Just a question

tomfra

Good day,

so I've seen many posts about Doctor Who, Full Metal Alchemist or Harry Potter. In many of these there were listed tragic moments, like the Doctor losing his companions, the chimera or the brother dieing. What I was wondering, are you really so bothered by these moments? I don't mean to insult anybody, but it just confuses me.
I understand that if you lose somebody in your life it's horrible, but they are fictional characters, nothing more.
For example, I can understand that if you were a really great fan of Heath Ledger you miss him. He was a great actor. If he was still alive today we would've seen a lot of great movies from him. Probably several films with the joker or other great films where he can show his good acting.
But on the other hand, Harry Potter. Let's say Fred survived, in what way would it have affected the storyline? He would just get a few more lines in the book/movie. That's it. The only reason why so many people adore him is because he died, but he isn't even real. He is just a fictional character, no matter if he survived or not, when the book ends he is gone, his story has ended, so why are so many people still clinging so much to it?
Whenever I see a post with with a dog and a girl, or a brother dieing, the only thing I'm questioning is how many posts this time will be how your feelings got hurt.
It's not like I don't give a **** , when I saw the ending of the last of us I was destroyed for several days. Why did he do this, how could this happen. But after less than a week I stopped caring about it, because I know that it's not real and I don't think it's worth the time to question it anymorel
So I'd be glad if someone would tell me if it's just the bandwagon where you make these overrated feel posts or why so many people are clinging to these stories.

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Submitted:	04/18/2014

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#9 - assrocket (04/18/2014) [-]

Think of it this way:

In real life, you would mourn the loss of a friend or a parent, because you have an understanding of this person that runs so deep that when you trip over your own feel, you instinctively form a retort to a smartass comment that never breaks the silence of the room. You still make sure never to leave dirty dishes in your room because your mum hates that so much. And then you stop halfway to the kitchen, and cry. Because she's not there to nag you anymore.

When a character dies, it's the same thing. You keep imagining their role in the upcoming books/episodes. You know exactly how they would react in every situation, and how they would interact with other characters. But they can't. Because they're gone. And the hole they leave rips a similar one in your heart.

That's why we mourn characters.
They're just like real people, even if we can't interact with them ourselves.

#10 to #9 - tomfra [OP]ONLINE (04/18/2014) [-]

Hm yeah could be. I guess it's just different for me than for other people. When I end a series which really made me feel I'm depressed for some time too. But I mostly get over it after a few days or weeks. I just don't see the need to still get attached to someone for long time, especially when he's fictional. When I such posts I'm just like "Oh yeah that was pretty sad... well whatever"

It could be because of the way I play games. I'm highly competitive, I play LoL a lot and used to play Starcraft 2. Games without Multiplayer often bore me after some time. I think the only (mostly) Singleplayer game which I'm still playing is Dark Souls because of the difficulty and the awesome Fighting mechanics.
I guess this competetive feeling is affecting series and other story things aswell which is why I don't bond so much for the characters.

I never meant this post to make fun of anybody, I was just asking for someone to explain me why so many people get sad only because someone made a reference to some tragic moment.

I'm satisfied with your answer so thanks dude.

#6 - rikter (04/18/2014) [-]

Just because something isn't real doesn't mean that you can't have an emotional attachment to it. Just look at you and your girlfriend

#8 to #6 - tomfra [OP]ONLINE (04/18/2014) [-]

What are you talking about? My girlfriend is real.

#5 - theXsjados ONLINE (04/18/2014) [-]

The thing about side characters is it's actually easier to relate to them than it is to relate to the main character. That and their deaths are not usually necessary. The authors engineer the deaths to have the greatest impact on the audience without crippling the story.

That and the bandwagons are just appealing to likes and dislikes. When people see a post about something sad that happened in a show that they love and they see that other people know about it and feel remorse about it then they too have to weigh in; with a comment, a like, or a thumb. It's all about feeling like you're a part of something.

It's also about relating to the situation. Sad but believable events have greater impact based on how many people have ever experienced something similar, or have a reason to fear that the sad event may happen to them. The more believable the event, the greater the impact.

Finally it's also about time invested in the characters. I play through games quickly, so I don't usually get invested in the characters enough to feel remorse when one of them dies, yet when I watch a T.V. show, because shows move at the same pace with no room for moving at accelerated paces you spend more time learning about, and understanding, the characters. The authors know what's going to happen, so they slowly make a point and they reinforce the point, and they strengthen it and make it more and more obvious and apparent, and they throw in tension and suspense, and then they destroy what ever connection binds the point and because of all the waiting and learning and time spent on understanding the point the destruction of the point has an enormous impact on the audience.

TL;DR writers/authors engineer the sad stuff to hit as many people as possible, as hard as possible.

#7 to #5 - tomfra [OP]ONLINE (04/18/2014) [-]

Okay, I understand what you are saying, but maybe I think I made my point wrong in the post. I kinda have the same attitude like you, when I play games I'm less attached than reading a book or watching series/playthrougs.
But I think i explained my point wrong in the post. I understand that after the story ended you are sad for several weeks, even months. But Harry Potter or Full Metal ended years ago and it's not like if xxx would've survived my life would've been completely different now.
I understand that you get attached to the characters, but I don't understand why for so long.

#11 to #7 - theXsjados ONLINE (04/18/2014) [-]

Oh that's just the bandwagon thing I mentioned. People get reminded of it and agree with the general opinion of everyone else and feel the need to weigh in.

#12 to #11 - tomfra [OP]ONLINE (04/19/2014) [-]

Hm, that might just be my opinion, but if you only do it because other do it you should stop. One of the most important things I learned on Funnyjunk is to not give a **** . Even if the sentence sounds rubbish, it kinda changed my life.
Through my time in school I was always affected by the way people saw and thought about me. Since I was pretty much the only guy who was really interested in video games and such, it bothered me a lot.
When I first visited FJ i wasn't sure if it was a good site, but after some time i realised that the people who visit this site are just like me. People who had problems with their social life, who got bullied and everything. Even though so many of us had these kind of problems we had a lot of fun.
At that point I realized that it's not the people who know you make you the person you are, but the person you see in yourself. I like competitive gaming. I like to challenge other player. I don't care if my schoolmates all love playing football. I like playing video games and if the mass cares for the other sport, I don't give a **** . I do what I like and nothing will change it.
If you feel the need to make feel posts only because other people do it I think it's the wrong choice. If you see a post about Full metal and (once again) a post about the chimera, you shouldn't post some kind of "ermagehrd why did you do this to me" post
if you personally don't think that way.
If you think that these posts are just meh, flame these posts or ignore them.

#13 to #12 - theXsjados ONLINE (04/19/2014) [-]

I have my opinions, and I care about them and willingly express them, but unless presented with cold, hard logic I don't allow the opinions of others to sway my beliefs and I try to never allow myself to say anything without being able to defend my statements.

Like you, I don't care about what people like and do not like; everyone is entitled to their own opinions and what they enjoy should have no bearing on how you view them. Your view of someone should be based on how they express their beliefs.

I'm a brony, but you would never know unless I actually told you. I understand that being a brony is generally frowned upon, and that no one wants to hear about it, so I keep it to myself. If I was a sports fan I would still keep it to myself unless someone gives me a reason to believe that they share the same opinion, and if someone I know started to shovel MLP down my throat they would never find out that I like the show because I don't like how they express themselves and I do not want to associate myself with how they act.

It's always the deviants, creeps, and overbearing people who ruin the general opinion of the public about things that are already tenuous in the first place.

The overbearing people aren't just the ones who like something in particular, either. The people who "ermagehrd why did you do this to me" are overbearing as well, and just like I ignore the overbearing brony I ignore the overbearing anti-brony, because the only real way to get them to go away is to ignore them. If they can't keep their convictions to themselves quietly then they really aren't into it in the first place; they're just appealing to the opinions of other for popularity.

#4 - requiemofsins (04/18/2014) [-]

Authors tend to do that a lot of the time. They take a character that they know people will love, and kill them off to add tension and spice to the story line.
Granted, some people do greatly over dramatize these situations, but no. Most people really aren't as effected by it as they make it out to be. It's upsetting in the moment, but then they go and just forget. Some people just think, "Oh, other people probably didn't like that either. I'm gonna say it made me want to kill myself."
Yeah.

Heath Ledger for you.