Character Studies, in brief

Both my sister and my husband tagged me with this on Facebook:

Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen FICTIONAL characters (television, films, plays, books) who've influenced you and who will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes.  

Forget the "Rule of 15"- after almost three days, I barely came up with a dozen, and I decided to call it quits there. I don't know why I find these things so difficult, but due to general indecisiveness, a reluctance to play favorites, or whatever other reason, I do. Here's my list, such as it is, in no particular order:

Meg Murry

Jo March

Betsy Ray

Nancy Drew

Harry Potter

Katniss Everdeen
Samwise Gamgee
Penny Lane
Buffy Summers

Lorelai Gilmore
Liz Lemon

James "Sawyer" Ford

I'm not tagging, but post your own list if you're so inclined!

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My 16-year-old is a big fan of those "Which (TV show/book/movie) character are you?" online quizzes. I don't usually play along, but in the spirit of this topic, I tried out a few.

Which Harry Potter character are you? Hermione Granger No surprise. Harry made my list because I think he's the most-developed character in the series, but I most identify with Miss Granger. However, I'd be Sorted into Ravenclaw, not Gryffindor (although sometimes I'm sure I'm really a Hufflepuff...)

Which Hunger Games character are you? Prim Everdeen

Which Simpsons character are you? Lisa

Which Mad Men character are you? Peggy Olson

I took the following quizzes especially for Katie, the aforementioned 16-year old:

Which Buffy the Vampire Slayer character are you? Willow 

(favorite question from this quiz: "How many times have you died?")

Which Battlestar Galactica Cylon are you? Sharon Valerii (#8) 

And in the more general "Which BSG Character...?" quiz, I am Boomer/Sharon...or, basically, the same result!

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I met a memorable character last weekend - fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross, narrator and central focus of True Grit. I'm not a big fan of Westerns, generally - and even less a fan of Westerns associated with John Wayne - and had been mostly lukewarm about seeing the remake of the 1969 movie. However, as I heard more and more favorable word about the new film, I became more interested; my husband, who shares neither my general ambivalence toward Westerns nor my particular aversion to those associated with John Wayne, was already intrigued. We saw the movie the day after Christmas, and I highly recommend it. My understanding is that this version follows the novel that inspired it more closely than the first film version did, focusing more on the girl who seeks to bring her father's murderer to justice than on the U.S. Marshal who reluctantly helps her, Rooster Cogburn (played by John Wayne in the 1969 movie and by Jeff Bridges in the new one) - and now I really want to read the book and meet Mattie in her original form.


Your turn - take a character quiz, or share some favorite characters in comments!