Anonymous
7/18/2025, 11:07:28 PM No.212863877
What’s missing in characters these days?
When you watch something like LOTR, you instantly get this warm, almost homely feeling. The characters feel like people you know. Not because of some emotional speech or dramatic arc, but like the bond you form living with someone. Familiarity. They become part of your mental space. Like a place you’ve visited so often it feels like home.
LOTR nails that instantly. But with something like Dune, the characters feel distant. Not emotionally cold, but experientially dry. You understand them, but don’t "know" them. And it’s not about tone. Dune being dark isn’t the issue. The Sopranos and Game of Thrones are just as dark if not more, but you still feel the attachment. There’s a lived-in quality to those characters. Something deeper than exposition or clever writing.
Modern media often misses that. No matter how detailed the backstories or arcs, characters still feel like strangers. Even in the show True Detective. I admired the writing, but never formed a real bond. I used to think it was about charm or likability, but maybe it’s about authenticity. Maybe it’s the small, raw, human moments, things that don't drive the plot but make the characters feel real. Not just relatable, but believable.
Recently watched A Better Tomorrow. Despite the language barrier, I felt that connection. It wasn't there in Snyderverse. But it was in Oppenheimer or The Departed or even something as bleak as Memories of Murder. Not in Breaking Bad as brilliant as it is, but so much in twin peaks.
I’m not talking about bad writing. I’m talking about dryness. The absence of that intangible thread that lets you feel close to a character, even when nothing big is happening.
When you watch something like LOTR, you instantly get this warm, almost homely feeling. The characters feel like people you know. Not because of some emotional speech or dramatic arc, but like the bond you form living with someone. Familiarity. They become part of your mental space. Like a place you’ve visited so often it feels like home.
LOTR nails that instantly. But with something like Dune, the characters feel distant. Not emotionally cold, but experientially dry. You understand them, but don’t "know" them. And it’s not about tone. Dune being dark isn’t the issue. The Sopranos and Game of Thrones are just as dark if not more, but you still feel the attachment. There’s a lived-in quality to those characters. Something deeper than exposition or clever writing.
Modern media often misses that. No matter how detailed the backstories or arcs, characters still feel like strangers. Even in the show True Detective. I admired the writing, but never formed a real bond. I used to think it was about charm or likability, but maybe it’s about authenticity. Maybe it’s the small, raw, human moments, things that don't drive the plot but make the characters feel real. Not just relatable, but believable.
Recently watched A Better Tomorrow. Despite the language barrier, I felt that connection. It wasn't there in Snyderverse. But it was in Oppenheimer or The Departed or even something as bleak as Memories of Murder. Not in Breaking Bad as brilliant as it is, but so much in twin peaks.
I’m not talking about bad writing. I’m talking about dryness. The absence of that intangible thread that lets you feel close to a character, even when nothing big is happening.
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