From consuming various types of media, fictional characters on the screen and the page have served as inspiration and relation to watchers and readers.
Media tends to be most enjoyable for people when they experience familiarity in characters and plot.
According to junior Anjolie Ware, having a comfort character to relate to is beneficial in understanding self identity.
“I think I relate to Rapunzel from Tangled and I feel like I’m drawn to it because I feel similar to her and her personality,” Ware said. “She’s very bubbly, and I see that in myself.” There are some fictional characters who have incredibly relatable personalities and experiences, according to senior Anna Roman.
“I feel like every teenage girl should relate to ‘Lady Bird,’ and I hope that everyone does,” Roman said. “Lady Bird” is a fictional teenage girl who is navigating the prospects of her future along with her relationships.
Another relatable teen character is Katniss Everdeen from “The Hunger Games.”
“I love Katniss because she stands up very adamantly in the face of adversity. There’s a lot about her that I understand,” junior Brooke Bechtel said.
Another part of relating to a character can be from their relationships.
In “The Hunger Games,” Everdeen looks after her little sister, Primrose. “I have a little sister and I kind of feel the need to take care of her the way Katniss does,” Bechtel said.
Having a character to identify with can help people feel represented on the screen, according to Roman.
“I think that people just really like to see themselves portrayed in media because they want to be respresented,” Roman said.
Senior Connor Magee feels that when a person can relate to a character who is going through something difficult, it helps to alleviate obstacles.
“Sometimes these characters will go through hard times, and they’ll go through things you can relate to,” Magee said. “I think that just helps you see the end of the tunnel and you can see that if this character can make it through this, I think I could make it through this.”
Bechtel said that when one doesn’t relate to a character, it doesn’t make the story as personal and interesting.
For both Roman and Ware, there are characters who they don’t relate to, but they yearn to relate to.
“There’s a lot of characters who I want to relate to because I just admire them so much and Hermione [Granger] is one of them,” Roman said.
“I can’t relate to Kat Stradford in any way,” Ware said.
Stratford is a character from the movie “10 Things I Hate About You.”
“She likes to take the different route of doing things, and I feel like I’m not like that,” Ware said. “But for some reason I still feel like she’s one of my favorite characters ever, which is an interesting phenomenon.”