DPP: Relating

[christ-chexx-4u.livejournal.com]

Okay, WOW, I honestly don't know how it's already past midnight; last time I looked at the clock was at 9:15. Then I took a call from a childhood friend, and suddenly vague wishing about attending comic-con for the first time next year turned into actual planning, and now here I am without having posted the DPP for Tuesday. So sorry! I'll make sure to get two in today.

So we all clearly love the pilots; both as a couple and as individuals. Some of us lean more towards being a Kara person, or a Lee person, for various reasons. Today I'm curious to know: do some of those reasons include yourself? One of the many, many things that makes BSG such a great show is that while on the surface it's all robots and spaceships, the characters are real and 3-dimensional and oh so very human.

Personally, I can get into a story as long as I find the main characters intriguing; I don't necessarily need to relate to them, I just have to find them interesting. But the more I re-watch and read fic and meta, I've come to see some of myself in both Kara and Lee, and I wonder if it's one of the reasons I love them so dearly.

With Lee, I can understand his tendency to sacrifice his own desires for other people's happiness, rather than standing up and fighting for what he wants most. It's something that drives my father crazy about me; I definitely don't have the same motivations for doing so, but I often stay quiet and let someone else take the wheel. Yet, perhaps in contrast to that, I am stupidly stubborn a la Kara. I hate accepting help, I hate being offered it if I don't need it, and damn you if you tell me you don't think I can do something, because I will be completely determined to prove you wrong.

Obviously, neither of these do I take to such extremes as our headstrong pilots, but often I will think yeah, I get that, or I would have probably done the same. So what about the rest of you? What character traits do you identify with the most, and how has that shaped your viewing of the show, and your opinion of the characters?

Comments

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Personally, I can get into a story as long as I find the main characters intriguing; I don't necessarily need to relate to them, I just have to find them interesting.

I think I usually relate to characters I like on some level, but that doesn't necessarily mean I resemble them, it just means I'm able to understand where they're coming from. In the case of pilots, I understand them both, though I'm more naturally in tune with Lee. I see less of my personality in Kara but that doesn't stop me from finding her utterly compelling. But I think a lot of what drew me into their relationship had to do with chemistry and the fact that I was fascinated by them both as individuals and that the actors really made me believe these characters loved each other.

That being said, we had a similar conversation not long ago where folks analyzed themselves as Lee or Kara personalities, and I did come down as a Lee-type :) So, although I don't possess some of his best qualities (selfless courage) or some of his worst ones (his capacity for explosive anger and/or self-deception), I do find rapport with him in the smaller things -- an analytical mind, a habit of self-containment, a desire to live some kind of moral life, the pleasure of opening up to a few close friends and acting like a twelve-year-old :) With Kara, I identify with her hunger for the love and approval of the people she cares about, and the way encouragement and support can help her to exceed her own sense of limitations. The pain I see running so deep in both characters is not something I personally identify with, but it is something I sympathize with, and I see it as a way they can identify with each other. They have more common ground with one another than either one has with me, and that's just the way I like it! :)

[ddt73.livejournal.com]

I loved these characters individually, which made me loved them as a couple more. They have been endlessly fascinating to me.

I see more of Lee in me then Kara. Tending to be more quiet and reserved then the more outgoing Kara.

Over the course of the series I have learned that Lee and Kara are far more alike then they appear at first. Many times you see Kara acting like Lee in a certain situation and vice verse. One thing I like to say about them is that Kara does lives outside the box, but Lee vacations there.

Their childhoods are pretty similar, both were "army brats" moving around constantly for their respective parents careers. Both had abusive mothers, and absentee fathers. All this forced them to grow up quick. Also both know the weight of great expectations on their shoulders. Kara's mother was never satisfied with whatever she did. Lee had to follow in his father's shadow, the war hero, another no win situation.

Both are stubborn and headstrong.

They both tend to be cynical, Kara more so. Lee believes in the system. Kara believes in faith.

I can't relate to alot of the things they went through, but I can understand them.

[rachelindeed.livejournal.com]

Kara does live outside the box, but Lee vacations there.

Ha ha! So true!! I love that.