Stark Raving

It occurs to me that I get way too attached to TV characters. (I know, I know: "You're only now coming to this realization?") I was having this discussion on one of the Farscape forums with an intelligent, articulate fellow-fan whose opinions I generally quite respect even when I disagree with them. And, quite uncharacteristically, I found myself coming close to wanting to punch his lights out, just 'cause he said mean things about Stark.

It's odd. The other main fandom I'm involved with to the extent of having in-depth debates about the characters and things is Blake's 7, but I don't have any inclination to get all defensive about those characters. I happen to think Avon is one of the most fascinating characters in the history of science fiction, but you could call him an arrogant, big-nosed, psychopathic bastard and tell me that you hope he survived the final episode just so Servalan could torture him to death slowly, 'cause that's nothing more than he deserved, and I'd probably just smile and laugh. Well, OK, I'd argue about calling him a psychopath, because I'm quite sure he wasn't a psychopath, just a wannabe. And I'd probably go off into an analysis of why I believe he did the things he did, because that's what I do. And maybe that would in some sense count as defending him, because they do say that understanding is the first step towards forgiveness. But I'm not gonna get all emotional about it (except in that enthusiastic-fangirl, "gee, I love talking about my favorite shows!" way of mine). But start coming down on Stark, and apparently I react much like a parent seeing her kid being beaten up on the playground.

I think it's because the B7 characters are all very thick-skinned, and all quite capable of standing up for themselves. Yes, even Vila, who I do admit I sometimes get a bit protective towards. (I've certainly wanted to thwack Tarrant a few times for pushing him around.) But picking on Stark is like kicking a puppy. An abused, nuerotic puppy. An abused, neurotic puppy who finally got rescued from the pound by a kind and loving owner who then went and died on him, and all the owner's friends gathered around and patted him on the head and said "don't worry little puppy, we'll take care of you," but then turned around later and started kicking him all over again because they had their own emotional problems and because the damned dog wouldn't stop humping their legs and piddling on the carpet.

Ahem. OK, that analogy got away from me. But you see what I mean? I haven't found myself getting that defensive on a character's behalf since Dr. Pulaski showed up and started ragging on Data. (Damn, but I hated Pulaski!) Come to think of it, Data has a few puppy-like qualities, himself, with or without the emotion chip. And I've often wanted to smack his shipmates for encouraging his totally unwarranted inferiority complex...

OK, so it's not a unique reaction of mine. Maybe it's because I was picked on as a kid -- the same reason I identify with Spiderman! -- and have this urge to champion the downtrodden as a result. Or something. Actually, I strongly suspect it's some sort of manifestation of my own maternal/nurturing instincts. Man, I gotta go and spend some more time with my nephew...

Wait, does that count as telling myself to "Get a life"? I can't do that. I wouldn't know what to do with a life if I had one!

Right. Never mind, then. Back to the ol' VCR. Maybe I'll watch "Meltdown." At least that ghost chick appreciated poor Starky!