Who wouldn't want to hang out with Glinda and Elphaba from "Wicked"?
As many of you know (or have read on my ol’ blog), I was pretty upset when J.K. Rowling decided to kill off one of the Weasley twins (FRED!) in her seventh and final book in the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Fred and George are among my favorite characters. I seriously felt betrayed by Rowling and upset over Fred’s death for weeks. Then I was upset about being sad over something so trivial. I soon discovered that I could simply deny it ever happened and go on with my life. Problem solved.
One night my best friend Sarah and I were chatting about the silly rumors of Fred’s death and I asked her why I got so upset about it. She said this to me: “I read a book and I think, ‘That’s a nice story.’ You read a book and the characters become part of your family.” She was dead-on! I get terribly attached to fictional characters and I’m willing to bet some of you out there feel the same way.
Why else would grown men wear the logos of comic book characters across their chests? (Think Superman or Batman t-shirts!) Why do women still want to meet Cinderella and visit her castle at Disney World? We do find ourselves terribly connected to these characters. Who wouldn’t want to grab a coffee with Harry Potter and talk about the whole Voldemort problem or go bowling with Jack Bauer from “24”? (Although something action-packed is bound to happen if you’re with Jack!)
When I get bored in any given situation, I think—what would this be like if ________ was here? It’s actually a pretty fun game. Suddenly waiting in line at Wal-Mart is tons more fun if Spiderman is trying to catch Hobgoblin through the chaotic aisles of the store. Pointing out “little blue cars” during my traffic jams makes me think of Shawn and Gus from “Psych” out trying to solve some new case.
I always tell people that a well-crafted character is one that you can imagine inviting over for dinner and conversation. It just so happens that I like to pretend it actually happens once in a while.
Here’s a question for you. If you could have any fictional character from literature, movies, comics, whatever, over for dinner who would it be and why? Please post your answers in the comments section.
HONK YER HORN