Characters you love to hate and hate to love

In my opinion, a television series is made by the characters in it. Often times, it only takes one character to make me love it. Or, at the very least, continue to watch it. Call me easy to please, but I prefer to think of it as being loyal to my fictional soulmates. I have hated shows that I watched because I couldn't give up on my favorite character. So I thought it would be nice to kick off 2011 by paying homage to those selective few who have a special place in my heart. To you guys.

1) Chuck Bass (Ed Westwick) - Gossip Girl
I'll admit I only started watching Gossip Girl recently (11 days ago, in fact, while I was dog sitting), but it only took one episode to get me hooked to this conniving, manipulative, gorgeous piece of man. He kicked off his appearance in the pilot by making sexual reference to almost every girl in the cast of the show, and he's just gotten worse and worse every episode since (or the first season and a half that I've watched, at least). I love him because I can't believe the things he says and does to people. He knows what he wants and he'll stop at nothing to get it, no matter who he has to step on to get it. Perseverance is something I have a great deal of respect for. And, I love a man that doesn't waste his time pretending to be something that he's not. It's quite refreshing. If Chuck Bass were a real person, I would marry him, sexual references and all. So please, Chuck, don't change a thing about yourself.

2) Brian Kinney (Gale Harold) - Queer as Folk
Queer as Folk is my favorite television show of all time, but mainly because Brian Kinney was so irresistible. His motto was always that he believed in sex and not love, which is pretty much the opposite of what I believe in, but again, I can respect a man with values that he sticks to, and not believing in love is pretty much what characterized Brian throughout the series. He was opinionated and outspoken, and often he was a total asshole, but he was never really wrong. He called the other characters out on their bs and they remained his friends because of it. He didn't believe in apologizing or regretting anything, which is something I think everyone can gain a few things by believing in, as well.

3) Chris Keller (Christopher Meloni) - OZ
My mother raised me to love prison shows, and I learned to love them well from her. And if you're going to watch a show about prison, you want the characters to be really despicable. I do anyway. Keller was one such character. He fell in love with another man and because he loved him so much, he helped to break almost every bone in his body, and then somehow managed to get that guy to fall back in love with him. That 's charisma I can envy. He even got the nun to fall for his tricks, which is nothing short of genius. He was remarkable and I know there are people in the world just like him, which is remarkable, as well. He's certainly someone I would want on my side if I ended up in prison for some reason.

Basically, I could go on and on for days talking about characters I love in television shows, but no one compares to these three. They've made my television experience all the better with their presence. Let's see if they can be dethroned in 2011. Good luck, gentlemen. May the most dubious reign victorious.

The Social Network: the good, the bad, and the downright despicable

It has taken me a long time to write this review because it has taken me a long time to decide if I liked it. I'm not even sure now, and it's been about three weeks since I saw it. I think it was a good movie. I can see why a lot of people would like it. I think it's going to be nominated for a bunch of things, and probably win a bunch more. It was well-made and entertaining, but I'm not sure that I liked it.

I love Facebook. Don't get me wrong, Facebook helps me to waste a lot of time that would be better spent doing homework or thinking about what I'll do in six months when I graduate or doing anything productive, really. So I'm grateful to Mark Zuckerberg for creating Facebook because I really enjoy it. Do I want to watch a movie about it? That's debatable.

Here's my problem with the film. Mark Zuckerberg was a jerk. His friend, Eduardo, was a tool. And I don't know anyone who can bring themselves to care about Justin Timberlake, regardless of what he's doing. There wasn't anyone in the film that I cared anything about. I was glad he got sued. I was glad that he ended up paying a bunch of people money. I thought he deserved it. I was only hoping that someone would sue Justin Timberlake too, and him, not the character he played.

I felt bad for the girlfriend. Not only did she have to deal with him being an asshole while they were together, but then she had to deal with him being an even bigger asshole after she got up the good sense to dump him. No one should have to read about themselves on the Internet. I'll admit that I've thought about posting unflattering things about my exes online before (in high school when I was much less mature and had much more time on my hands), but I haven't because that is just cruel. I really believe that break ups are personal and private things and should only be discussed between the two people who are breaking up with each other, so I could feel for her when she had to read about her bra size on the Internet because no one deserves that.

What I liked about it was that it didn't apologize. Mark Zuckerberg wasn't portrayed in any sort of positive light, and his character didn't make any apologies or justifications for his actions. He never admitted that anything he did was wrong. He even said to the Winklevoss twins in the film, "If you were the inventors of Facebook, you would have invented Facebook." The lawsuits just seemed like a minor inconvenience to him. He ignored the proceedings and simply moved forward with Facebook. I can respect that. A motto that I've lived by for a long time now is: no apologies, no regrets (respectfully borrowed (read: stolen) from popular Showtime series, Queer as Folk), and he certainly fits the bill.

Now that I've taken the time to write about it, I think I liked it. I've certainly spent a lot of time talking about it, so that must mean something. If I hadn't really liked it, I wouldn't have thought about it again after leaving the theater. And it made me cry I was so mad, and I hate crying. So, that's worth something.

All and all, I say, go see for yourself.