying David Caruso's Horatio Caine on CSI: Miami.



As for comedies, they are simply too crass and stupid for me to identify with at all. Perhaps the most recent one that I've enjoyed was Mad About You and Bob Newhart's shows. When I need a laugh I can get a more reliable and less bothersome one on the rerun networks where Carol Burnett and Mary Tyler Moore can make me laugh comfortably.



I can't think of any men that I can identify with, but want to be with is another matter. Worse yet, I can't think of many shows that make me want to be in the show as more than an observer or the woman at the next desk kind of thing.

Answer 4

I identify more with female characters but usually understand where the male characters are coming from. The most I ever identified with a female character was Charlotte from Sex in the City. When she was married to Trey. I was never a regular viewer of the show, just watched it in spurts. I also went through a lot of frustration with an impotent husband and we went to counseling for his impotence. It actually hurt me to watch them go through the same stupid exercises that we were told to do but I couldn't quit watching. And I had to laugh a little at it too.

Answer 5

I don't usually identify with any of people on tv, I guess the only people I could really identify with in a tv show was the guy from firefly Hoban or the girl Kaylee. It's the only show I can watch without wanting to projectile vomit everywhere, that and the Colbert Report.

Answer 6

I very rarely, if ever, identify with anyone on TV dramas. I just don't see "me" in them. I can enjoy a female lead or a male lead as long as the plot is exciting and well thought out. To me, its not the gender but the level of depth in the character (in any). I might come across a character who I think "good for you" (I actually liked Samatha from Sex in the City for her ability to embrace what she wanted despite how the rest of society would view her) though that doesn't mean I would or have done the same thing.



Truthfully, I think characters on TV are usually just straw-men, cardboard cut outs of what the media THINKS we want as opposed to what is real or what the audience might prefer.

Answer 7

I actually identify myself more with the opposite sex than with a female on TV. Actually I tend to dislike a lot of female characters portrayed in dramas, they're just...really annoying!

Answer 8

I usually identify with the nerdy characters, which tend to be men. For example, I see bits of myself in the different male characters from The Big Bang Theory.

Answer 9

Did you mean me? ;-) I tend to identify more with male characters. So many times the female characters are focused on babies and manipulating men and buying $500 shoes, all things that don't interest me in the slightest. Male characters tend to be more developed in other areas.

Answer 10

It depends on what the character is like and what they're going through. Sometimes I identify more with male characters and sometimes, female. It just depends. It also depends on the mood I'm in - if I'm feeling a bit blue around the edges, that changes everything. ; )

Answer 11

I'd be your wacky next-door neighbor [name: Millie or Susie], who comes over to borrow something different every week -- but it's just a ruse so she can steal other things in your house. She puts the stolen item under her sweater, then she also steals your plunger thingy, but you catch her everytime and get the plunger thingy back -- but she still gets away with the other item still hidden under her sweater. It's a brilliant running gag that makes the audience howl -- until the sixth episode, when people start writing to the producers demanding that they kill off poor Millie or Susie because she's so predictable. Hollywood writers ARE pretty crappy these days, aren't they?

Answer 12

I just enjoy great comedy and don't identify myself with any of 'em.Well,maybe 1...George Carlyn. I could say may he rest in peace but he didn't go for any of that bologna.So i guess that makes my answer male?lets see ,women 0 men,1...yep ,that would be male.And as far as drama goes i don't understand it. Is that like for people who don't get enough drama at home or don't have a life or something?Or is that like for actors who can cry on cue?Oh well,it's a free country,i guess!

Answer 13

I primarily identify with Ted Baxter on the Mary Tyler Moore show, Sponge-Bob, Square-Pants, the Robot on the old Lost in Space show and, of course, Godzilla.



So I guess that means I'm an empty (wet) suit that's always hard (at least in my mind) when I'm not trampling cities.

Answer 14

Depends which show....I definitely DO NOT identify with the women on "Sex In the City"

Answer 15

I identify with the pets. I try not to identify, but to be out of the scene myself.

Answer 16

same sex, favourite drama is sopranos and i think tony is the perfect character, hes hilarious!



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Answer 17

I identify with no body. I only watch women for their look.

Answer 18

People identity themselves with media fantasy far too much, it's becoming a problem in modern society.