Characters that you cannot conceive of anyone ever disliking

[lesbiassparrow]

I've got them, I am sure pretty much everyone else does: the character you fall so madly in love with that you are always completely startled when everyone else cracks out the hate. And then when you see that loathing posted far and wide you twitch a bit and feel compelled to defend them to the death, with pistols at dawn. Maybe you'd even risk ending up on fandom wank.

Okay, I am really hoping that's not just me.

One of my eternal fannish loves is Jeremy Brett as Sherlock Holmes. Holmes was my first fandom and I was on a list filled with madly conservative people who constantly annoyed me and yet I hung in there for the Holmes and the Brett love. The closest I've ever gotten with being involved in a flame war was over the position of Victorian women and Brett's portrayal of Holmes. Honestly, I genuinely don't get it when people hate him and call him an overacting hack.* This is probably because I lack imagination and other essential things which would make me a better and more intellectual person, but in this case I don't care because I am quite clearly right about the wonderfulness of Jeremy Brett I have many scientific reasons that would convince you if only you'd listen.

I was wondering who is that character for people on my flist. Who do you honestly think is such an excellent character that you really boggle when people crack out the hate? Or if there's no one, why is that?


*And I strongly suspect that when people say this the baby Jesus cries.



Carolina won! Not by much but I do not care one little bit! Please let us not fold in the next game!

Sorry about the random hockey squee but these are exciting times.

Comments

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

Late Jeremy Brett is not quite as good. Early Jeremy Brett is the best Holmes ever, and I cannot imagine that it will ever be done as well again. (See also the Fry/Laurie Jeeves and Wooster.)

If anybody ever put down the Eccleston Who, I should explode.

Some people love Buffy the show and hate Buffy. I do not get that. She is the hero -- not the titular character, the hero. She's the one who goes to the darkest places and fights her way out.

[lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com]

Late Jeremy Brett suffers from his illness and the, ahem, 'artistic' style of some of the directors. And I know there will be other Holmes whom people will like, but I cannot imagine that you could have any reason for thinking his Holmes is rubbish.

I imagine watching Buffy with mad love and hating Buffy must be a very frustrating, not to mention schizophrenic experience.

As for CE's Who...well, I haven't met anyone who hates it yet, so I don't know how far I might go in my haste to defend his honour.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

> I know there will be other Holmes whom people will like,

As long as it isn't Rupert Everett, because there was no defending that performance or that script.

[lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com]

You see, I am one of those people who would probably buy a jamjar if you wrote Holmes on it, and thus I didn't really mind the Rupert Everett one because I'll watch anything with Holmes. He's my crack.

Though I wouldn't say it was good. Or something I really want to see again.

[jonquil.livejournal.com]

The words "foot fetish" and "Sherlock Holmes" should *never* appear together. IJS.

[lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com]

Nor should a scene where Watson's wife educates Holmes about sexual criminals. That ate at my soul a bit.

[chelseagirl47.livejournal.com]

Some people I know had a problem with Eccleston from the pre-publicity about how he was ambivalent about having taken the role, and how we all knew he was only staying for one season even before we'd seen a single episode. "Disrespect for the character" was the phrase I heard more than once. All of them changed their minds after seeing his performance, though.

[lesbiassparrow.livejournal.com]

I never get the respect for the character bit. I would much rather an actor who was good and didn't care a fig for the long, oh so long, backstory of the Doctor, than one who was rubbish and loved him.