When you're reading too much escapist literature...

[debka_notion]

Anyone else ever wonder how to judge fictional characters when they do something that doesn't mesh with your real-life values, but oughtn't matter for a fictional character?

Comments

[belu.livejournal.com]

You judge that they have different values than you do?

They're not hurting anybody. They're fictional characters, after all.

Suspension of judgement

[sharonaf.livejournal.com]

I try to suspend judgement. Putting aside my own values, see if their behavior matches what I would consider proper values for their universe and situation. eg., in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress I don't in real life approve of the family situations that Heinlein describes, but I can see that in their situation and with their method of living, it all works. However, I don't in the Arthurian legend approve of Lancelot, because in his inability to deny himself that which he wants he destroys his friends and his kingdom. So he I still disapprove of, even putting my own values aside as much as possible.

[doctor-nine.livejournal.com]

Depends on the character. If they do what they do for apparently good reasons (apparent to them, if not necessarily to me as the reader), I try to give them the benefit of the doubt, much as I would give a close friend the benefit of the doubt; extreme situations and the moral judgments that result from them are, after all, what makes a lot of such fiction interesting, so it's worth trying to apply their logic to things and seeing where it gets you. The only situation in which I find this difficult to apply is if the character in question is of a very nihilistic bent; that's simply too distant from my own world-conception for me to try to relate to it.

[doctor-nine.livejournal.com]

Heh, I just realized that most of my favorite fictional characters fit this criterion -- having to make morally questionable decisions -- in one way or another. It's kind of part of the business of being a science fiction protagonist, generally speaking -- even the Doctor has made plenty of less-than-ideal choices in his day.