# What character in books, movies, music, or TV do you identify with? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 3, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968 "2004-09-03T16:09:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968/21 "2004-09-04T22:26:20Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Eddie Willers from ATLAS SHRUGGED except I would have left the moment Dagny called. No wallowing in the broken-down train sobbing “Don’t let it end!” I’d be off to Galt’s Gulch in a heartbeat, looking at the train only to say “F **k that s** t! Valhalla, I am coming!” And you would have started the first church there, which would have Rand spinning in her grave. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968/22 "2004-09-04T22:32:20Z")
I am MTM’s Rhoda Morgenstern’s twin (well, as much as a middle-aged gay man can be). Though lately I think I’m turning into her mother, Ida. ---
**Author:** ![J.Me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f04885/32.png) [@J.Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J.Me)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968/23 "2004-09-04T22:38:48Z")
I don’t really see it, but my family and friends think I’m Natalie from “The Facts of Life” tv show. She was my favorite character on the show and there’s a vague resemblance in looks, but not much. Also, the character was way goofier than I’ve ever been. I was a kid during its original run, and I remember my mother once making a comment that I reminded her of Natalie. And apparently a “Facts of Life” reunion movie was on cable a couple of months ago, because I came home from work one night to find a voice-mail from a friend…something to the effect of, “Hey! Why didn’t you let me know you were going to be on television tonight?!” ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968/24 "2004-09-04T23:07:12Z")
Fraser Crane’s ex-wife. Gosh, we even both wear our hair in buns. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968/25 "2004-09-04T23:10:26Z")
> [@Aesiron](#): > > Tons of people but the three that jump immediately to mind are Xander Harris from _BtVS_, Andrew Largeman from _Garden State_, and Olhado from _Speaker for the Dead_. > > I tend to identify with the disillusioned, depressed, or relatively quiet and unobtrusive. Rereading this thread and my post, I suddenly remembered the character I most identify with – Dante from _Clerks_. It’s not something to be proud of but I can definitely relate, especially consdering I was working in a gas station when I first saw the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968/26 "2004-09-04T23:21:13Z")
Sometimes I feel like Mr. Miyagi. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968/27 "2004-09-04T23:37:34Z")
Tre Styles, from **BOYZ IN THE HOOD**. Childhood, parent relationships, and living situations were very similar to mine, right down to thug friends, comic book collection, Catholic school girlfriend and being a virgin in my late teens. The major difference is that if I decided to go on a ride-along looking for the fools who killed my friend, I wouldn’t have gotten out of the car. Man UP, nigga. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968/28 "2004-09-04T23:48:32Z")
Chandler. For a lot of reasons. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_C.Mulligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3be4f8/32.png) [@Chad\_C.Mulligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_C.Mulligan)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968/29 "2004-09-05T00:22:47Z")
I picked my username because I identify with this passage from **Stand On Zanzibar** : > [@](#): > > “Incongruous my insalubrious hole,” Chad Mulligan grunted. “It’s the same way I’ve been looking for the past two years or more. What I’m going to find incongruous is what I’ll be like after your mechanics have overhauled me. But I’m giving up. I’m quitting. The sheer God-blasted inertia of this asinine species has defeated me. I can’t make people pay me attention whether I argue, or bellow, or daub myself with shit. I propose to pretty myself up and join the rest of you Gadarene swine in debauching myself magnificently to death. All right, where do you want to put me so your other customers won’t see the state I’m in? … Send someone out for a quart of liquor, will you? I need something to nerve me for this.” ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968/30 "2004-09-05T04:16:47Z")
> [@J. Me](#): > > I don’t really see it, but my family and friends think I’m Natalie from “The Facts of Life” tv show. That reminds me that a former co-worker used to swear I was Darlene from _Roseanne_. Not looks-wise (I probably resemble Roseanne herself more :eek: ), but personality- and wisecrack-wise. I’m ok with that. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cryhavoc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c89c15/32.png) [@Cryhavoc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cryhavoc)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968/31 "2004-09-05T05:39:46Z")
A cross between Lindsey from ‘Freaks and Geeks’ and Jordan from ‘Real Genius.’ I like the intellegence of their characters and yet they can’t quite figure how to fit in socially. I will admit to being a bit more sarcastic than either of them. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968/32 "2004-09-05T19:44:15Z")
I feel like I’m the Burgess Merditith Character from the Twilight zone episode “Time enough at last”. With one exception. The first time my wife would tell me that I’m not allowed to read, to even try to stop it, or so help me god, even try to damage one of my books, I’d divorce her right then and that. Barring that, Bash her head in with the heaviest book I had. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Miss\_Purl\_McKnittington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Purl_McKnittington)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968/33 "2004-09-05T21:00:25Z")
Hermione Granger with a little Lisa Simpson thrown in for pizzazz. I think there might be a lot Dopers out there who identify with both those characters. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968/34 "2004-09-05T21:08:08Z")
I’ve always sort of identified with Susan from the Discword books. Not that there was anything . . .odd. . . about my grandfather, but I do identify with the problem of being pretty fundamentally rational about pretty romantic topics–about recognizing that things have to get done and three’s no point in worrrying about who ought to do them, and the marytr complex, and the tendency to miss important things because I have to remind myself to listen to other poeple, they can contribute much of value. And my inner child is Butters from South Park. But isn’t everybodies? ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968/35 "2004-09-05T22:13:55Z")
Years ago I identified with _Mona Ramsey_ from **Tales of the City**. Now I think I’m a bit more like Carol Kane’s character in **The Princess Bride**. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2004, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968/36 "2004-09-05T22:54:36Z")
On a good day, Sherlock Homes. On a bad day, Doctor Watson. ---
**Author:** ![OttoDaFe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ottodafe/32/356_2.png) [@OttoDaFe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OttoDaFe)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968/37 "2004-09-06T00:31:28Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > On a good day, Sherlock Homes. > On a bad day, Doctor Watson. On a good day: Sean O Lochlainn, the Dr Watson analogue in the _Lord Darcy_ stories by Randall Garrett. (For those who aren’t familiar with them, Sean’s job title is Chief Forensic Sorcerer to the Duke of Normandy.) On a bad day . . . you don’t want to know. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968/38 "2004-09-06T04:48:09Z")
From the screen, the only ones that come to mind are the Professor, from _Gilligan’s Island_, and Data, from _Star Trek: The Next Generation_. I have a ton of respect for MacGuyver, too, but he’s just not me. From literature, though, there are myriad examples. Top of the list is Charles Wallace Murray, from _A Wrinkle in Time_ and sequels, but Prospero, of _The Tempest_, is also up there. I’ll also add Ender Wiggins, of _Ender’s Game_; D. B. Davis, of _The Door into Summer_; Mycroft, of _The Moon is a Harsh Mistress_; Daedelus of the Greek myths; and despite the gender difference, Hermione Granger of the Harry Potter books. ---
**Author:** ![Chad\_C.Mulligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3be4f8/32.png) [@Chad\_C.Mulligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chad_C.Mulligan)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968/39 "2004-09-07T00:27:16Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Chandler. For a lot of reasons. If this means that you’re cute, funny, and boinking Courtney Cox, then colour me jealous! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968/40 "2004-09-07T00:54:05Z")
> [@Miss Purl McKnittington](#): > > Hermione Granger with a little Lisa Simpson thrown in for pizzazz. I think there might be a lot Dopers out there who identify with both those characters. I was reading those “Hogwarts” book JK Rowling wrote (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them and Quidditch Through thet Ages) and I begin to realize that I would have been exactly like Hermione: going to the library everyday and learning as much about the wizard world as possible. If I were raised as a Muggle and told that I was a witch at age 11, I could not idly pass up the library like Harry Potter does. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-character-in-books-movies-music-or-tv-do-you-identify-with/262968.md?page=3)