By: Claire Hansen
The best feeling in the world is when you are sucked into a world that is not your own. Or at least, that’s how I feel on a Sunday evening when those classic “Sunday Scaries” start to hit and I need a fix of good old fashioned escapism in the form of an excellent TV show. You sit on your comfy couch with your favorite snack and become engrossed with the lives and dealings of imaginary people so you don’t have to focus on your own. Some shows are better than others for many reasons--but one of the most important factors of a good TV show are the depth and memorability of the characters within, and more importantly, the lessons these characters can teach us about ourselves and others.
Humans have always had a knack for memorializing people. We idolize those who have come before us: the founders, the trailblazers, the defenders, and the forward thinkers. Assigning value to these individuals help us define ourselves as individuals, groups, and even nations. Memorialization allows us to use others as a sort of mirror to see ourselves, our values, and our historical and cultural significance. An excellent example of this is Mount Rushmore, a larger than life sculpture of four of the United States’ most influential presidents.
I think it is important we commemorate the lessons we learn and the emotions we feel for the characters with whom we escape our daily lives. They help us learn and grow and they help us reflect on our day to day lives in a less personal, but equally compelling way. By taking these two concepts--escapism and memorialization--and weaving them together, we can begin to ask ourselves which characters are important to us and why. There are many compelling characters to choose from in this day and age, but to keep it short and sweet I’ve compiled a list of four characters who would make it on my Mount Rushmore of TV characters. Light spoilers ahead.
Queen Daenerys Stormborn of the House Targaryen, the First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, The rightful Queen of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm, Queen of Dragonstone, Queen of Meereen, Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea, the Unburnt, Breaker of Chains and Mother of Dragons - Game of Thrones
The first head to be sculpted into the face of my mountain would be Danaerys Targaryen from HBO and George R. R. Martin’s Game of Thrones. The Khaleesi makes the top of the list because she is one of the most compelling female characters on television. The viewer sees her development throughout the series and it is complex. There are many different ways that her story arc can be interpreted and I think that is why she is such an incredible character.
She begins the series as a scared young girl longing for a home that is but a far off glimmer of a dream. Danaerys grows into a powerful queen, but not without incredible death and loss in her wake. You see her decimate her enemies with fire and blood, and all the while you are rooting for her, only to be shocked by her untimely (yet important) demise in the series finale. As a viewer, you have been rooting for her for seven seasons and you are finally forced to look back and consider the choices she had made to achieve this power. Danaerys portrays a difficult conflict that many of us face at one time or another. Just because you have a birthright or because you really want something to happen, doesn’t mean you can get to it at the vast expense of others.
Rick Sanchez - Rick and Morty
The next head to be carved into this mountain terrain would be that of Rick Sanchez from Adult Swim’s Rick and Morty. Let’s be honest here, Rick is an ideologue and an asshole. He is the smartest man in the universe and he doesn’t care about anything--except that he does. Throughout the series the viewer slowly gets to see where the cracks in Rick’s facade peak through, and we get glimpses of who Rick is underneath: insecure, deeply depressed, a person longing for love and validation. This longing leads him to wild highs, and the lowest of lows.
There is a constant cycle throughout the episodes of Rick denying himself validation for his own emotions, giving in to them, and then his own self-punishment for allowing himself to be human. He is so relatable because as humans we do this to ourselves every day. We constantly punish ourselves for our perceived shortcomings, despite being the only ones who see it most of the time. It is easy to fall into the same nihilistic viewpoint as Rick, to feel like nothing matters, but to indulge this idea is to allow ourselves to wallow in the despair of meaninglessness. Rick portrays a wide spectrum of emotion despite his great effort to conceal this part of him, which creates a deeply sympathetic character.
Todd Chavez - Bojack Horsemen
Todd Chavez is the next character to be memorialized upon the mountain. Todd is the zany, adventurous, happy go-getter on Netflix’s Bojack Horseman, a show that is otherwise sad and poignant. In the beginning, Todd is a simple character squatting in his best friend’s living room. He seems somewhat unintelligent and it isn’t clear why he stays with Bojack, despite the abuse and negativity he throws at Todd daily.
As the series progresses, however, we get to see Todd come into his own. We see him grow and develop into a deeply emotional and nuanced character. Todd is struggling to find his footing in Los Angeles, a place where nobody cares about who you are and what you do. He fights against this default of self-centeredness and stays true to himself by caring about his friends and himself and by always striving to do the right thing. Todd brings a sense of humanity to a world where having a sense of humanity is completely on the back burner.
Maddy Perez - Euphoria
Finally, we come to Maddy Perez of HBO’s Euphoria. Maddy is a high school student in an extremely tumultuous and toxic relationship with the abusive Nate Jacobs. Maddy is coming of age in a world of sex, drugs, and abuse. Navigating her world as a viewer is heart wrenching and earnest, as we see her hurled into sketchy situations with her friends and the murky waters of abusive relationships with every man in her life.
She is vain and self-absorbed, but as we get to know her we see the truth behind why she is so broken and it transforms her into a character worth rooting for. We see her struggle, and we see her toe the precipice of change and growth throughout the series and it’s hard not to care for her. Maddy helps us understand that there is always a reason for a person’s actions, whether we can see it or not. Everyone's a little broken, and we do the best we can.
In identifying with and memorializing the characters we invite into our homes, we can learn to forgive ourselves at least a few of our tresspasses. Although imaginary, these characters connect us to the parts of our humanity we tend to forget on a daily basis. That while it may seem like the end sometimes (all the time), we must all realize that we are but in our second act, and that in all pain there is growth, in all adversity there is strength, and that inside ourselves is an infinite number of plot lines and story arcs just waiting to unfold.