Liking a Fictional Character
By Cia
'Ello readers! When I found out this month's theme was romance and books, I didn't know what to write. I'm pretty sure all of you know a lot about romance novels, and of romance in books (who doesn't have an OTP?), but do you know about people finding romance from books? I'm sure we've all been there - falling in love with a fictional character.
So here's the question: Can we fall in love with fictional characters?
A truly fascinating topic. Why would a real, living human being have romantic feelings for a character - written, portrayed or presented in any form - despite said character can never acknowledge or return those feelings?
But looking past that, it is, essentially, possible to love a fictional character unrequitedly. Humans are complex, conflicting beings - we need security and comfort, but we also long for adventure and mystery; we know not to judge by appearances, but we desire partners with perfect looks; we want to have a stable partner who will always be good to us but we can never resist the allure of the "bad boy"; we know there is never perfect relationship but we will never give up on our search for true love.
And who fits these standards better than a fictional character? They are so perfect, even with their perfect flaws, to the point they are almost otherworldly (which they are) and inhuman (which some of them also are).
Referring to the question above, why, how are we able to connect and even have feelings for people that are not real? Psychologists might have found the answer in what they call “experience-taking” - when we subconsciously take on traits, attitudes and behaviors of our favorite characters. Our favorite fictional characters (problematic or not) are often are favorites because we are able to identify and relate with them, which makes it all the more easier for us to imitate them.
In one study, participants were instructed to try and act like a fictional character ("experience-take") when reading in front of the mirror and alone in a room. Psychologists found out that when participants read in front of the mirror, they had a much harder time "experience-taking". Thus, “experience-taking” can only happen when an individual can suppress their own identity and lose themselves in something. Which is why we find it so easy to relate to fictional characters when we get so engrossed in our books/movies/TV shows. In time, this feeling may develop into attraction and liking.
Googling “why do we get attached to fictional characters?”, I found a whopping amount of 15,300,000 results. Some of them are articles like this very one, trying to find out the psychology, the philosophy, of our attachment to fictional characters. Although some are posts and blogs where people post their worries of being "sick" because they have developed feelings to characters that they know, intellectually, are not at all real and very fictional.
That is NOT true. Human beings are free to have feelings to whomever they wish, right? We know fictional characters as well as, and much possibly even more than we know real life people, we understand them and it's not surprising when we find ourselves drawn to their personality and character. Besides, when we like a fictional character, it might not really be because we think they're our fictional counterpart or soulmate. At the root, the fact that we like fictional characters may not be because we identify with them that much at all - we just really enjoy spending time with them, whether it be in the pages of a book, a new season of TV or a blockbuster movie, for a few hours at least we’re lost in their world.
And, as they say, maybe the mark of a truly memorable fictional character is how often we take them with us when we head back to reality.
Ciao!
Cia