And then we decided that was too much pressure, so instead we're going to talk about something fun.
So without further ado, I present to you our topic of the week. Character Pet Peeves. Or rather, characters that encapsulate our pet peeves.
Diana: So, the other day I watched this movie ( Which will remain unnamed lest it is your fave flix) Anyways, one of the characters totally bugged me. She was a super hot, Butt Kicking™ computer genius . . .working for the Pentagon of course!
Renee: She's Super Woman.
Diana: I was like, Really? Can't she just be smart and work for the Pentagon? Isn't that cool enough?
Renee: That bugs me too. Where are the slacker chicks?
Diana: And its not enough that she is smart and awesome. She also has to be HOT— perfect hair, perfect bod, sassy stilettos.
Renee: And BTW, she's not just "smart," she has a genius IQ.
Diana: Natch.
Renee: But she's also quick with the hilarious and sassy one liners! She's no nerd!
Diana: Sidenote: If my husband reads this he'll think I'm being catty :)
Renee: HA. Men. But you see, it's not necessarily the character we're mad at. It's the writer!
Diana: True.
Renee: Speaking of sassy one liners, my pet peeve is the precocious, but adorable, and Infinitely Wise kid brother/sister. The kind of character that makes me wonder if the writer has ever met actual children.
Diana: Seriously.
Renee: There's also the opposite, which bothers me as well. The child as an obnoxious terror—there to read the MC's diary, embarrass them in front of the Love Interest, or run away in the last act of the book, and cause everyone to evaluate their motivations
Diana: I don't know . . . I can relate to the whole "pesky sibling" problem.
Renee: *glares*
Diana: I kid because I love!
To be fair, those characters can be good and interesting as long as they are believable—
Renee: No-no-no. This post isn't about being fair. I just want to talk trash.
Diana: Oh I can talk trash.
Renee: Bring it.
Diana: Okay. Here's pet peeve number two: The meathead jock. Recognizable in the letterman's jacket, the Meathead can be found: throwing scrawny kids against lockers, strutting down the halls surrounded by several other nameless jocks, and pulling crazy pranks
Renee: Yep. And he's always getting drunk at parties. And sleeping with the drunk cheerleaders.
Diana: Yes, yes How could I forget?
Renee: This one is similar to my other pet peeve: The Lovable Lothario.
I know I'm going to annoy a lot of people, but I didn't like Iron Man. Why? Tony Stark. He's the "endearingly" cocky bad boy, who beds women left and right, but never remembers their names. He recklessly spends his gobs of cash, and drives a motorcycle or flashy car. He's full of himself, but ya can't hate him, cuz he's witty and OH-SO-COOL. He's got "swagger" as Ke$ha would say.
Diana: Never doubt the wisdom of Ke$sha.
Renee: *nods obediently*
Diana: Remember Ren, "Boys will be boys!" ;)
Renee: Ha! That's exactly why men like the Lovable Lothario. Because they wish they WERE him. And women, well they fantasize about being The One to Tame Him.
Diana: *envisions herself taming Robert Downey Jr....*
Renee: You see?!! You're as bad as the rest. I'm disappointed in you, sis.
Diana: *hangs head in shame*
Renee: haha. Ah, this has been fun.
Diana: Nothing like starting the day with some good old fashioned trash talk...
Renee: MM-hm
Diana: Though, I think we need a picture of Care Bears hugging or something. In case we offended anyone..:)
Renee: Done. And remember, one person's pet peeve is another persons favorite, yadda yadda yadda.
What about you? What kind of character gets under your skin?
24 comments:
I'm irritated by whiny characters. Like in the book "The Devil Wears Prada." I got about half-way through it and put it down, not because I didn't like the story but because the character made me made.
Seriously. It was pages and pages of "I hate my job" without her ONCE seriously considering whether or not she should do something else. I was like "Hey, suck it up and make it work, or get out of the situation."
And there wasn't a good reason for her to stay either, except that it would get her a leg up in her career. To me, that's not a good enough reason to stay in a job when you hate it so much that you can't STOP WHINGING ABOUT IT. :)
Gah! "mad" not "made". :P
I hate the obnoxious terror - I can't watch the movie Are we there yet, because those kids are so bad. Drives me nuts.
Yes! You two are hilarious.
What about the heroine who falls in love in minutes? She is my least fav, and ridiculous, and not so smart.
The Tony Stark - like characters annoy me also. They think they're so cool (and, okay, they are) but they're annoying too.
Miriam-Oh boy, whining will do me in do. Especially when there's no conceivable reason why they won't just get out of the situation.
Patti-I know! I mean, look, my three year old son is about as rowdy and mischievous as they come, but he's never THAT bad.
Natalie-Ooo, yes. I will admit that I accept a swift falling in love, but it HAS to be done well. I need to see at least some kind of emotional/personality connection.
Writergal-haha. It's true. They're cool, and they know it. That's the problem. :)
How about the heroine that ALL the guys are in love with but seems to lack any redeeming characteristics? Not even one tiny reason why she's worth the fighting and frustration she puts the guys through--though of course she doesn't MEAN to torture them, it just comes naturally.
Sorry. I hated Twilight.
OMG Bombshell Char, YES YES YES! The chick stuck in the middle of a love triangle with two equally amazing guys yet you can't even figure out why she has friends! There's another series that I'm reading with kinda the same thing, I have this thing with not being able to stop reading books no matter how much they piss me off! I am inexplicably reading the fifth in this series, even though I swore I wouldn't :( AK!
You girls are funny. And spot-on. I don't like cliche characters, like the jock or maddening child nemisis. Give me something new, fresh, unexpected. And I know what Char and Leigh are talking about, but being a normal and unspecial kind of girl, I'd sure like two hot guys to fight over me. Although I'm happily married so it doesn't really apply.
Charlotte- So true! When I was reading it, I liked Twilight, but you are so right. What was there about Bella that made Edward( and every other guy in Forks) so crazy in love? Was it her charming clumsiness? Or maybe her "adrenaline addiction"? Oh I forgot- it was her lavender scent.
Leigh- I do the exact same thing with the show “The Bachelor.” The minute I am done with an episode I complain to my husband for like an hour about how lame and staged it all is, but somehow the next week there I am watching it again! Why????
R.S.J- Amen. A fresh character or new take on something may be what I love most in some books and movies.
I think my least favorite character right now is the overly-snarky teen who has absolutely no reason to be so condescending and world weary. You don't feel sorry for them if they have no friends/lose their friends, because honestly, you wouldn't be friends with them either. Plus, nobody's that clever all the time. There has to be some duds among those one-liners if we're in their head 24-7. Realism! It's all I ask! =)
And I have to agree with the nothing-special girl with all those perfect men fighting over her. Why?
Amanda-haha, so true! They're similar to the precocious child. A character that is more a caricature of what the adult author thinks kids or teens are like.
I get really annoyed when a character fights against destiny/talent/magic/the hand of the gods because he (or she!) just wants to be NORMAL. I mean, how many people do YOU know who would forgo a chance at heroism, greatness, or almost anything just so they could stay in high school and be like everyone else?? Drives me nuts.
Also loved your list, and your back-and-forth! So fun ;D
Ha! I had the same response to Tony Stark but I totally love Robert Downey Jr -- ever since "Tropic Thunder" he can do no wrong for me.
I gotta say, I'm kind of sick of the "schlumpy/loser guy wins heart of super hot girl" thing. Speaking as a super hot girl myself, I can tell you that I would never go for a Seth Rogen or Paul Giamatti or Woody Allen or any of those guys. That's pure male fantasy at its highest levels.
I'm sitting here laughing with my son sitting next to me (we were just browsing scooby doo cakes for his birthday when i decided to click over to your blog). He just said in a very serious (and annoyed) voice, "Mommy, there is nothing funny on the computer."
Ahh, bu there is. You two crack me up. I would just like to say that I had the quintessential pesky younger brother. Picture this: I'm Jr. High Age. We're at church with the whole family. Boys of my dreams walks by my row. Pesky sibling in midst of reverent silence points and yells, "Look Candi, there he is!!"
I rest my case.
Oh my gosh. Clearly, I cannot type with a five year old sitting next to me whining. Please line edit previous comment in you mind as you see fit. And this one too, if it needs it.
Janine-haha, totally! You know, if a sage old wizard came to me and said I was the chosen one, meant to save their world, I'd be like, "AWESOME!"
Kristen-Oh gosh, I hear you on the loser getting the hot chick fantasy. PLEASE. I knew this kid in college just like that. He liked all the prettiest girls in the building, even though none of them liked him. But he wouldn't give my average looks roommate (who secretly pined for him) the time of day. And the worst part is he would always whine about how "Nice guys finish last." UGH.
Candice-Your pesky brother story? CRACKED me up. I could picture it so clearly. It makes me laugh because I'm 100% positive that my son will be that for my older daughter. They are 3 years apart, and he is already getting on her nerves. I foresee many a squabble in the future.
Yada yada yada!?!? Haven't you ever seen Seinfeld? Don't you know what that means!?!?
Ugh I HATE the way kids are written in TV shows - that saccharine fake-assness which isn't cute to me at all, even though the audience has to go "awww". ::shudder::
lol Love this post of course, since I just vented about the overly smart kick-ass/snarky heroine myself
Empress-HA! Forgot about that. :) Good old Seinfeld.
Sophia-Exactly! On a related note, I also hate those commercials that throw in the "Adorable Kid" to try and warm our hearts or something.
I refuse to be moved. :)
You guys are so funny! I'm not a fan of the herione that falls in love the minute she sees the guy. Maybe it's just me. Oh, and love triangles. Gag!
hey, diana - i thik the sole reason y guys were falling head over heels for bella ws cos she was olways so involved in her own life nd had no tym fr them. she ws gud lukin, ws gud in studies, ws kinda melancholy nd mysterious nd yet ws smart nd 'supposedly' good. nd guys cudnt gt enough of her attention, that they were vying for... i thnk ol these made th dudes go crazy over her.. trust me ths happens in real lyf too. if bella wud b besties wd mike , eric etc then they wudnt b dat in love wd her over tym. its dat 'hard to get' bt 'dying to get' thing dat keeps th infatuation on evn though bella hs no special qualities.
Shrijita- Good point! Guys do go crazy for the hard-to-get girl. IF a girl throws herself at a guy, he often loses interest. Hmmm, maybe that's what was wrong with me in high school....;)
@diana - :PPPPPPPPPPPPPP
i hope uv got past this prob now !!!!!!!!!!! :DDD
anyways , are you on facebook ???
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