Life 1x01-1x02

[oyceter]

Charlie Crews was a cop who was imprisoned for twelve years for a crime he didn't commit. Now he's been exonerated, and he's back on the force. His partner and superior officer is Dani Reese, an ex-addict. Together, they fight crime!

So, vonnie_k has already warned that the first few episodes aren't so great, and coffeeandink has been full of Dani love. I too am full of Dani love, but my problem is: every single time Charlie Crews is onscreen, I want to hit him over the head with a giant stick. I hate his quirkiness, his incredibly annoying Zen Buddhism quotes that sound like he's learned Buddhism from fortune cookies, the way he miraculously gets to solve all the crimes, and just... arrrgh. I did not realize that rogue cops who are all genius-like and show up other people by being so creative and so unbiased by things like evidence were a pet peeve of mine, but apparently they are. Like, the scene where he gets the kid away from Dani and gets the kid to talk? ARGH!

Also, I want to bash him over the head for sleeping with everything that walks and for being insanely rich and for not talking to his father. I am sure much of this is unreasonable, but there you have it. It's the quirkiness! And the Zen aphorisms! I hate them so much!

That said, is it worth my watching more episodes? I love Dani, and I love watching her and the lieutenant together in particular, but Charlie is driving me crazy. I do not care about him or his daddy issues or his attempts to solve the murders that got him imprisoned. At all. And seriously, the next time he chants "I am not attached" to himself, I will throw Buddhist monks at him.

Comments

[desdenova.livejournal.com]

There *are* quirky characters of color in American TV and film. Off the top of my head, here are four currently-running (American) shows which feature "quirky" characters of color: Pushing Daisies, Heroes, Everybody Hates Chris, and Ugly Betty.

However, with the exception of Pushing Daisies, these are all shows in which a significant (say, over 40%) fraction of the characters are people of color. I think it's the same old "diversity of representation" issue--if there's only one, say, black character on a show, then that character bears the burden of representing black people in the world of the show. On the other hand, if there are multiple black characters, then it's possible to have quirky characters, straight-person characters, mean characters, and nice characters.

There is also a danger of "quirky" spilling over into "racial stereotype," and creators may be wary of aiming for the first but veering into the second. At least, I hope they would be.

I think Emerson on Pushing Daisies is a pretty good example of avoiding that pitfall, but I don't know if he'd come off so well in a show that wasn't made of pure quirk, with quirk frosting and a side of quirk.

[oyceter]

Yeah! I was thinking of Emerson and trying to decide if he counted as quirky or not, since he's definitely the voice of sanity (in a way) in the show.

I forget where I saw it, but there was an article floating around about the sassy black best friend/sidekick, and that's what this reminds me of. I mean, it is a step up from the side character who is a POC and completely made up of quirks (Haha, look at their funny hair! Look at their funny culture!), but still not POC as lead or multiple POC in a show, like you mention.

[desdenova.livejournal.com]

I was thinking of Emerson and trying to decide if he counted as quirky or not, since he's definitely the voice of sanity (in a way) in the show.

In a way, I think that makes him especially quirky. At least within the context of the "Pushing Daisies" world.

(Also, a PI who knits gun cozies is automatically quirky, no matter what else he does.)

[oyceter]

Heh, yes! I was thinking: "But he's so sane! But that's so abnormal in the show! But he's so practical! But he knits GUN COZIES and pretends to get phone calls from his money!"