# Ever lose in interest in a show because of the way certain characters are portrayed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 9, 2014, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147 "2014-11-09T14:27:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147/41 "2014-11-10T14:39:05Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I’ll probably lose a lot of credit for admitting to watching the show, but he also played a very competent and decent recurring character on\* the Mentalist.\* No shame - LaRoche was a great character. ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147/42 "2014-11-10T14:44:16Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Warning. Contains open spoilers for “The Walking Dead”. But I don’t want the discussion to be focused just on this series. > > I’m almost halfway through season 3 of “The Walking Dead”, and I think I’m going to give it a rest. I’ve grown tired of every other scene being yet another zombie kill fest. It doesn’t make sense that none of them have “turned” from simply inhaling/breathing in all the zombie blood constantly splashing in their faces. > > But I’ve also grown tired of something else–the lack of depth in the black characters. Sure would have been nice to know T-Dog’s backstory before he exited stage left (even his real name was obscured from view). And is it just a coincidence that his departure was followed by the immediate acceptance of Oscar the Model Prisoner, who has to kill the bad black prisoner to show his worth (while the white prisoner is allowed to be “good by association”). Would the show have been THAT bad to provide room for two black male characters? Wouldn’t that have been realistic, given the racial-make up of Georgia (home of Chocolate City)? And I want to like Michonne. I really do. But she hardly speaks. She doesn’t show emotions except for “angry black woman”. She’s so bad-ass everyone’s first instinct is to kill her, despite the fact she brought them baby formula and told them Glenn/Maggie’s kidnapper shot her. Don’t get me wrong. I really do love bad-ass female characters. But it’s a bit jarring that everyone is afraid of her and that she also happens to be black. This is _too_ real, I suppose. I’m not predicting any love interests in Michonne’s future (but maybe I’m wrong). > > Then there are the other women–the white ones. The only one who’s likeable is Maggie. Carol the Perpetual Victim is just a vehicle for Daryl’s arc as a tough guy with a heart of gold. Lori was ugh. (Sidebar: how did a woman that thin give birth to a baby that big???) Andrea and her smirking face, double-ugh. Can’t wait for Michonne to tell her “Told you so”…but just like Michonne having a love interest (like all the other women have), I suspect this isn’t gonna happen. > > I just wish there was a black or female character that was as well-developed and half as likeable as the white/Glenn male characters. Perhaps I should hang in there and wait for things to get better? I just finished the episode where the gang is about to retrieve Maggie and Glenn. > > Of course, as a black woman, I’m going to be extra sensitive to portrayals of black and female characters. The negative portrayals of other groups don’t immediately jump out at me, until they’re pointed out (Hispanics on “Breaking Bad”, for instance). Are you ever bothered by stuff like this? Have you ever abandoned a critically-acclaimed series just because you can’t shake the feeling the writers have gotten “your group” or another group all wrong? Michonne on the show is if anything way more humanized than comic Michonne, at least at the point I stopped reading. Her character made no sense, why a Russian lit major would grab a samurai sword and become the stoic didn’t convince me. I remember no back story in the comic about her having a dead child, but she did say the pet zombies were two ex-BFs. Also in the comic the Governor takes her hostage and brutally rapes her, I had a problem with how prurient some of the art was. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147/43 "2014-11-10T15:08:28Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > Fatness, on the other hand, is a common physical attribute. It doesn’t matter that people can “help” being fat. The reality is that most Americans are overweight, just like half are men, and most are Christian. Why would people still be fat many many months after a zombie apocalypse when food is hard to find and most of the characters are constantly on the run? Wouldn’t that be like the world’s best diet plan? ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147/44 "2014-11-10T15:14:05Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Why would people still be fat many many months after a zombie apocalypse when food is hard to find and most of the characters are constantly on the run? Wouldn’t that be like the world’s best diet plan? We’re three years in at this point in show time, I think second third season was 1-2 years in. No one would be ALLOWED to remain fat in the communal compounds, no one would be allowed to eat that much food. Also no electricity equals no TV or videogames. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147/45 "2014-11-10T15:31:05Z")
> [@grude](#): > > We’re three years in at this point in show time, I think second third season was 1-2 years in. No one would be ALLOWED to remain fat in the communal compounds, no one would be allowed to eat that much food. Also no electricity equals no TV or videogames. Im being a bit flippant here, but this makes too much sense. These are the same people who willingly fight Zombies at close quarters whilst wearing a pair of Daisy Dukes and a bikini top. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147/46 "2014-11-10T15:35:53Z")
> [@Banquet\_Bear](#): > > …I drop in and out of Walking Dead: I skipped most of Season two and three, dropped in for the last half of Season four and the first half of Season Five. And I have to say: the descriptions you’ve given of the characters sounds like characters from another programme. I won’t spoil things: but literally every issue you’ve bought up gets addressed (IMHO): I think you would enjoy the direction the series has taken now. Michonne glowered and never opened her mouth for the longest time. I was neutral on her. After the episodes with her, Rick, and Carl, she is now my second favorite character on TWD. I love Debra on Everybody Loves Raymond, 80% of the time. She has good reason to be bitchy. 20% of the time she is maddening. When she nagged Ray to throw Robert “a real fun party, a real shindig” bachelor party - men don’t do that kind of thing as a rule! Shut! Up!..When she wanted to cook a fish for Thanksgiving… When she went to the Super Bowl with Ray and expected it to be romantic weekend getaway, just the two of them. (Neither here nor there, I also thought Patricia Heaton was quite beautiful until she revealed her inner fundy ugliness in the last few years. Suitable then that she’s had some hideous plastic surgery to match.) ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147/47 "2014-11-10T15:37:56Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > Why would people still be fat many many months after a zombie apocalypse when food is hard to find and most of the characters are constantly on the run? Wouldn’t that be like the world’s best diet plan? This question might make sense if there were a lot of fat people in season 1. And if we weren’t having a dscussion about the dearth of fat characters in general. (Have you ever been to Georgia? There are some really big folks down there. Even after a year of walking, I’d expect to see at least a few large zombiies. It’s not like they’re speed walking or running marathons.) ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a8b319/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_wuzzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_wuzzy)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147/48 "2014-11-10T15:43:31Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > This question might make sense if there were a lot of fat people in season 1. And if we weren’t having a dscussion about the dearth of fat characters in general. > > (Have you ever been to Georgia? There are some really big folks down there. Even after a year of walking, I’d expect to see at least a few large zombiies. It’s not like they’re speed walking or running marathons.) They are filming in extremely hot and humid conditions, I have heard of David Morrisey complaining about this before. Sitting around all day caked in make-up and in extreme heat probably isn’t a great idea for many large individuals. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147/49 "2014-11-10T15:43:46Z")
> [@grude](#): > > We’re three years in at this point in show time, I think second third season was 1-2 years in. No one would be ALLOWED to remain fat in the communal compounds, no one would be allowed to eat that much food. Also no electricity equals no TV or videogames. I disagree. Rick’s farming doesn’t seem notably successful. They have no livestock to speak of. They must be eating calorie-dense canned and preserved food that they scavenge. There isn’t any great amount of hard physical labor that has to be done in the compound. No farming. No mining. No manufacturing. They can’t/won’t/don’t leave the compound for purely recreational purposes; so nobody is going out jogging or hiking or rock climbing. There is no reason to believe these people would have the lean, chiseled gym-rat physiques they exhibit. Andrew Lincoln and Norman Reedus, in particular, have buffed up during the course of the show (despite Reedus being on record that he hates exercise). ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147/50 "2014-11-10T15:50:41Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > This question might make sense if there were a lot of fat people in season 1. And if we weren’t having a dscussion about the dearth of fat characters in general. > > (Have you ever been to Georgia? There are some really big folks down there. Even after a year of walking, I’d expect to see at least a few large zombiies. It’s not like they’re speed walking or running marathons.) You have a point about the lack of zombie variety, they did find a real big guy in the well. What bugs me is all the female zombies wearing filthy old full length dresses, almost all of them! Did they all come from some whacky fundie cult or something? ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147/51 "2014-11-10T16:20:31Z")
I’m still watching it and still enjoying it, but I’m getting a little annoyed by _The Big Bang Theory_ becoming “Friends with High IQs”. The show used to be about the guys, Penny, and the contrast between their nerdy pursuits and her more mainstream outlook. Then Amy and Bernadette showed up, but they were scientists and nerdy and quirky. But as the show goes on, those two have become less defined by their nerdiness and more defined by the fact that they’re the guys’ girlfriends (and “girls” in general–when the characters divide up to do different things, it’s almost always the guys doing nerdy things and the girls doing “girly” things (like getting Princess makeovers, or attending a tea party)). It would be nice if at least one of the girls was a hardcore nerd and actually _liked_ doing nerdy things with the guys (similar to Raj, who’s been shown to enjoy doing girly things with the girls). Oddly enough, out of all the girls, Penny seems to be growing into filling this role, but she isn’t there yet. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147/52 "2014-11-10T16:28:36Z")
I stopped watching _It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia_ for this reason. The main characters are just far too open, honest, and nice to be believable residents of that fair city. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147/53 "2014-11-10T17:50:50Z")
> [@Stoid](#): > > Smoking in scripted entertainment is usually engaged in by characters that are in some respect willing to live their lives on the edge, in any number of ways. . Smoking in scripted entertainment is always 100% bought and paid for by the tobacco industry. ---
**Author:** ![ZPG\_Zealot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e47c2d/32.png) [@ZPG\_Zealot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZPG_Zealot)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147/54 "2014-11-10T17:56:31Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > That’s another thing I noticed about “The Walking Dead”. The absence of heft in the characters. T-Dog was husky, I suppose. And then there’s good ole Otis, who I knew right away was gonna be a goner. But otherwise, everyone else is quite lean. Especially the zombies, despite being set in a place where 30% of the population is obese. Maybe all the fat people get eaten up before they have a chance to turn. I can actually buy the lack of husky characters in a post-apocalyptic movie where food scarcity is an issue. What seems really odd to me is movies are television shows that are supposedly the mid-West or South and everyone even the poor characters who don’t have access to plastic surgery look like models. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2014, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147/55 "2014-11-10T22:23:12Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > I asked a question in response to replies in this thread. \ Ah, you’re “just asking questions” - got it. > [@grude](#): > > You have a point about the lack of zombie variety, they did find a real big guy in the well. What bugs me is all the female zombies wearing filthy old full length dresses, almost all of them! Did they all come from some whacky fundie cult or something? There really ARE a shitload of female zombies in long dresses. I’m not sure what that’s about - I suspect the producers/dressers/whomever just like the visual of a long, dirty dress. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147/56 "2014-11-11T02:42:21Z")
I stopped watching _The Office-US_ because I couldn’t stand Steve Carell’s portrayal of Michael. However, it turns out I can’t stand him in anything. I barely started watching _The Office-UK_ because I found I cannot stand anything about Ricky Gervais. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2014, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147/57 "2014-11-11T03:04:03Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Ah, you’re “just asking questions” - got it. > . I’m fairly sure you don’t. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147/58 "2014-11-12T00:19:15Z")
It didn’t make me give up on the show (and the cancellation took care of that for me), but I always had problems with how Inara was portrayed on Firefly. It was always hard to put a finger on, but she always struck me as too perfect. Like I couldn’t stop picturing Joss Whedon grinning at himself in smug satisfaction for putting an empowered, educated feminist sex-object love-object prostitute on network TV. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147/59 "2014-11-12T00:39:17Z")
> [@typoink](#): > > It didn’t make me give up on the show (and the cancellation took care of that for me), but I always had problems with how Inara was portrayed on Firefly. It was always hard to put a finger on, but she always struck me as too perfect. Like I couldn’t stop picturing Joss Whedon grinning at himself in smug satisfaction for putting an empowered, educated feminist sex-object love-object prostitute on network TV. Although it was funny when she got pwnd like a simple-headed man by another empowered feminist sex-object prostitute. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2014, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147/60 "2014-11-12T06:02:05Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > I asked a question in response to replies in this thread. It wasn’t out of left field, it was the topic brought up by the people who made those replies. And nothing I’ve said is a baseless assertion, it’s pretty commonly-known fact that extra weight will shorten your life. That’s not an “offensive stereotype” or any such thing, or something I pulled out of my ass. I said nothing about the character or willpower or any personal characteristics of obese people, I simply said it’s an unhealthy lifestyle and I was honestly asking why some people here wanted to see it promoted via positive portrayals of obese people who are not trying to solve their health issue. > I’m not sure what your problem with that question is. And that question (which you knew was offensive, hence the disclaimer) was already answered. The very first post responding to it explained that merely showing something is not glorification, and previous posts had already covered how it would fit in _The Walking Dead_ world. Since then, it’s been explained _ad nauseum_. Maybe it was a legitimate question at first, but it’s now a hijack. It’s turned into a contentious GD thread, not something for the lighthearted Cafe Society. If you want to further discuss the subject of the portrayal of fat people in fiction, open a GD thread. We would rather get back to the actual subject of this thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-lose-in-interest-in-a-show-because-of-the-way-certain-characters-are-portrayed/704147.md?page=4)