#1- Sophs-Your Favorite Stock Character
Who is your favorite "stock" character? Tell me the character type and then tell me something about the character. Choose a character from books, movies, short stories, and television shows.
I've provided an example for you, namely Ebenezer Scrooge.
Ebenezer Scrooge is a miserly misanthrope in the Charles Dickens' classic, A Christmas Carol. His love of money and disdain for Christmas characterizes the original Scrooge. Scrooge overworks and underpays his loyal employee, Mr. Bob Cratchit. Cratchit, a good and holy family man, has bills to pay and a crippled son (Tiny Tim) to take care of, but he faces his responsibilities with Christian fortitude, and he refuses to admit to his poor family that Mr. Scrooge is a bad man. You might say that Cratchit is a stock character himself, the "poor but happy" fatherly figure whose religion and stoicism keeps his family in food and clothes.
Back to Mr. Scrooge, who grudgingly allows poor Bob to take the day off on Christmas Day, but orders him to arrive earlier the next. He greets holiday well wishers, like his kind nephew, with a "Bah, humbug" that of course, is now universally recognized as the reply of the Christmas Scrooge. Suddenly his world is turned inside-out when he is visited by the ghost of Jacob Marley, his former business partner and a scrooge like himself. The forlorn ghost, who now does penance by walking the earth in heavy chains, money boxes, and keys, warns Scrooge to mend his ways, lest he suffer the same fate.
Scrooge is shaken, but falls asleep. During the rest of the well known story, he is visited by three Christmas ghosts. He then undergoes a miraculous change. The new Christmas loving Scrooge sends a huge turkey to the Cratchit home, raises Bob's salary, and becomes a surrogate grandfather to Tiny Tim.
This Christmas tale is a story of faith, faith in humanity and the goodness that lies within us all. It was buried in Ebenezer Scrooge, and then unearthed in the joyful end of the novel.
posted by JTF @ 10:43 AM
33 comments
33 Comments:
An example of a stock character would be the "Grinch" from the story by Dr. Suess "The Grinch Who Stole Christmas." The Grinch is a stuborn, selfish man who would do anything to prevent other peoples happinesss during Christmas time. He is unhappy himself because he spends Christmas alone each year and therefore does not want any of the Whos to be happy. The Whos do not accept him because of the way he looks so the Grinch is bitter towards them. The only friend he has is the abandoned dog Max. He eventually decides he is going to destroy Christmas by impersonating Santa Clause and taking all of the kids toys. On Christmas morning, the Grinch predicts that all the Whos, once discovering all the toys are gone, will all start to cry. Instead, the Whos realize, with the help of Cindy Lu-Who, that christmas is not about getting presents; it is about spending time with your family and friends. The Grinch decides the same and wants to give back the toys and spend Christmas with the Whos.
My favorite stock character is the best friend, like Lula from the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovich. The best friend character is the one who is always by the main characters side. They are the one who make the main character see who they really are, and are also there to give the main character a little help when they get into a tough situation. Lula is the best example of a friend. She is the jelly to Stephanie’s peanut butter, the mac to her cheese. The entire book series is based on the life of Stephanie Plum, a bounty hunter in New Jersey, and the trouble she stumbles upon. Lula is a part- time bounty hunter/ file clerk, though she does more hunting than filing. Every time Stephanie gets an idea it is Lula who goes with her and helps her get out of all the sticky situations. Anytime Stephanie has a problem, she goes to Lula, even though Lula never really gives good advice it is the thought that counts. Stephanie’s life can get pretty hectic, so it is a good thing she has friends like Lula to show that her that life is not always as bad as you might think.
An example of a stock character would be Regina George, who is one of the main actresses in the movie "Mean Girls". She is the most popular girl in school whom everyone admires. Regina is a rich and self-centered teenager. She is the unofficial leader of a group called the “Plastics”. This group is a popular, crude, and beautiful clique. Every girl in the school follows Regina’s fashion ideas and every guy wants to date her. She is the most popular girl in the school even though she is mean to everyone. In this group, there are two other members, Gretchen, Regina's full-time follower, and Karen, who is considered dumb. A new girl named Cady, who came from Africa, is immediately invited into their group. Regina, Gretchen, and Karen do not know Cady is only in the group to find out their dark secrets; Cady then tells them to her two other friends. However, Cady falls for Regina’s ex-boyfriend, Aaron Samuels. Regina finds out, and being the mean girl that she is, seeks revenge and tries to take Aaron back. Cady starts being deceptive with Regina’s meals and her phone calls, and soon Regina is rejected from the group. The group has a book called the “burn book” in which a picture of every girl with a negative comment is found. To seek revenge at Cady, Regina puts herself in the book and turns the book into school. So, the only three girls not in the book are Cady, Gretchen, and Karen. They receive the full blame for writing it. One day after school, Cady and Regina are arguing as Regina is walking across the street. A yellow school bus hits Regina. She fractures her spine. The Spring Fling is later that night and Cady is the homecoming queen. After the Spring Fling, the four girls decide to continue to be friends, but end the group. They all join new activities. Regina makes new friends on the lacrosse team, treats her teammates with respect and learns how to be part of a team.
Since 1989, there has been a character known throughout the world, and his name is Homer Simpson. From the highly successful and influential show, "The Simpsons", he has gained popularity for having the traits of being overweight, alcoholic, and for being incredibly unintelligent. He works at a power plant but is absolutely not qualified for the job and is barely seen working. Throughout the show he has had many jobs and has visited many countries. When at home, he can be found drinking beer on the couch, sleeping on the hammock, creating mischief, or continuing his regular practice of gluttony. Homer and his son, Bart are the usual characters who create conflict in the show. Although he has many bad personality issues, his family still loves him and tolerates him even though he shows a great amount of ignorance towards his family. He is known for his unhealthy love for Television, donuts, and beer, which takes a toll on his health but shows little care. The Simpsons has influenced many sitcoms which contain the stock characters featured in the show such as the nurturing, loving mom, the dumb trouble making brother, the prodigy daughter, and the dumb, fat dad.
My favorite stock character is Bart Simpson from the Simpsons. I think that he is a stock character because, he falls under the category of the prankster type bratty kid that just can't seem to succeed in school. In the show there is always some sort of wacky plot that involves a trick or prank and who is usually behind it all? Why Bart Simpson and sometimes even his little accomplice Milhouse. Usually in every school there is a certain prankster or class clown that just can't control themselves in giving authority figures a hard time. In Bart's case he just can't help but annoy Principal Skinner. Bart most definitely fits into this category without question. Also he can't seem to focus on school which is why he always gets F's in school. In many episodes his teacher just pretty much gives up trying to teach him because, he just can't seem to behave himself. So basically Bart fits perfectly into the prankster, bad boy group which is typical for a least one student in every class in a school.
There are many different stock characters in movies, novels, and all different kinds of stories but my favorite is Charlie Sheen from Two and a Half men. Two and a half men star Charlie his brother Alan, and Allen’s son Jake. Charlie lets Allen and his son stay with him in his oceanfront home in Malibu, California. Charlie is my favorite stock character because he is so funny and he makes the show well because oh his personality. Charlie is a 40- year old man who writes jingles for a living and makes big money Charlie is a big ladies man and he finds himself with a new woman every episode. Charlie is completely hooked on women and that’s all he talks about and thinks about all the time. He never wants to continue a long relationship because he is afraid of commitment. Charlie finds himself getting into trouble all the time with these women and must always find some way of getting rid of them. Charlie is exactly the opposite as his brother who cares more about the feelings of girls and he tends to get rolled over on. Hence he is divorced to his first wife and she gets all the benefits in the divorce. Charlie is a terrible influence on Jake and the show keeps getting funnier and funnier as Jake gets older and understands more and more. There are many stock characters just like Charlie but so far he is my favorite and funniest of all time.
My favorite stock character is Claire Lyons from the book series The Clique by Lisi Harrison. In the first book Claire is an outcast who just moved from Florida to New York. Claire's father got a job transfer and Claire's family had to move. They end up staying at the Block resistance. The Block resistance is home to Claire's father's old college mate and the queen bee at her new school Massie Block. Throughout this book Claire tries to become friendly and be apart of Massie's clique called the "Pretty Committee." Claire starts out as a sweet, friendly, shy girl who just wants to make friends and adjust to her new life. Claire then tries to change herself to be like the clique in every aspect. The Clique girls find Claire very immature and not clique material. Eventually Claire gets fed up with the abuse from the clique. Claire sneaks on the Massie’s computer pretending to be Massie and convinces another clique member that Claire is cool. The Clique girls start to be nice to Claire because of her dirty deed. Going shopping and doing what the clique always does, Claire realizes it is fun to be a queen bee but also it is wrong to treat people the way the clique girls once treated her. In this series of books Claire realizes that many of the people at school like her for who she first was. Claire ends up gaining a true best friend and a boyfriend by being her true self. She also gains the clique's respect and hangs with them. Claire is the type of stock character that starts out as the sweet and shy girl and gets influenced by the bratty, rich clique girls. But in the end realizes that she is comfortable with her old self and would rather be that way. Claire is the stock character that wants to fit in with the “It Crowd” and changes herself for that.
My favorite stock character, from both a book and a movie, would be Harry Potter. To me, no matter what challenges he has to face he always makes great decisions. Over time, the more stories and books that come out, the more challenges and adventures Harry has to face. And each time they come out, his challenges get even harder and his adventures get even crazier. I feel like i can aspire to Harry Potter because he has so many great characteristics. For example, he does not care about being the most popular at school and he doesn't worry about what other people think of him. He has his two good friends and he would do anything for them. Also, he never flaunts anything to others and is a very humble boy. He is a very strong person who has been through alot more then a lot of other people his age.
My favorite stock character would have to be Bruce from Bruce Almighty. Bruce Almighty is this movie about a guy named Bruce who is married. First, he lost his job, his car got in a fender bender, and from thereon, everything bad happened to him. On the day he got into a fender bender, he threw away this religious bracelet he had and insulted GOD and blamed him for all the bad things that happened to him. On the next day, he kept receiving the message for him to go to this building for an appointment. When he went, he meet “GOD”, who gave him an offer, which was to be GOD for certain amount of time, so Bruce won’t be so disrespectful in the future. Bruce took the offer and there were some conditions, which were that he wasn’t to use GOD’s powers for personal gain, he was to help those who called upon him and he wasn’t to tell anyone he was GOD. On the next day, Bruce transformed his car, got his job back and attacked some street guys who mugged him before. On the day after that, he started hearing people’s pleas for help through prayer in his ears and his computer was being flooded with emails, because he wouldn’t answer people all for help. They got worse and worse that he just unplugged his computer because, he couldn’t answer all of them at the same time. Bruce used GOD’s powers to please only himself and when time to be “GOD” was almost over, Bruce cheated on his wife and when she caught him, he wanted to make things right but he didn’t realize his day was up. He visited GOD and when GOD told Bruce that he took away his powers because he didn’t go according to the deal and to make things right, it will be up to Bruce himself. Bruce later learned his lesson that he shouldn’t take GOD for granted. I enjoy this character because you can somewhat relate to this story.
My favorite stock character, or stock characters are the women of Wisteria Lane on the TV show, Desperate Housewives. They are precieved as older women who stay at home cooking and cleaning all day; but not these housewives. Their lives from the times their husbands leave from work to the times they come home are filled with drama, drama, drama. Whether there's neighborhood children bullying to take care of or a sad friend, these housewives definately keep themselves busy. They're always getting themselves into some sort of problem with their neighbors or future clients in their infamous catering business. Despite all of the arguments and problems they have in their everyday lives, at the end of the day, they're still housewives. They cook dinner for their husbands and await for their return from work.
My favorite stock character comes in a pair most of the time, and its usually one person chasing after the other, who will probably never notice them. Figure it out yet? It’s the nerd and the popular girl. These are my favorite stock characters because it’s usually very amusing to watch what lengths the nerd will go to to get the girls attention. That is why these are reoccurring roles, and even a reoccurring plot. When thinking of movies revolving around these characters one in particular comes to mind, 1987s Can’t Buy Me Love. This movie shows you what happens when Ronald Miller, the nerd, lends Cindy Mancini, the popular girl, $1000 to replace one of her mother’s dresses. In exchange she has to pretend to be his girlfriend for a month. Another movie that involves these characters is Sixteen Candles, in which, the nerd’s name is never mentioned, and in the credits he is listed as “the geek”. In this movie he is persistently chasing after Samantha Baker, by not taking “LEAVE ME ALONE,” for an answer. So you see that basically any movie that has to do with high school students involves these characters. I think it is because it’s so true to life, no matter where you go to school theres always a popular girl, and there’s always a nerd.
When I have to think of my favorite stock character, I have to think of my favorite characters on TV. Two examples of my favorite stock characters are Abby from the TV show NCIS and Garcia from Criminal Minds. These two women represent the stock character that is really smart, kind of a nerd in some ways, but they also are not your typical geek type. They each have their own style that makes them very individualized form the rest of the characters on the shows, but in a good way. Abby from NCIS is gothic and has lots of crazy tattoos. She has dyed black hair and black fingernails and wear lots of dark makeup, yet she is always really happy and is kind of the heart of the shows main characters on screen. Garcia from Criminal Minds is kind of the same. She is the backbone for the team and has her own crazy style of how she dresses and acts. Both of these characters are who the characters turn to when they need information or help in someway, whether it is personal or work related.
My favorite stock character is the classic, slightly disturbed, but extremely gifted man. Gregory House from the television series House is who I am referring to. House is known to be one of, if not the best, doctor in the hospital. However, his treatment methods tend to be a little out of the ordinary. His personality too, is somewhat odd. He was in an accident that caused him to lose movement in his leg. All day, everyday, he is in pain and because of that he takes excessive amounts of pain killers. While treating his patients, he uses his disability to an advantage at times. Patients sometimes ask him for help or advice and he uses his disability to get out of it. The humorous actions he performs cause his character to be slightly strange. What I mean by this is that sometimes House says overly sarcastic things that can be considered rude or inconsiderate to the patients. The patients cannot tell if he is joking around or if he is insane. House reminds me of quite a few famous people. One is Edgar Allen Poe; a brilliant mind, but considered “off balance”. Another is Einstein. Some thought Einstein was strangely unique, but it was a well known fact that he was extraordinarily intelligent, much like Dr. House.
My favorite stock character is Veruca Salt from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." Veruca is a rich, spoiled brat who gets everything she wants from her pushover father. When she hears that Mr. Willy Wonka has put five golden tickets inside his chocolate bars, she gets her dad to pay and organize a whole assembly of people to unwrap boxes of candy bars in search of one of the golden tickets. When one of the paid people find one, she gets to go to Willy Wonka's factory. While she is there every new candy or candy invention that was there, she wanted and she told her father that she wanted it right then. Her father told her that he would get her everything and anything she wanted. In the end, because of her attitude and wantin everything in sight, she fell through the rotten egg shoot. Mr. Wonka explained that since she was rotten she was put through the shoot.
There are many different stock characters and many different characteristicts of each one. Some stock characters are funny, others are serious. The different moods of each character bring the story to its intended feeling of depression or excitement and happiness.
My favorite character is normally the "bad guy". The bad guy is normally the character that is made out to be hated. He is in constant conflict with all the other main characters in the play and sometimes even himself. Although he is meant to be hated I enjoy them because he often brings comedy and lightness to a serious mood.
An example of a stock character would be the Maxwell Smart from the movie Get Smart who is played by Steve Carell. Max is a stock character because he is the typical “smart” guy. He knows everything and his main goal is to become an agent. In the movie Max is trying to be an agent but does not get due to the fact that his boss does not need any agents at the moment. After a few months pass by a major mission comes along and Max is asked to be in it. As usual Max is paired with the pretty girl or as Anne Hathaway is called in the movie Agent 99, that he will never date. Also always the smart guy always gets entangled in things that are hilarious and is always bailed out by the girl. For example they had to got to ball in which, they had be all secretive and Max gets into trouble that Agent 99 has to bail him out of. After the mission is over, his boss is very proud of Max and creative ideas that he contributed to make the mission successful and possible. So in the end Max becomes an agent and ends up dating Agent 99.
My favorite stock character would have to be Elle Woods from the hit movie Legally Blonde. Her character would best be described as the typical, misunderstood,“dumb blonde”. At the beginning of the movie Elle is a student at a college, and majors in fashion merchandising. She is head of her sorority, has the perfect boyfriend, and seems to not have a worry in the world. Her and her boyfriend go out to eat one night, and she is convinced he is about to propose to her, but instead he breaks up with her. He is planning to attend Harvard Law School, and says he needs a more “serious” girlfriend. Elle is devastated, and decides that is going to surprise him and show up at Harvard in the fall. Her plan is that when he sees her at Harvard he will immediately want to get back together with her because he’ll see that she is serious. Elle dedicates herself to taking the LSATS, and makes a convincing admissions video. She gets into Harvard law and is so excited. When she gets there she sticks out like a sore thumb. Everyone makes fun of her, and calls her Malibu Barbie. Elle is shocked and doesn’t understand why she can’t be taken seriously. When she arrives she finds out that her ex-boyfriend had already proposed to another girl at Harvard. She is again devastated and wishes she had never come to Harvard. Eventually things come around, and she proves herself a serious student, and the movie ends with her graduating at the top of her class. This is the typical stock character of the dumb blonde who is misunderstood. In the end she proves that she can be her girly, fun-loving, self, and still be smart and serious.
My favorite “stock” character is Gregory House from the TV show House. He is a grumpy middle-aged doctor who is self-centered and callous to his interns. He has many stubborn ways to tell his interns how to test his patients. When they tell House what they believe is the problem, House denies almost every one because he knows he will find what is wrong before anyone else. His boss also thinks House is single-minded and never listens, and usually is persuaded to give House what he wants. House can become an egotistical man when it comes to diagnosing his patients. He plays mind games with some of his patients, being rude and mocks them because he already knows what is wrong. Many of his patients do not even know him and have to put up with his behavior. Even though Doctor House has many strange ways of diagnosing his patients, he is the right man for the job. He is a brilliant man with a tough shell, but has a good heart to help those who need him. Deep down he knows he is a good man and a better doctor, but does not always show it. He loves his job and always knows he will find the problem, no matter how long it takes.
The example of a stock character would be Zack Siler from "She's all that." its played by Freddy Prinze Jr. Zack Siler is the jock, class president, the hottest. Every girl wants him and he's always prom king. So is stock character label should basically be "MR. POPULAR." In this movie, like all others with this type of character, when the guy walks down the hall, every girl stares and admires him. At prom, everyone KNOWS he’s going to get it and wonders why there even voting. Everyone knows they don’t have a chance to be his girlfriend because he has his cheerleader girlfriend. Everyone thinks he’s too cool for them and they just let him put himself up on a pedal stool. He gets away with anything because he’s gorgeous, and because he’s the athletic cool guy in the school. He walks the halls like he’s got it all. This type of character also think he could get any girl he pleased if things with him girlfriend didn’t work out. In this movie “she’s all that” zack, not think of anyone but him self, decides to make a bet about being able to get any girl to go out with him. This character is a jerk let alone all his great qualities like gorgeousness and popular and athletic. This stock character is “Mr. Popular.”
My favorite type of stock character would be the “underdog“. In the movie “The Longest Yard”, the prisoners play the underdogs in a huge football game. Usually you wouldn’t think of inmates being the underdog but they are against the unfair advantages the guards have. Adam Sandler plays the leader/quarterback of the inmate team. The odds of them winning the football game are not good. The inmates are supposed to just be the season opener for the guards and make them look good, but they do the opposite. The guards do anything they can to sabotage the inmates practices. The inmates work at it really hard and even though they start out all unorganized they pull it together. I love the underdog character because they’re always underestimated and then they usually make a big comeback and wow everyone. Adam Sandler was given an ultimatum in the movie, they wanted him to throw the game but he didn’t, he stuck to it. That’s another good quality about the underdog, they’re usually the type who does what’s right, and is honest. I feel that a lot of people can also relate to being an underdog at one point or another. It’s always a good ending when the underdog comes out on top, its predictable but it never gets old.
There are many stock characters that I think make a great movie such as the eccentric billionaire, or the old fashioned nerd, but the stock character that is my all time favorite would be the underdog of underdogs, the contender of contenders, the Italian Stallion Rocky Balboa, played by Sylvester Stallone. He is by far my favorite stock character because in every “Rocky” movie, he fights with the heart of a lion no matter what others tell him, and he believes in himself and his capabilities until the very bloody end. He is the kind of role model that others should look up to. He is a dedicated and committed person that never backs down from a fight. That is part of the reason that Rocky is my favorite stock character. He is a great role model, especially for his son in the latter movies. The other reason that Rocky is my favorite stock character is because he is sort of like a hero because he gave not only his hometown faith and happiness, but he gave people something to look forward to and something to believe in. Sometimes, I even feel like Rocky sometimes when I am part of a group project because just like Rocky, I feel like the hero and go to guy of the group, and in the end, I feel like the simple hero that gave that extra push to get the job done. I think that more movies should have stock characters like Rocky balboa, and more morals taught in the “Rocky” movies, especially the last “Rocky” movie that they made. If you have never seen any of the “Rocky” movies, go watch one and I guarantee that you will feel just as I do.
The stock character that I have chosen is “Dorothy” from the Wizard of Oz. She runs away from home because she is afraid that her family will take away her dog. When she realizes that they could be worried about her she tries to get home but is caught up in a tornado. She is transported with her dog Toto to a colorful land known as Oz. She is told that the wizard can get her home and on her search for the wizard she runs into three people, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow. They are all in search of something too that they think the Wizard of Oz can give them. The Tin Man wants a heart so that he can love someone. The Scare Crow wants a brain so that he can be smart and the Cowardly Lion wants bravery. As they slowly make their way to the Wizard of Oz they discover that they already possess these traits that they yearn for. Dorothy realizes that there is no place like home and wakes up to find people in her life that she had encountered in her dream. She had been home all along and had just dozed off.
The stock character that I have chosen is “Dorothy” from the Wizard of Oz. She runs away from home because she is afraid that her family will take away her dog. When she realizes that they could be worried about her she tries to get home but is caught up in a tornado. She is transported with her dog Toto to a colorful land known as Oz. She is told that the wizard can get her home and on her search for the wizard she runs into three people, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion and the Scarecrow. They are all in search of something too that they think the Wizard of Oz can give them. The Tin Man wants a heart so that he can love someone. The Scare Crow wants a brain so that he can be smart and the Cowardly Lion wants bravery. As they slowly make their way to the Wizard of Oz they discover that they already possess these traits that they yearn for. Dorothy realizes that there is no place like home and wakes up to find people in her life that she had encountered in her dream. She had been home all along and had just dozed off.
There are many different “stock” characters today. The most popular are the hot stupid jock, the rich popular, the pocket protector geek, the wise old man, spoiled little daddy’s girl, and the dumb blonde. However, in this case I my favorite “stock” character is Elle Woods, from the award winning movie, Legally Blonde. When you first see Elle, the first thing that come to mind is, “another movie about some dumb blonde and daddy’s little girl.” Elle seemed to have to most amazing life. Elle was rich, beautiful, perfect friends and an amazing boyfriend. Elle thought that her boyfriend, named Warner would propose to her later one night. She was more then certain that she would come home that night with a new piece of jewelry and a new addition to her life. At dinner Warner goes on this whole speech how he wants a serious girl in his life and does not think that Elle would be that right person to fulfill his dream in being a senator. Next semester Warner will be attending Harvard to peruse his dream, following his brother and father to be a senator. Elle wants to marry Warner so bad that she will leave her almost perfect life in fashion merchandising and become a serious Harvard Law student. When she arrives at Harvard she realizes that the love of her life Warner is already engaged to a complete opposite of herself. Elle does not understand why almost all of the people at Harvard do not take her seriously, so Elle changing the way she presents herself and it worked! Elle realizes that Warner did not really want her; he just wanted her for her looks. In the end, Elle proves that she is a serious lawyer and it turns out to be that she is the valedictorian of her graduating class. This movie breaks down the stereo type of, “dumb blondes”, not to judge a person from how they look because things definitely changed for Elle.
Troy Bolton is a confused teenager who stars in the High School Musical series. Throughout the three movies Troy has had to choose between his two main passions, basketball and theatre. He is equally interested in both activities, and in the first two movies had been able to continue doing both. Since he was only in high school doing lots of extra curricular activities is normal. But in the last movie, Troy is a senior and must decide which passion he wants to continue and pursue in his college career. He has people who are influencing him to do both basketball and theatre. His dad is pushing him to play basketball at U of A. While his theatre teacher is pushing him to pursue theatre, because she says that he has natural talent. Since there are many important influences in his life, it is very difficult for Troy to decide. Also, Troy has a girlfriend and she means a lot to him, she is going to Stanford and he does not want to be far away from her. Troy ends up making a compromise and goes to the University of California-Berkeley, so he can continue playing basketball and do theatre. Also, choosing this school makes Troy only 37 miles away from his girlfriend, Gabriella. So in the end he gets everything he wanted. She was the one who inspired him most and he does not want to be without her. Troy represents the stock character of the confused in love teenager. This character constantly shows up in literature, especially books written for teenagers, so they can get help from them. This character is used to show how hard it is to choose and make reasonable decisions best for your future, and the friends and family that will be influencing you while in the process of decision making.
Out of the variety of stock characters in different stories, my favorite would have to be Ryan Atwood from the recent show known as The OC. He is the stock Character commonly known as the outsider. “The Outsider” is a stock character that is usually the bad boy type, excluding himself from popular social circles, and avoids people in general, most likely because he generally doesn’t trust people. His story is centered about a new life for him and how he gets into trouble with the new society. Ryan Atwood comes from a bad neighborhood; there he developed bad behaviors such as stealing and fighting. He gets himself caught up into a series of events that leads him to Ocean city, a place full of wealthy, beautiful and scandalous people. Ryan is not welcomed into the society because he has a background abnormal to the people of The OC. He ends up in an odd group of friends, one of them being a nerd, and the other being an extremely popular girl. Ryan is a clear model of a stock character; he fits the role of being an outsider sufficiently.
I think a good example of a stock character is the winter warlock in "Santa Clause is Coming to Town." Everyone was scared of the warlock whenever they had to pass by his dormain. One day Chris Kringle past him and was taken by the trees. Chris talked his way out of the warlocks evil by giving him a toy train. The warlock was suddenly overcome with joy and happiness. After their meeting they become very good friends. The warlock even changed his name to Winter. Winter learned how to give to others and feel good about it. He learned that special powers don't only come from evil spells, but more effectively from the heart. He felt this had a greater effect on others than his old spells. Even though i think the Warlock was not a major character in the story, he really had a strong importance and lesson in it. This can give the viewer especially young children an explanation of howit feels to change oneself from bad to good.
My favorite stock character would have to be Dean Winchester from the series “Supernatural.” He is the hard-headed, older brother, heroic figure. He and his brother hunt supernatural beings, or as they call it “the family business.” Dean and his brother Sam started hunting these supernatural beings when their mother was killed by a demon and their dad sought out to seek revenge. They traveled from state to state with their father when they were young, hunting demons and other supernatural things, trying to find the demon that killed their mom. Dean had promised his father that he would always protect and take care of Sam. As they got older Sam decided he didn’t want to hunt demons anymore and instead went off to college and started dating a girl named Jess, who is later killed by the same demon that killed Sam and Dean’s mom. Sam rejoins his brother Dean to revenge Jess’s death and they later meet up with their dad who gets captured by the demon. After they get their father back they are hit by a semi-truck and dean almost loses his life, but their father sells his souls in order to keep Dean alive. Dean and Sam are now left to continue the family business together. Later in season two of Supernatural Dean tries his hardest to protect his younger brother but fails when Sam is stabbed in the back and killed. Dean is desperate to keep his promise to his father, and bring his younger brother back. Dean makes a deal with a crossroads demon and sells his soul to the demon in order to bring Sam back to life. Dean is given one year left to live. This just shows how heroic and brave Dean is, and how he would do anything, even give his own life, to save his younger brother.
My favorite stock charecter would have to be Shantee from the movie "Two Can Play That Game". In the beginning Shantee is convinced that the only way to get a happy marriage is to go by all these rules and plan all these tricks to catch your boyfriend in a lie. She even tells her friends to do the same and instructrs them and teaches them the exact steps to "trick your man, and then get him." This "10-day Program" even works for one of the girls. When Shantee has problems in her relationship, she thinks she can just play games and get her man to be exactly how she wants him to be. She suspects that he is cheating on her so she breaks up with him, even though he has always been loyal to her and hasn't cheated. She plans all these dates and times to run into him and look good and likje she's doing very well off without him. When he tries to call her, for four days straight she ignores them. Then when he unexpectedly shows up at her house he flips it around so that she is the one feeling bad and down. He is also playing the same game she is. After going through her "10-day program", she actually looses her boyfriend, Keith, and is so sad about it she goes to a bar. Where she finds out that Keith is also upset about them really being done too. At the very end after she asks him if he could ever take her back she realizes that she can't get the relationship she wants with all of her rules and games because love has no rules.
Of all the stock characters out there, my unseemingly favorite stock character seems to be todays, " Villian." By this I mean all the Villians that the movies have produced in the past 20-30 years. They all, or at least most of them have something in common. As in most movies, theres the hero, and the villian. The villian usually goes on a rant of his own, destructing things and causing mayhem that conflicts the hero or other important characters.However in the end, the villians parade comes to a halt and he has to face the music and either get arrested, killed, or chased away. For exapmle, the Spider Man series. In the last Spiderman 3, you have 3 villians, on one hero. You had Venom, Sandman, and the Green Goblin, and they all were trying to kill Peter Parker. Now, in real life, SpiderMan would be crushed by his opponents force, but this is where the stock part comes in. Movies make out villians to be temporary, and this is why, in most movies today, the bad guys ALWAYS LOSE, and i find it funny that thats what people want to see, is a happy fairytale ending all the time. Another example is The Dark Knight, where the seemingly unstoppable menace Joker wreaks havoc in the city, only to be caught in the end. My point is that all villians are the same, only being placed in the plot for one reason: for the good guys to win.
A great example of a stock character today would be the typical villian in most superhero movies. All villians in the movie, at one point, wreak havoc, and cause a conflict for the hero or other important characters. However, most people know the conlcusion:the bad guys always lose. If you look back, think about these villians: The Terminator is killed in the end, The Green Goblin in spiderman is killed, the Joker in the Dark Knight is captured, and this is just a start. Dont you see a theme among most villians the media and movie's have produced? It seems as if theyre placed in the story for one reason and that is for the good guys to prevail, and pave way for a perfect fairytale ending. All the villians also have this in common: they're lonely, they have no friends, and they either a) want revenge, b) are transformed into a villian by a weird chemical, or c) theyre just insane men or women. And the funny thing is, they only have to be in a movie for that one reason, which is to make viewers feel better by watching the villian get killed or captured.It seems like the Villains have no chance, and at first you think that Villain would prevail, and a specific example is the Dark Knight. Towards the end, the Joker is up on top of a building getting ready to detonate a bomb located in two boats, and here's where the stock comes into play. Of course, Batman finds the Joker, but something surprising happens, and the Joker actually is beating up Batman. They fool you to believe that it’s all over for Batman, but what happened? Well if you said that the Joker gets captured your correct! So that’s my example of a stock character.
My favorite stock character would definitely be the class clown. I think whenever there is a class clown in a movie it makes the movie that much better. He makes the movie or book better and it gives everyone something to laugh at. In the movies the class clown is always getting in trouble and then coming up with a smart answer on why he got in trouble. I don’t know what about this that is so funny, but it is just funny. An example of my favorite class clown is Ferris Buhler, from the movie Ferris Buhler’s day off. This is one of my favorite movies because it is so funny. In the movie Ferris is a class clown who makes a plan to skip school by saying he was sick. He is just your typical class clown, but makes the movie so much funnier. He is quick and witty and a typical stock character.
My Favorite stock character would have to be someone who is a leader. Someone that is forceful enough in order to get the job done. Someone that is also able to be a gentle, loving, and caring friend. Someone that has his own sense of humor that is witty and great. He is the perfect boss/authority and father figure. This automatically brings to my mind Leroy Jethro Gibbs, from the TV show NCIS.
Agent Gibbs is the leader of a Naval Crime Investigative Service team. Some of the rest of the team include: Ducky, Abby, and Tony. Their backgrounds are all completely different and their jobs range from working in the lab doing research on chemicals found at crime scenes, to documenting a crime scene, to making the arrests. Agent Gibbs brings this team together into a very tightly knit family. They all work together and watch out for each other under Gibbs’ leadership. He knows how to get the job done and done right, while still being able to have a little fun and compassion for his team. He also knows how to have different sorts of relationships with his team. For example, with Abby he is a sort of fatherly figure for her to look up to and get work done for. While on the other hand, his relationship with Tony is very different. To Tony, Gibbs is the ultimate boss. He can get what he wants from anyone in the interrogation room and anywhere else he needs to. He seems to be an almost supernatural force to Tony, in which he studies to maybe be like someday.
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