Fictional vs factual characters: A Brotherly musing

[dicentra63]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., "Tabouli" <tabouli at u...> wrote:
> Hi, OTters... (visions of the listmembers gambolling about on the
shores of a loch, a la Ring of Bright Water),
> 
> I have three terrible, terrible confessions to make.  The first is
that I have, of all things, started watching Big Brother.  (shrinks
behind the couch, hiding her shame behind the remote control).
> 
> Second terrible confession: After all my denunciation of elitism and
towers, ivory, I did, in fact, snub last year's series on the grounds
that the very concept sounded like the ultimate in tedious trashy
television, to which I would not lower my exalted brow.

My objection to Big Brother is not its "trash TV" image but the fact
that I can't bear to watch people whine about how horrible other
people are.  Can't watch Survivor for the same reason.  Matter of taste.
>

[snippage]
 
> I mean, where would the Potterverse be without Snape and Draco and
Voldemort?  Sure, we want to fill our real lives with kind,
trustworthy, dependable, considerate people, but honestly!  Sleazy
exhibitionists, nasty spiteful grudge-bearers, purveyors of trite and
corny comments, all these people have a place and it is On Our Screens
and Pages!  Where would fiction be without them?

P.A.C.M.A.N. Perfectly Angelic Characters Make Awful Novels.
 
And yet I find myself trying to will Sirius Black into existence. Go
figure.

--Dicentra, who wouldn't mind having THAT fictional character turn up
on her doorstep one day