Write Back Weekend "As Seen On TV"
Yesterday, in a sleepyheaded stupor, I accidentally signed in to Blogger Beta versus regular ol' Blogger. Already I see headaches because of the move. For instance, I kept getting an unable to process request error, although magically, it is publishing. I know the font is different too and I can't seem to fix that right now either. At least it's legible and not in Chinese or anything like that. I also had a problem when adding images to this post. It kept wanting to put the images at the top and I didn't know how to move them. If you know how to work around any of this, let me know.
In the midst of all of this I let a few Rent My Blog bids expire. This is something that has never happened to me. If anything, I mock those who are too busy to remember to pick a renter. I am swinging by to apologize to the potential rentees, but in the meantime, I want you to welcome the last bid standing- Observing Hermann. I just discovered Hermann myself, but from I can tell he writes about everything from German nurses to endangered techno music. Please click to learn more about what is in "Hermann's head".
As much as I loved last week's TITMT question, I quickly realized just how hard it was to answer. For those of you took the challenge and answered on your own blog, I commend you. You clearly do not shy away from daunting blogging tasks.
To review the question was this...
What fictional character on television, past or present, do you (or did you) most relate to and why?
I particularly enjoyed MCF and Tim's approaches. MCF decided to create a list of rich characters, each one different from the next. If you know MCF at all, you can see the commonality in them all. Meanwhile Tim said tv characters aren't real and thus there is no one character that he felt most like. They are "characectures" of real, live human beings. Instead he chose to pick characters that he wanted to be.
I like to think my answers compliment both of these approaches. Like Tim, I never felt like I completely identified with one character on television, although there were moments that I related to a decision they made, an action they took or an emotion they felt. If I'm being honest, I think I spent much more time probably wishing I was someone on television than actually being like them. This is why I also relate to MCF. There are many characters that seem very different from each other, but when you get down to it, you can see how they are actually alike. It's like one big Venn Diagram of television characters. I think it would be cool if in some parallel universe, we could have an eclectic dinner party of all of our "alter egos" to see if they would indeed get along with each other or spontaneously combust.
Without further adieu, here is the list I managed to put together:
1 .Liz Lemon of 30 Rock- If I'm being honest, I always related to Tina Fey the person. Her character on 30 Rock, a talented yet insecure Liz Lemon, is probably not all that far off from what she is really like in real life. I admire the fact that she is smart AND funny. A lot of times you find one or the other in Hollywood, but rarely do the funny women get featured, much less earn a position of power. Of course part of me envies this, too.
2. Jim and Pam of The Office- This is the first in what I consider my "hybrid" choices. I love The Office and Jim and Pam's painful pining has been a major part of why. But this isn't the reason why I chose them. I chose both of them because they remind me of the short-lived experiences I had while working in an office (another post, for another time). I love how they are both clearly sane while everyone around them is not and how they manage to cope with this by coming up with their own inside jokes to make the office more bearable. They also sort've remind me of when my boyfriend and I first met, in an office of all places.
3. Mr. Kotter of Welcome Back Kotter- I threw Mr. Kotter in here because I felt I needed to include at least one teacher from television and after him, the cast of Boston Public and Howard Hessman, my mind was drawing a blank. I picked Mr. Ka-ter because he got involved in his students lives outside of school. Granted he worked in high school and I teach third grade, but he saw them as people, not just numbers, and I like to think I see my students that way, too.
4. Adrian Monk of Monk- While Adrian Monk is far more eccentric than me, I sometimes feel he is an exaggerated version of myself. I have quirks and oddities about me that make me unique. I am not OCD, but some of the things that Monk is bothered by I can predict even before he says them. Sometimes it's because I know the show so well, other times it's because they bother me as well. Either way, Tony Shaloub somehow manages to make the irritating seem endearing.
5. Brian Krakow of My-So Called Life- At first when I thought about My-So Called Life the character that naturally came to mind was Angela Chase. But then I thought about it some more and realized that I wasn't really anything like Angela. She spent so much time trying to fit in, even ditching her old friends in the process. I did relate to many of her voice-over, Angelaisms though. No, the real person I probably most identified with was Brian. I chose Brian because I remember being in high school and watching some former friends change before my eyes, while I felt like I was staying the same, not trying to be anybody but myself.
6. Becca Thacher of Life Goes On- Growing up I loved the character of Becca on Life Goes On. I love how within four short years she went from nerdy wallflower to the popular, smart girl. In high school, she is what I aspired to be. She wanted to be cool, but she also enjoyed hanging out with her family, something often dubbed "not cool" by high school standards. She had her core group of friends, but she was open to new experiences. She seemed wise beyond her years, something I heard at the time a lot which was both a blessing, and a curse.
7. Jo Polniaczek of Facts of Life- Here's the interesting thing about choosing Jo. I can't really put my finger on what it is about her that made me identify with her so much. I wasn't a tomboy. I wasn't tough. And yet, I felt more like her than anyone else on that show. Weird, right? Facts of Life was one of my favorite shows growing up. I suppose there were moments when I related to all of them in different ways, but for me Jo was always the voice of reason. The other girls had a lot more identity crisis issues. Jo was always good ol' reliable...Jo.
8. Felicity Porter of Felicity- If we could have followed Becca Thacher to college I think she might've been a lot like Felicity Porter. On the surface, Felicity was a very smart and well-balanced girl. But every once and awhile she would make monumental mistakes that reminded us that she was only human. I think I related to Felicity for three main reasons. She crushed on a boy she didn't know from afar for no apparent reason other than what she made up in her head. Of course even I would have drawn the line at following him to college. The other reason is because throughout the entire time Felicity was on the air she remained torn between being the "good girl" and being the rebel. As most good girls will tell you, even when they manage to rebel, true rebels see them as posers. It's really quite frustrating. Finally I relate to Felicity because her college experiences paralleled mine in time. I loved coming home to the dorm and watching Felicity go through many of the same trials and tribulations either myself or my friends were going through simultaneously.
9. Lorelai and Rory Gilmore of Gilmore Girls- When I first sat down to write this list, Lorelai Gilmore was the very first name that came to mind. Then I thought about it some more and realized that I'm not completely Lorelai, but I'm also not completely Rory. In many ways, Lorelai is a bit over the top that sometimes even I think I would be annoyed by the way she comes across. On the other hand, Rory is sometimes too complacent. This is why I see myself best as a healthy mix of the two. This is mainly because I completely get 99% of their obscure references and I love how they have a slew of inside jokes that they can pull out of their hats on a moments notice. They have a short-hand with each other that I still have with a friend of mine from college. Whenever I hear someone say The Gilmore Girls are annoying I tell them then they probably wouldn't like me much.
10. Dorothy Zbornak of Golden Girls- Once upon a time I loved watching The Golden Girls. Only if you had asked me back then why I loved the show so much I would have told you it was because I loved Rose. I loved how much of a lovable dimwit they made her out to be, and the St. Olaf stories still get me to this day. After Rose my second favorite was probably Sophia. As a kid I probably would have never chosen Dorothy because I hadn't really acknowledged how much I appreciated her yet. I think back then I would have seen her as the funny, yet manly one. Now I am more mature and can objectively say I still love Rose, but I am most like Dorothy. I love her deadpan, saracastic reactions to everything around her. Sometimes she said so much without saying anything at all. I like to think I have a little Dorothy in me, too.
11. Chandler Bing of Friends- Before there was The Gilmore Girls there was Friends. Thus before there was Lorelai Gilmore, there was Chandler Bing. In theory, I think Lorelai Gilmore and Chandler Bing would have made the perfect couple as they both are the female/male counterpart for the other. I feel the same way about the actors who played them, both of whom are still single. Ellen Degeneres felt the same way and begged Lauren Graham to try to work things out with Matthew Perry. Graham said they did try dating, but it just didn't work. I guess there is such a thing as being too much alike. At any rate, before there was a female who I most identified with on television, the person I felt was the most me was Chandler Bing, hands down. He always had something to say to fill awkward silences and managed to go for the laugh even when it wasn't always necessary. I was never the class clown, but amongst the people I know well, I'm very Chandler-fied.
So there you have it. I enjoyed answering this question because it required a certain amount of honesty. You really have to analyze how you see yourself. In a related question, I think I'd like to ask other people what characters from television they see me like. I would only show them my answers after they have come up with their own. It would be interesting to see how much they did or didn't overlap.
In the midst of all of this I let a few Rent My Blog bids expire. This is something that has never happened to me. If anything, I mock those who are too busy to remember to pick a renter. I am swinging by to apologize to the potential rentees, but in the meantime, I want you to welcome the last bid standing- Observing Hermann. I just discovered Hermann myself, but from I can tell he writes about everything from German nurses to endangered techno music. Please click to learn more about what is in "Hermann's head".
As much as I loved last week's TITMT question, I quickly realized just how hard it was to answer. For those of you took the challenge and answered on your own blog, I commend you. You clearly do not shy away from daunting blogging tasks.
To review the question was this...
What fictional character on television, past or present, do you (or did you) most relate to and why?
I particularly enjoyed MCF and Tim's approaches. MCF decided to create a list of rich characters, each one different from the next. If you know MCF at all, you can see the commonality in them all. Meanwhile Tim said tv characters aren't real and thus there is no one character that he felt most like. They are "characectures" of real, live human beings. Instead he chose to pick characters that he wanted to be.
I like to think my answers compliment both of these approaches. Like Tim, I never felt like I completely identified with one character on television, although there were moments that I related to a decision they made, an action they took or an emotion they felt. If I'm being honest, I think I spent much more time probably wishing I was someone on television than actually being like them. This is why I also relate to MCF. There are many characters that seem very different from each other, but when you get down to it, you can see how they are actually alike. It's like one big Venn Diagram of television characters. I think it would be cool if in some parallel universe, we could have an eclectic dinner party of all of our "alter egos" to see if they would indeed get along with each other or spontaneously combust.
Without further adieu, here is the list I managed to put together:
1 .Liz Lemon of 30 Rock- If I'm being honest, I always related to Tina Fey the person. Her character on 30 Rock, a talented yet insecure Liz Lemon, is probably not all that far off from what she is really like in real life. I admire the fact that she is smart AND funny. A lot of times you find one or the other in Hollywood, but rarely do the funny women get featured, much less earn a position of power. Of course part of me envies this, too.
2. Jim and Pam of The Office- This is the first in what I consider my "hybrid" choices. I love The Office and Jim and Pam's painful pining has been a major part of why. But this isn't the reason why I chose them. I chose both of them because they remind me of the short-lived experiences I had while working in an office (another post, for another time). I love how they are both clearly sane while everyone around them is not and how they manage to cope with this by coming up with their own inside jokes to make the office more bearable. They also sort've remind me of when my boyfriend and I first met, in an office of all places.
3. Mr. Kotter of Welcome Back Kotter- I threw Mr. Kotter in here because I felt I needed to include at least one teacher from television and after him, the cast of Boston Public and Howard Hessman, my mind was drawing a blank. I picked Mr. Ka-ter because he got involved in his students lives outside of school. Granted he worked in high school and I teach third grade, but he saw them as people, not just numbers, and I like to think I see my students that way, too.
4. Adrian Monk of Monk- While Adrian Monk is far more eccentric than me, I sometimes feel he is an exaggerated version of myself. I have quirks and oddities about me that make me unique. I am not OCD, but some of the things that Monk is bothered by I can predict even before he says them. Sometimes it's because I know the show so well, other times it's because they bother me as well. Either way, Tony Shaloub somehow manages to make the irritating seem endearing.
5. Brian Krakow of My-So Called Life- At first when I thought about My-So Called Life the character that naturally came to mind was Angela Chase. But then I thought about it some more and realized that I wasn't really anything like Angela. She spent so much time trying to fit in, even ditching her old friends in the process. I did relate to many of her voice-over, Angelaisms though. No, the real person I probably most identified with was Brian. I chose Brian because I remember being in high school and watching some former friends change before my eyes, while I felt like I was staying the same, not trying to be anybody but myself.
6. Becca Thacher of Life Goes On- Growing up I loved the character of Becca on Life Goes On. I love how within four short years she went from nerdy wallflower to the popular, smart girl. In high school, she is what I aspired to be. She wanted to be cool, but she also enjoyed hanging out with her family, something often dubbed "not cool" by high school standards. She had her core group of friends, but she was open to new experiences. She seemed wise beyond her years, something I heard at the time a lot which was both a blessing, and a curse.
7. Jo Polniaczek of Facts of Life- Here's the interesting thing about choosing Jo. I can't really put my finger on what it is about her that made me identify with her so much. I wasn't a tomboy. I wasn't tough. And yet, I felt more like her than anyone else on that show. Weird, right? Facts of Life was one of my favorite shows growing up. I suppose there were moments when I related to all of them in different ways, but for me Jo was always the voice of reason. The other girls had a lot more identity crisis issues. Jo was always good ol' reliable...Jo.
8. Felicity Porter of Felicity- If we could have followed Becca Thacher to college I think she might've been a lot like Felicity Porter. On the surface, Felicity was a very smart and well-balanced girl. But every once and awhile she would make monumental mistakes that reminded us that she was only human. I think I related to Felicity for three main reasons. She crushed on a boy she didn't know from afar for no apparent reason other than what she made up in her head. Of course even I would have drawn the line at following him to college. The other reason is because throughout the entire time Felicity was on the air she remained torn between being the "good girl" and being the rebel. As most good girls will tell you, even when they manage to rebel, true rebels see them as posers. It's really quite frustrating. Finally I relate to Felicity because her college experiences paralleled mine in time. I loved coming home to the dorm and watching Felicity go through many of the same trials and tribulations either myself or my friends were going through simultaneously.
9. Lorelai and Rory Gilmore of Gilmore Girls- When I first sat down to write this list, Lorelai Gilmore was the very first name that came to mind. Then I thought about it some more and realized that I'm not completely Lorelai, but I'm also not completely Rory. In many ways, Lorelai is a bit over the top that sometimes even I think I would be annoyed by the way she comes across. On the other hand, Rory is sometimes too complacent. This is why I see myself best as a healthy mix of the two. This is mainly because I completely get 99% of their obscure references and I love how they have a slew of inside jokes that they can pull out of their hats on a moments notice. They have a short-hand with each other that I still have with a friend of mine from college. Whenever I hear someone say The Gilmore Girls are annoying I tell them then they probably wouldn't like me much.
10. Dorothy Zbornak of Golden Girls- Once upon a time I loved watching The Golden Girls. Only if you had asked me back then why I loved the show so much I would have told you it was because I loved Rose. I loved how much of a lovable dimwit they made her out to be, and the St. Olaf stories still get me to this day. After Rose my second favorite was probably Sophia. As a kid I probably would have never chosen Dorothy because I hadn't really acknowledged how much I appreciated her yet. I think back then I would have seen her as the funny, yet manly one. Now I am more mature and can objectively say I still love Rose, but I am most like Dorothy. I love her deadpan, saracastic reactions to everything around her. Sometimes she said so much without saying anything at all. I like to think I have a little Dorothy in me, too.
11. Chandler Bing of Friends- Before there was The Gilmore Girls there was Friends. Thus before there was Lorelai Gilmore, there was Chandler Bing. In theory, I think Lorelai Gilmore and Chandler Bing would have made the perfect couple as they both are the female/male counterpart for the other. I feel the same way about the actors who played them, both of whom are still single. Ellen Degeneres felt the same way and begged Lauren Graham to try to work things out with Matthew Perry. Graham said they did try dating, but it just didn't work. I guess there is such a thing as being too much alike. At any rate, before there was a female who I most identified with on television, the person I felt was the most me was Chandler Bing, hands down. He always had something to say to fill awkward silences and managed to go for the laugh even when it wasn't always necessary. I was never the class clown, but amongst the people I know well, I'm very Chandler-fied.
So there you have it. I enjoyed answering this question because it required a certain amount of honesty. You really have to analyze how you see yourself. In a related question, I think I'd like to ask other people what characters from television they see me like. I would only show them my answers after they have come up with their own. It would be interesting to see how much they did or didn't overlap.
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