Flawed Hereos and Other Characters

I'm been catching up on a lot of new television shows lately, and I love the trend of having flawed good people where the character's flaw is not their downfall - so much more like real life. After hearing about the show "Mad Men" because it was nominated for so many Emmys, I watched a lot of last Sunday's marathon and recorded the rest. The era in the show is during the period I was growing up, just before I was a professional. It brings back so many memories - the clothes, the smoking, the drinking, the role of women, especially smart women, but that's probably another blog.

While there are a number of good flawed characters, the one who caught my attention is the new young, ambitious account executive who wants his boss's job. He tried to blackmail the boss into nominating him for the position, and it didn't work. Yet he wasn't fired, just put on notice. Isn't that more like real life?

In the same week, I saw an episode of "The Closer" in which one of Brenda's detectives, who is particularly overzealous about an old case, acts rude and obnoxious to anyone who doesn't take his side. He harasses the guy who served time for the crime and who is killed in this episode. And he delights in that man's murder and doesn't work very hard on the investigation. You expect the detective to be canned or put on suspension. But the more human response of his superiors is to question him and try to distance him from the more important aspects of the investigation, but to UNDERSTAND where he is coming from. Wouldn't that probably be the outcome in your workplace?

Immediately after "The Closer", Holly Hunter stars in the fascinating "Amazing Grace". I'm not sure what I think about her. She's definitely flawed, but boy, is she good and ethical with her job. And her best friend is wonderful - also a little rough around the edges, but good at her job and a dedicated friend and mother. The two friends had a run-in on these week's show about how long it took the friend to tell Grace her dog was missing. But the response was so human, anger at first and finally forgiveness and understanding. This one had a happy ending so you expect the forgiveness to hold. And that's the way I think it would be in real life as well.