Movies that made you like a character type you normally hate.

[happyninja42]

Ok, so I hate vampires, like really hate vampires. My distaste for them, and the fascination with them in our pop culture goes to levels that if bottled and turned into a fuel, could propel a ship to a galaxy far far away. I was bored of them back in the Anne Rice days and Vampire: Masquerade, I'm bored of them now, even more so thanks to stuff like Twilight and True Blood. I hate them as protagonists, or anti-heros, and anything except a nice fun antagonist. As villains, I love them, but as heros and protagonists, no thanks.

Buuuuut, I have run across an example or two of character types that were done well enough for me to actually like them. It's not exclusive to vampires, but that's just the biggest hate I have.

Now again, I'm not referring to vamps as antagonists, I looove them as badguys, because that's when they can actually act like vampires, and I can gleefully hate them and cheer their demise. The Dracula from Van Helsing for example, he chewed the scenery so gleefully that I couldn't help but giggle every time he was on the screen. This is strictly talking about protagonists.

Since it's a big spoiler, I'll cloak it here.

Spoiler

In Hemlock Grove, the character Roman. He was done so well, that even though he was obviously a proto-vampire, and had a lot of the hang ups they usually do, most of his motivations and actions I could empathize with. He genuinely wanted to try and be a hero, be a good guy. He wanted to go out and stop the monster that was killing the girls, even when the "hero" didn't want anything to do with it. He was kind and generous to his deformed sister, standing up for her at school from the bullies. He tried to defy his ***** of a mother, and all of her insane machinations, and for the most part, behaved like someone I could actually cheer for, and hope he was able to escape the chains of fate that were pushing him towards being an evil bloodsucker. Of course the mind dominating + rape stuff REAAAAALLY didn't do anything for his cause, and were inexcusable acts. But even when he was losing his mind, and dealing with the guilt of the terrible things he had done, he seemed genuine in his regret, and wanted to try and redeem himself. Whether he did or not is another issue, but I was genuinely surprised by his portrayal, and enjoyed the scenes when he was in them.

The other example being....I think it was Land of the Dead. That opening sequence, made me actually sympathize with the zombies. Normally the undead of any kind are something I just dislike, and always cheer to see be wiped out in movies/books/games. But in this movie, the way they portrayed the zombies actually made me mad at the humans, and hoping to see them pay. I remember thinking to myself in the theater as it happened "Holy shit, this movie made me actually root for the zombies! That like, never happens!"

So what examples are there for you? Some character type or trope that you normally just despise when it's used in entertainment, but that you actually found liking in one example or so?

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Simon Pegg's character Gary King in The World's End. I usually hate the character who tries to be totally hip and cool in that lame 90s sense, but the great achievement of the film is that everyone else hates him too. And when it gets revealed just why he is such an insufferable jackass, you can't help but feel sorry for him.

 

[Aramis Night]

Full disclosure: I'm a Goth. That being said, I have come to loath anything featuring vampires. I worked on True Blood and I found the show moronic(though the cast and crew were a pleasure to work with). I have a reflexive reaction anytime people bring up vampires around me to roll my eyes. I would say the one Vampire character that I found the most likeable was Aiden from Being Human(the North American version). I have been watching Hemlock Grove(2 episodes to go in season 1 for me) and I honestly am not sure who I like in that show, aside from Shelly. Everyone else seems various degree's of messed up.

That being said I definitely have an issue with the way vampires are portrayed. The idea that they would have any sort of romantic connection with humans is just wrong on so many level's. For a vampire, having sex with a human would be like us having sex with a calf. To them it would be pedophilia and bestiality combined. Very few people would lower themselves to that. For a vampire, it would likely be seen in the same light and as an embarrassment. It doesn't even make sense for a vampire to have a sex drive at all. There would be no reason for them to have one biologically. Vampires do not reproduce via sex. They reproduce similarly to how they feed. Which means that their sex drive would be supplanted by their desire to feed. Their desire to feed would be as extreme as the combination of our desire to eat with our desire to have sex combined. It would be very hard for them to keep themselves from feeding on any humans they ran across. The only movie that seemed to get this right in recent memory was 30 Days of Night.

 

[BunnyMomiji]

Not really a character type, but a plot type that deals with characters, the cancer plot line!

Specifically when you know the person with the disease is going to die. I don't like them because usually all the plot and character growth revolves around them and the one they love or what not.

My exception to this is the movie Fanboys. They make the viewer forget that that's a driving point with out it becoming stupid that it was brought up, and the focus, rather than it being on a singular couple, is about a group of friends, so the character development isn't really wasted.

It's a pretty good comedy if no ones ever seen it before. I recommend it.

 

[Vault101]

"nice guys"

you know the dopey guy who gets the girl in the end through no merit of his own

Little Hughie in "The Boys" granted its been a while since I read it but while I actually liked him he got annoying and that was ok because it was intentioanl, to show what actualy happen when you put a "normal" person in those circumstances