People Falling In Love with Fictional Characters

It's true that I'm tired of people falling in love with fictional characters. Not that I dont understand where they might be coming from, but is there a need to publicise it? I understand that not everyone is like me, however, I personally do not find that falling in love with a fictional character is something worth doing.

First of all, they are obviously not real. If they're not real, what's the point in loving them? I can understand admiration, obsession - which may be what this supposed love comes from in the first place - but I cannot understand this falling in love with a character that does not, and never will exist.

Second of all, in the case of this type of character would not exist in real life anyway. Take the very obvious example first of all - Edward Cullen, boy protagonist of the series Twilight. I hear fans all the time - 'I love Edward. He's the hottest guy ever' or something along those lines. Now, I dont think this love is in the sense of 'Oh, thanks for doing that for me, I love you' in the sense of respect, thankfulness and the associated, but a feeling of attraction for the character (That which will bring me to my third point). This character is a vampire, and as far as we know - they do not exist. Besides, even if they do, your chances of meeting one are zero to none.

Thirdly, those feelings of attraction stem from what? Admiration of the character's morals, their character (as it is called - the way they do things, etc is what I mean)? We dont even know what this character looks like and you're here telling me he's the hottest guy? How the heck do you know that? Your mental image? Just because the guy seems hot and perfect to you doesn't mean he does for others. Otherwise, what does he have, an adaptive face to suit everyone? Just because you find someone attractive doesnt mean they are to all, and in no way should you fall in love with your mental image of someone either. That kind of love I would think is superficial.

(I take time out here to say, in my opinion, a lot of fans of books such as Twilight often seem to be a little brainless in some cases, not understanding all that much - check fan sites, people sometimes seem barely able to spell. No offence to fans, I know a lot of you are highly intelligent, and I would know. There are also some very very good fanfics out there, but some are just rubbish, plain and simple. People may be in love with Edward Cullen, but some people have it right, I suppose. I neither critique or overly fan Twilight, and I have to agree on the point that Edward is somewhat a control freak and needs a little mental help - Edward really can be controlling to the extreme. Is that really someone you love? Go for it.)

Fourth point, they already have their own significant other, in most instances. Again, taking the well-known Twilight book back into this, Isabella Swan is Edward Cullen's love interest. Why fall in love with someone who is already 'taken'? To me, this is like taking your friend's girl/boyfriend. Don't tell me it might happen to me, I tell myself never to do it - my friend's happiness is worth to me more than my own, and if their feelings are requited to each other, what right do I have? It's kind of the same for fictional characters. It makes me seriously want to say 'dream on' - and you will, I know. I can see how people will blow this point off, but to me, I think it's very much valid.

This fifth point isn't all that valid, but is for people falling in love with an actor who plays a fictional character. Admiration of a actor is often, okay, since it happens, I can understand it and they are someone real - real flesh and blood who exist. But people who fall in love with a character for their actor - how they look, often - isnt something that seems right. I can see where they come from if they're falling in love with the character's character, but for what they look like is once again - rather superficial.

So, I'm glad to get that off my chest. Falling in love with characters - yes it does happen, I admit that perhaps I might have once or twice. Perhaps the real issue here is my annoyance at those who decide to publically announce it and showcase their love of a character, or perhaps the issue here is my annoyance stemming from my not wanting to admit love and maybe even envying people who freely admit they love someone. Who knows?

But in either case, I'm still tired of people falling in love with fictional characters as it is a futile and useless exercise for sure, and seems pointless as they dont even exist in reality, nor may even have the possibility to exist in reality.

Ownership

Isnt it amusing that whenever I come on, I decide to be extra chatty? Each time - two posts! Anyway...

Ownership is a strange thing, but what defines ownership? With today's world, you can own things digitally or physically, but do you gain that real sense of ownership? Or is digitally owning just what it looks like - a bunch of pixels and numbers?

For me personally, I like to own things physically and digitally. Although physically is often preferred, it takes up room and not to mention is highly difficult to gather everything important in the case of an emergency. Digitally, however, is compact and rather convenient usually, but on the other hand, is just strings of numbers and has the potential to corrupt (I would know). Both, of course, have the ability to get lost (not to mention losing files among the thousands of files).

Physically owning things often gives the owner a sense of accomplishment. To be able to physically behold it and claim that you have it is a great thing. Digitally owning things - even programs - can also give great feelings of pride. 'Oh, I own the latest version of Photoshop!' Envy. To sit back and see the great piles of files you carefully collected also gives a feeling of accomplishment.


So I guess it comes down to this. Are you a computer person or what?

Back to myself. Look around this blog. You can see the anime/manga images well. I love to collect manga books. I find it convenient as I dont need power, only some light, to read them, although they take up so much space and money. I like owning them and being able to say, 'Yes, I own all of this series'.

But then, I also like collecting images. See an image on the internet of a particular anime/manga? Bang, save it. Another. Save that too.

This idea of ownership, you could say, is very dear to my heart. I love to own things. That's why I spend so much money on books. That's why my computers and USBs are frequently out of memory. That's why my room is so messy - it's full of books and papers and junk. I want to know all there is to know on certain things - even though I am deathly lazy and a procrastinator.

I want a lot. I want to own a lot. I admit it. (Makes me think, am I realy intelligent at all or incredibly stupid and highly ambitious?)

There are many reasons for this, of course. Ownership of it allows ease of access, if it's books or something like that. If it's a house, you feel secure, accomplished. If it's digital things like programs, you feel accomplished, well-equipped for whatever work you need - well prepared. If it's a radio, it's ease of access, convenience, accomplishment.

All in all, ownership, I guess, makes people feel good. If you own something that you really want - obviously, otherwise you just hate it - you feel great about it. Just like a guy with a ferrarri. He likes sports cars, he has one, he's happy.

But then, I guess you can think, if that's true - why do I need to own so much? Or want to own so much?

Finders Keepers

Finders Keepers. Do you still believe in that? Do you believe that if you find something, you should be able to keep it so long as the owner doesn't notice that they've dropped it? It's relative, I guess, but I certainly try not to. So, I admit, I indulge occasionally in the lovely thing of picking money off the ground, but you consider, in a different situation, what would you rather happen to you?

A short anecdote illustrates my point. I once found ten dollars at the school canteen, I picked it up and handed it to the teacher, telling her someone had dropped it. I would consider, if I were in a situation where I lost ten dollars, that I would feel pretty annoyed and want to get the money back. But since in our untrusting world, if we lose something, we can hardly hope to get it back, we decide it is hopeless and don't pursue it. I admit that in the end, the teacher got back to me and told me noone had claimed it, presenting it to me as my award, but I wish that the world could just become that little bit more compassionate.

Finders keepers is often something developed while a kid. I'm not sure there's an origin, but in the end, most children know about it. You find it, you keep it. Finders keepers.

It's all very well when you do it yourself. You feel that sense of victory, or superiority and all those lovely emotions meant to degrade (probably) the other party. On the receiving end though, what would you feel?

Annoyance, worry. That object might be important to them, might even be more important than they are saying. What do they feel? If they're the rightful owner, shouldn't they get the object back? Of course, it's true that children don't understand logic, and that's probably why finders keepers comes around.

I am glad though, that at least most people seem to have gotten it right. Our law system, after all, doesnt say that if you find it you should keep it. Things should always be returned to their rightful owner, even if there is dispute sometimes over who exactly that rightful owner is.

So we've established that finders keepers is only something maintained among children, really, apart from the occasional instant among adults (where they find money, probably). But as we grow older, we ditch these ideas as we learn and develop morals by which we run our life. That is not to say that people's morals are always good - that's why criminals exist - but usually we will understand that this is wrong, even if we have the occasional bout of selfishness.

But even so, it really disappoints me when a twelve year old kid takes something that's obviously yours and tells you 'finders keepers'. Where has right and wrong gone?