I'm an avid viewer of The Walking Dead. Ever since I binge-watched the first three seasons during my freshman year of high school, I've been obsessed. I have several t-shirts dedicated to the show. My Rick Grimes blanket is currently wrapped around me. Every Sunday night, without fail, you'll find me parked in front of the TV or computer, basking in my 60 minutes (more like 45 now, thanks commercials) of gut-filled mayhem.
When the season six finale ended with an undisclosed main character getting their skull bashed in with a baseball bat covered in barbed wire (by Jeffrey Dean Morgan, nonetheless- his portrayal of Denny Duquette on Grey's Anatomy ruined my life enough, but this was SO MUCH WORSE), and viewers had to wait almost seven months to figure out who the character was, I was stuck in a limbo of hatred and pure love for the show. I spent my time looking at fan theories, surfing Tumblr for potential spoilers about the cast and leaked footage, and got into deep discussions of theories with whoever would listen. Time ticked on, and eventually it was October 23rd. I was staying with my best friend in suburban Illinois, and we camped out in front of the TV to watch the season seven premiere (she doesn't watch the show, and was typing an essay at the time, but knew I needed to watch it) When we got to finally see who died, and it turned out that not one but TWO characters who got killed, one of which had been there since the start and was extremely beloved, I began hysterically crying, clutching onto her while I wept. My mom called me, as she was watching from our couch in Denver, and kept saying to me, "It'll be okay, the rest of the group will be okay."
That's what I love about being invested in TV shows, movies, and books. My mom didn't say "it's not real, it's a show," she acted like a close friend of ours had just died. And in a way, they did.
Why do people care so much about fictional characters? What causes an entire movie theatre (I'm not exaggerating) of people to sob over Augustus Waters' death in The Fault in Our Stars? Why do people get so worked up even thinking about when Derek Shepherd, famed neurosurgeon and dreamiest man on TV, died in a car crash?
The answer is empathy. You empathize with a character, you grow to know them (sometimes, you know more about a character in your favorite TV series than you do about the people in your life), you get to watch them grow and change as a person, and you feel this incredible kinship with them. You can see their heroic, and not so heroic traits, and you can go "that's my ideal ___." So many people have told me that they wished someone would look at them like Mark Sloan (R.I.P. McSteamy) looked at Lexi Grey. I often refer to Daryl Dixon as my precious baby. You want to protect these people that don't even exist, and to me, that shows how incredibly caring the human race can really be. It's a nice reminder that you're not so tough when you're crying over a dragon in the middle of a movie theatre packed with little kids (Thanks, How to Train Your Dragon; don't even get me started on how often I get emotional about cartoon movies).
I become extremely attached to fictional characters that I find admirable, and I often associate these characters with people I know in my life. I've more than once compared my grandpa to Atticus Finch from To Kill a Mockingbird. A friend of mine in Minnesota reminds me so much of David Fischer from the show Six Feet Under that it throws me every time I see him. My favorite English teacher is totally Bill Anderson from The Perks of Being a Wallflower, the caring and advisory teacher to my often neurotic and anxious Charlie. At this point, it's second nature to me to look at someone and think that there's a character they remind me of.
When there's someone you really love on TV, you want to think you're this type of person. You want to be the Chandler Bing of your friend group, the funny and always- on person in the room. The amount of personality quizzes with "Which ____ character are you?" is astounding; the amount of times that I've so badly wanted to be like someone in a movie is even more so. I tell people that Tina Belcher from Bob's Burgers is my spirit animal, and every time I read a book, I think "Oh my god, I'm Rory Gilmore right now." My family compares me to William Miller from my favorite movie, Almost Famous more often than I can count. Honestly, one of the best compliments I've ever received is when my friend told me that I remind her of Jordan Baker from The Great Gatsby, who I am so glad to share a name with.
It's also really easy to love something that's fictional, something that you would hate in real life. Two of my absolute favorite characters are Jesse Pinkman and Walter White from Breaking Bad. Jesse is a drug addicted, sometimes insolent, often mistaken character, but I loved every minute that he was on screen. Beneath his mistakes, he'd flash one of his gorgeous smiles, he'd be devastated over his life, and I would love him endlessly more. I wouldn't root for drug dealers to out-smart the DEA, and I would probably be scared shitless if one of my teachers said that he was the one who knocks, but man, did I love every episode where Walt and Jesse were tough as nails. Walt is not a great guy, and neither is Negan, the aforementioned killer on The Walking Dead, but I find myself saying all the time "MAN ARE THEY GOOD."
The world loves the characters that arise from words, and to me, as a writer, that's one of the most wonderful things in life. Fictional characters in realistic situations make us feel comforted, that someone else is going through the same things we are, and even if they don't exist, they are so wonderfully crafted that it seems that way. One of the best feelings is reading a book and going, "Oh my god, that's exactly what it feels like." The fact that people care so deeply for something that was created just by words and description is a beautiful thing, and I am touched by the fact that humans show such empathy for things that don't even exist.
If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna go think about Wesley from The Princess Bride and how cute he is.
