tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5711195880526876235.post3358031380445009905..comments2024-03-09T03:30:45.524-05:00Comments on Mad Hatter's Bookshelf & Book Review: GUEST POST | What Does It Mean to Be Compelling? by Robert Jackson BennettThe Mad Hatterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14135107584625716128noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5711195880526876235.post-6921784568243019222012-07-18T22:39:29.476-04:002012-07-18T22:39:29.476-04:00That's true, but he wasn't the focus of th...That's true, but he wasn't the focus of things the first season. I think his escape from the boy's village (S1? S2? Can't remember) is where I started rooting for him - not to be a great dealer or whatever, but just to find a way out. <br /><br />The bit where he had to kill Wallace was just heartbreaking, because it took him over the edge of "I kinda like this kid" to "oh, god, what did this life make him do."<br /><br />My chronology's all messed up, though, I know. I'd have to (horrors!) watch the series again to track his arc more accurately.JD Paradisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07945134213244873038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5711195880526876235.post-71803309787738828302012-07-18T20:11:16.599-04:002012-07-18T20:11:16.599-04:00Eh, I'd say in the first season Bodie (you'...Eh, I'd say in the first season Bodie (you're right, I got the name wrong) was tremendously unsympathetic. As the nature of drug dealing in Baltimore changed, though, he became more sympathetic. But in the first season... beating a drug addict half to death, punching out a 50-something cop, and, well, being part of probably the most tragic event in the first season, if not the whole show... I'd say he wasn't particularly sympathetic at all, not in the first season.Robert Jackson Bennetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03812267646273425604noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5711195880526876235.post-3809252500342069172012-07-18T15:47:08.632-04:002012-07-18T15:47:08.632-04:00Bodie Broadus was sympathetic not just because he ...Bodie Broadus was sympathetic not just because he was a victim of the system but because he had <i>heart</i>. Say what you want about what he was about, he was going at what he was doing with a will.<br /><br />His death was affecting because he continued to stand on his "old game" principles against the "new game". In hindsight, what makes that so tragic is that the "old game" was hyper-violent compared to the "old-old way" when the drug trade was all taking place under the covers.JD Paradisehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07945134213244873038noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5711195880526876235.post-34193900953897269402012-07-18T12:37:24.232-04:002012-07-18T12:37:24.232-04:00There are a lot of grey characters that I love in ...There are a lot of grey characters that I love in Game of Thrones as well. Jaime and Cersei are probably the best examples; throughout the narrative thus far (let's say season 2 for those who haven't read the books), they've confounded the more heroic characters. But their realism and doggedness translate into compelling, and for that reason I find them far more interesting than say the Stark children.Sam Xhttp://www.cosmicvinegar.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5711195880526876235.post-1586272577137476942012-07-17T13:40:46.453-04:002012-07-17T13:40:46.453-04:00Draper is an excellent example of a negative compe...Draper is an excellent example of a negative compelling character. Well drawn villains, too, capture that.Paul Weimerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02444942522624902562noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5711195880526876235.post-24355198733443859992012-07-17T13:10:39.010-04:002012-07-17T13:10:39.010-04:00The example of Don Draper as a compelling characte...The example of Don Draper as a compelling character we watch for reasons beyond likability and understanding is perfectly true. Same would go for Tony Soprano. There is something "realistic" about these characters that we love to watch. They don't always do the right thing or comprehensible things, and this inconsistency is what makes them enticingly human.L.B. Galehttp://www.lbgale.comnoreply@blogger.com