Beautiful Broken Boys

It's the characters that I love. Not the men who play them. I don't know the men who play them, and if I did, I don't know if I would even like them. They might be jerks, or our personalities may clash. Let's say, hypothetically, I worked with Zachary Quinto. Let's say, he happened to ...be one of the guys in the lab at the clinic I work at. Ok, I would think he was adorable, no doubt, and from what I have been able to piece together about his personality, the way he dressed (the way a person dresses speaks volumes about them, I think) the way he conducts himself in interviews, he seems funny and disarming...slightly sarcastic, very charming, a little quirky...I think I would like him in reality very much. Maybe too much. I would probably laugh a little too loud at his jokes, you know, that type of awkwardness. I would think he was nice and sweet (if he is) and that would be the end of it.

Maybe because we are privy to more information about characters on a television show then we are about the people in our day-to-day lives (and, fictional characters can sometimes be more interesting than realy people....but again, is that because we know more about fictional characters than our real-life co-workers, neighbors, friends and family?) All the male characters I am attracted to on television shows have elements of tragedy, of sadness (all the female characters I love? Liz Lemon, et al.) It must be a wanting to take care of a broken man. Maybe it all began with my mad love affair with Trent Reznor when I was 15. His lyrics were all broken sadness, misdirected rage. Him, I wanted to take care of. Is it a maternal instinct? I don't think so. I am a mother-figure to an eight year old boy, and I don't want him to ever be broken, to ever be sad, I want him to be a strong independent young man who can make choices for himself. I want to take care of him, but in the way that I mother cares for a child. Make sure he is fed, clothed, happy, healthy, safe and smart.

Even the man I have chosen to spend the rest of my life with, my husband, Jim. I don't need to take care of him, he takes care of me if anything (this, however, comes down to a birth order thing I do believe. I am a younger sibling, I have always had my big sister to take care of me, he is an older sibling, he has always had to take care of his younger brother...plus Jim's nearly ten years older than me...we did get into it the other day a little when I snapped, "You know, when you talk to me sometimes it sounds like your talking to a child." he was getting a little over-explain-y about things, but that's another story) Jim is a capable man, and like any adult, he does have his emotional battle wounds, but he is, mentally, emotionally, very strong.

So, why Sylar? Why someone like Wentworth Miller's character, Michael, on "Prison Break"? These are both sad, broken men. Sylar is a killer, Michael is basically a reverse sociopath (if that makes any sense) I was thinking about this today, what attracts me to these kind of characters. They can be heartbreaking, but it's something about them.

Maybe it's the actors. Sylar and Michael could both easily come across as big ol' whiny babies, or totally repulsive, but I think these actors have really struck a beautiful balance. Especially ZQ, he has quite a lot on his plate. Not only does he have fantastical super-powers, he always has very real issues. Lack of identity, lack of self-worth, lack of belonging anywhere, and the character really took this to heart, and it came out in a very horrifying, homicidal way. This character could have come across ridiculous and comical, but Zachary manages to take it seriously, and therefore the character is taken seriously, even in ver un-real situations.

I won't get into the specifics of the "Prison Break" character because this blog isn't called "Wentworth Miller's Awesome Bone Structure" but, just know, he is a very selfless character, and somewhat broken.

I think about this, but then on the other hand, I think about my All Time Favorite Male Television Character, the one character that I love so much I bestowed his name upon my cat, Ryan O'Reily from "Oz." Now, this man is broken, hate-filled, rageful, sad, ...but he has more humor in his pinkie than Sylar and Michael have combined. And he's ruthless, and really doesn't care about anyone, including himself. This is all very appealing.

In the end, it is the characters. Even in the most primal sense. Do I wanna make out with Zachary Quinto? No, I wanna make out with Sylar (and Spock) Do I wanna make out with Wentworth Miller? No, I wanna make out with Michael Scofield.

And isn't that what life is really about? Who we really wanna make out with?

Oh, and why, yes, I have figured out the link feature. I missed you, Blogger!