I don’t have much to offer to answer my own question, because this rarely happens for me; that’s why I’m curious about others’ experiences. I have many favorite characters, but few of them ‘speak’ to me in a way that I feel I directly identify with. I felt a great deal of connection with the little boy in Sixth Sense (no, I don’t see dead people), so he can be my offering. And from books…oh, I don’t know…let’s say Sam Vimes. Hardly lit’rary, but there you have it.
Books, movies, TV shows, ballads, folk tales, etc are all valid character sources for the purposes of this question.
Wow, someone already mentioned Pern! I was gonna say Sallah Telgar from Dragonsdawn.
Or Robinton from the later Pern series. Just sorta…connected with him. Then again, I think it’s because I had a band teacher who reminded me a lot of him, so ignore that one.
As a child, I identified with Fern Arable, the little girl in Charlotte’s Web. As a teenager, I identified with The Catcher in the Rye’s Holden Caulfield (even though I’m female). In college, I identified with Esther Greenwood, of The Bell Jar. As a young adult, I identified with Harriet Vane, who appears in several Lord Peter Wimsey novels. Now, in late middle age, I don’t seem to identify with fictional characters. I just don’t find enough in them that reminds me of myself. I’m just me, and they aren’t.
Ditto. I was that girl–big mouth, big brain, big hair. I’m still pretty much that girl, except I have a better conditioner and I can add big butt to the list. No redheaded boyfriend either, but, really, I think that would just be trying too hard.
I imagine there are quite a few Hermione Grangers out there on the SDMB.
