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meganbmooreWell, likely not as unpopular on my list as in fandom at large. However:
I do not like Damon. I like Ian Somerhalder. I find Damon amusing. I find Damon moderately interesting. I think Ian Somerhalder is one of only two attractive men on the show. (The other being the guy playing Alaric. I think Paul Wesley is attractive in the flashback sequences, but not really otherwise.) I think Damon is a good antagonist and a good antagonistic ally, but that’s about it. (Translation: My opinion of Damon is basically my opinion of Spike in the first five seasons of Buffy.) In the 14 episodes I have watched (dismissing early random people he ate, and his desire/willingness to have the entire town dead at the hands of vampires), Damon has:
Murdered two women. One was attempting to avenge the murder of the other.
Been directly responsible for the death of one woman, though not her actual killer.
Been the chief instigator in the events leading to the death of another woman, if not directly responsible.
Attempted to murder my favorite character, and repeatedly threatened her.
Repeatedly threatened the main character, and used her life as a tool to force his brother to do what he wants.
Assaulted, mindcontrolled (to force her to act against her friends), and physically and emotionally abused another woman. If he did not rape her, it was only in the strictest, most technical “this situation can’t exist in the real world” sense. The show has tried various typical vampire allegories so far, and the only one that has really worked is Damon as the abusive, controlling boyfriend. Which, frankly, is difficult to completely avoid when dealing with vampires in any romantic or sexual sense.
Given the emphasis on his abuses towards women, I should hasten to add that the women themselves are well aware of how bad he is and the show usually realizes that being charming and entertaining doesn’t change the fact that he’s a creepy abusive sociopath.
But really, I long for the day when this character type isn’t the most popular character as long as he’s played by a moderately attractive actor. I mean, I think most of the men presented as all good and nice and Always Right are the controlling, judgmental Nice Guy stereotype, but I don’t really think the romanticization of this type of character, or similar character types, because “it’s grey/dark/edgy” or “they aren’t human, so the same rules don’t apply” is any better.
I contrast, though not crazy about him, I do like Stefan, who is practically anti-vampire boyfriend, and like Elena/Stefan as much as I can like a teenager dating an animated corpse over a century older than her. Which is kinda limited, but I appreciate the lack of fail or creepiness or stalkery or controlling behavior so far. Also, his idea of a romantic gesture is to give a girl anti-vampire weapons for all her friends and family.
I do not like Damon. I like Ian Somerhalder. I find Damon amusing. I find Damon moderately interesting. I think Ian Somerhalder is one of only two attractive men on the show. (The other being the guy playing Alaric. I think Paul Wesley is attractive in the flashback sequences, but not really otherwise.) I think Damon is a good antagonist and a good antagonistic ally, but that’s about it. (Translation: My opinion of Damon is basically my opinion of Spike in the first five seasons of Buffy.) In the 14 episodes I have watched (dismissing early random people he ate, and his desire/willingness to have the entire town dead at the hands of vampires), Damon has:
Murdered two women. One was attempting to avenge the murder of the other.
Been directly responsible for the death of one woman, though not her actual killer.
Been the chief instigator in the events leading to the death of another woman, if not directly responsible.
Attempted to murder my favorite character, and repeatedly threatened her.
Repeatedly threatened the main character, and used her life as a tool to force his brother to do what he wants.
Assaulted, mindcontrolled (to force her to act against her friends), and physically and emotionally abused another woman. If he did not rape her, it was only in the strictest, most technical “this situation can’t exist in the real world” sense. The show has tried various typical vampire allegories so far, and the only one that has really worked is Damon as the abusive, controlling boyfriend. Which, frankly, is difficult to completely avoid when dealing with vampires in any romantic or sexual sense.
Given the emphasis on his abuses towards women, I should hasten to add that the women themselves are well aware of how bad he is and the show usually realizes that being charming and entertaining doesn’t change the fact that he’s a creepy abusive sociopath.
But really, I long for the day when this character type isn’t the most popular character as long as he’s played by a moderately attractive actor. I mean, I think most of the men presented as all good and nice and Always Right are the controlling, judgmental Nice Guy stereotype, but I don’t really think the romanticization of this type of character, or similar character types, because “it’s grey/dark/edgy” or “they aren’t human, so the same rules don’t apply” is any better.
I contrast, though not crazy about him, I do like Stefan, who is practically anti-vampire boyfriend, and like Elena/Stefan as much as I can like a teenager dating an animated corpse over a century older than her. Which is kinda limited, but I appreciate the lack of fail or creepiness or stalkery or controlling behavior so far. Also, his idea of a romantic gesture is to give a girl anti-vampire weapons for all her friends and family.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-10 03:53 pm (UTC)But I'm not an apologist for him, believe me.
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Date: 2010-08-10 10:56 pm (UTC)So far, Alaric is the only male I like all the way through. I usually like Stefan, but am still a bit leery. Oh! The vampire dude who had a couple scenes in ep 15 and went to Kelly Hu. He seems sweet.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-11 01:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-10 07:17 pm (UTC)I think basically, supernatural occurrences aside, if they can't say no and are therefore incapable of giving meaningful consent it's rape. Which gives him several counts.
I hate this fandom, really and honestly. From the people that whine that Damon was 'more fun' when he was terrorizing women to the girls that coo over Jeremy and call Elena a 'selfish bitch' and call Bonnie obscene names because she tries to protect the people she cares about in ways that don't fall in line with the hawt bad guys...so much fury.
Also, I don't know why it took me so long, but suddenly I'm madly in love with Bonnie. Like, it just sort of clicked! And AWESOME. I honestly do wish that there was less time on the boys -- even though I like Stefan! -- and more on the girls and their friendships.
I saw an episode where Stefan as a hood pulled over his hair and I was like, hmm. That is some damn fine bone structure. But the hair RUINS EVERYTHING. IT IS RUINOUS HAIR. **laugh**
I like Alaric, but don't find him attractive, so I guess Somerhalder is the only real attractive dude on the show for me. (Besides Harper! Who you haven't met yet and got nill screentime anyway.) The girls are all smokin', though, which I appreciate even as it makes me uncomfortable regarding media standards for male and female representation.
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Date: 2010-08-10 10:59 pm (UTC)The "technicality" re: rape was based on the fact that Caroline clearly wanted to have sex with Damon initially and that aspect didn't seem to be something she didn't like later, but it's impossible to tell what was actually her, what was Damon, and what was Damon influencing her to say/do things she normally wouldn't, but might want to. But considering everything else, it's practically a moot point. The sorority girls in ep 15 lowered my opinion of how the show views Damon a lot.
no subject
Date: 2010-08-11 06:26 pm (UTC)Ah, good point. I wasn't thinking of that.
If I think about it, I think I can definitively place my strengthening discomfort with the way the show treats Damon as most strongly beginning during that episode. There was a cognitive dissonance between the way the actions were treated on the screen and the way I reacted to them -- the way the show should have treated them if they cared about these girls or understand the import of what he was doing at all. Instead the scene was focused on his angst, and we were set up to feel sorry for him. I think I gave my first really shrieky post on Damon after that part of the episode.