Benjamin McKenzie - Ryan Atwood#15:The OC may be over but Ryan Atwood will live in our hearts forever! - Page 4

tc_mahfood · 10-16-2009, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoveBEN (View Post)

I think Ryan had more personality and was much more of an interesting character than all of them! People loved Seth and Summer but they had the least personality and were totally boring to me

I agree that Ryan had the most personality out of all of them. Shallow people won't see that though. Seth and Summer have an obvious personality... they're transparent. They're very easy to understand. Ryan is a much more layered and complex character, and Ben is a very subtle and profound actor. For that reason, if someone is impatient, shallow, or doesn't pay close enough attention, they'll blow right past Ryan despite the complexity of his character. I think it's obvious Ryan had the most personality. Aren't there the most fanfics written about Ryan? That should say enough right there. He is MYSTERIOUS and difficult to figure out, which keeps you engaged to want to figure out what he's going to do next or how he is going to react. He's not as predictable as the other characters. That's what makes him so fun to write about! He has more complex issues as well. The viewer gets to read in between the lines to answer questions such as these about his character:
Why is he so quiet?
Why doesn't he open up to the Cohens? Was it something in his childhood? Is because of being abused as a child?
Why is he so protective of those he loves?
Why does he despise drinking and drugs so much?
Why is he so apprehensive to have sex?
Why is he so polite despite his troubled past?
What drives him to work so hard?
Why does he feel the need to save everyone?
Why does he always blame himself when things go wrong?
Why does he fear he won't fit in at college?

I can go on and on with these sorts of questions. Seth and Summer don't raise many interesting questions of the same genre.

**LoveBEN** · 10-16-2009, 10:25 PM

I actually think that Summer had no personality, none what so ever. and Seth was only "the funny guy" and I can see why people find Seth and/or Summer funny and even cute, but their characters were hardly something special

and I agree with you completely; Ryan was the mysterious one, he was the one I wanted to know about, his past his future etc. I had no interest in Seth and Summer storylines, I honestly find them boring, childish and stupid.

tc_mahfood · 10-17-2009, 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoveBEN (View Post)

I actually think that Summer had no personality, none what so ever. and Seth was only "the funny guy" and I can see why people find Seth and/or Summer funny and even cute, but their character was hardly something special

and I agree with you completely; Ryan was the mysterious one, he was the one I wanted to know about, his past his future etc. I had no interest in Seth and Summer storylines, I honestly find them boring, childish and stupid.

Well, I would argue that Summer DOES have a personality... I mean... she had multiple sides to her. She was a deeper character than Seth. Summer's mom took off when she was young, leaving just her and her dad behind to look after each other. Summer has a very interesting and close relationship with her father imo, which I enjoyed and to some degree even related to. After all, if my Dad disapproved of a guy I was dating, when I was younger I would get a gut feeling that my dad was right and would end the relationship. Moreover, Summer is a sweet person. She was a GOOD friend. When she gave that sweatshirt to Marissa that read "Berkley" on it and said "Looks like somebody believed in you," I actually shed some tears because at that moment she reminded me of myself. That is something I would do for one of my close friends even after they have slipped into a downward spiral. In fact, I COMPLETELY understood and related to the emotions Summer felt in that scene... it means a lot to me to do things like that for my friends. I also cried when she gave Julie that locket with Marissa's picture. That was very moving imo. For those reasons, I like Summer. She actually had some depth to her. There were times she really pissed me off (the immaturity over Seth/Zach and the Gung Ho environmentalist act as well as the extreme liberalism and the ridiculous need to have her pet bunny treated immediately at the hospital when there were other HUMAN patients who probably needed treatment far worse), but all in all, she was a cute character and I enjoyed her.

HOWEVER, she is no where close to Ryan in my book. Ryan for me was the heart and soul of the OC. Without his character (and Sandy's character), there is no show. I

Ryan WAY more than the others, and he is much more layered, complex, mysterious, and intriguing than all the others as we both agree on.

goodperson · 10-17-2009, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tc_mahfood (View Post)

She was a deeper character than Seth.:

i agree with you although i love seth. sometimes seth didn't take responsibility when he did wrong things. seth was super lucky guy in the oc. maybe the most lucky one. hehe had great parents, a great brother, a smart girlfriend. and his rival was zach! zach just gave him a very slightly hit then felt heavily guilty.

seth didn't solve a lot of things. because he's too lucky. ryan's rivals were 10 times more horrible and mean! poor ryan.

well, i remember some ryan's fans said to ryan's hater like that, "why you watch the show if you hate the protagonist so much? do you feel agony? "

**LoveBEN** · 10-17-2009, 01:31 AM

I guess we will have to disagree on that one TC. I think Summer had the potential to have an interesting storyline involving her mother, but that never happened, and she was hardly ever mentioned after S1. Summer's dad could have been an interesting character but not only was he boring, his character wasn't about Summer most of the times. The first time we saw him (in S1) he was brought out to break up Seth and Summer and the second time we saw him (In S3) he was there to be Julie's love interest.

Summer's character, although she had potential, hardly had story lines that did not involved Seth, it was like, he was her reason for being... She was Seth's girlfriend and nothing more and hence had no personality of her own (unless you count looking cute and calling Seth her snow angel

) and yes, her character was not a bad person, she was a good friend to Marissa and was kind to Julie after Marissa died, but I think all of the characters were basically good people that tried to do good things, so I was not really impressed with her for that and I'm actually surprised that you think that her character had depth... if I had to describe Summer, I would use anything but the word "depth" to describe her.

I can't say I related to her either, but if you did, than I can see why you liked her.

At least we agree though, that Ryan was a far more Superior character and that he was the heart and soul of the OC. I just can not see myself watching a show for a fluffy character like Summer. But give me a Ryan Atwood any day!

**swedish_girl80** · 10-17-2009, 06:48 AM

Oh well I´m glad that we all love Ryan

tc_mahfood · 10-17-2009, 07:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by swedish_girl80 (View Post)

Oh well I´m glad that we all love Ryan

That's all that matters, Hanna!

We all love Ryan, haha.

Haha it's okay Michal... It doesn't bother me at all what you think about Summer. I don't like her THAT much that I would go all out to defend her. The only character I'd do that for is Ryan and you love Ryan, so we're cool.

Quote:

[b]i agree with you although i love seth. sometimes seth didn't take responsibility when he did wrong things. seth was super lucky guy in the oc. maybe the most lucky one. hehe had great parents, a great brother, a smart girlfriend. and his rival was zach! zach just gave him a very slightly hit then felt heavily guilty. seth didn't solve a lot of things. because he's too lucky. ryan's rivals were 10 times more horrible and mean! poor ryan.

Yeah, exactly. I actually like Seth more than Summer, but I think Summer did more with less (her life was a bit harder emotionally than Seth), but she still managed to get into a top college (granted she went to Harbor where most get into a top school, but people had low expectations of her and she proved them wrong) and be just as successful. And you're right... she also took responsibility for her actions, whereas Seth didn't and had NO EXCUSES because of his wonderful upbringing. Ryan on the other hand blamed himself for everything. Poor kid... I have that same personality too... it's self-torture.

Quote:

well, i remember some ryan's fans said to ryan's hater like that, "why you watch the show if you hate the protagonist so much? do you feel agony? "

Because they're idiots, haha... anyone who hates Ryan's character is shallow imo, especially after the sorts of reasons I hear for them "hating" him.

goodperson · 10-17-2009, 06:38 PM

yeah, TC. i think summer did manage to do some things and accomplish those. that's cool. that's why i like her. but seth, seldom. most of the time seth just did mess up what he did and was too comedian-alike.
but i agree with michal that summer was potential whereas her character didn't get well developed enough and her storyline was not interesting enough. i think the characterization of theresa and lindsay had the same question. that's why i don't think they were likeable entirely or terrible entirely. but i think sadie was terrible entirely. she's just pointless in my book. sadie just got ryan involved in fking things relatingto the fking johnny and what she did for ryan was just fulfil his sexual needs. eww sorry for my dirty words.
poor ryan always was the one who did everything for the other and got little pay back from the other! i don't mean girls should do good for ryan all the time. but pls let me see more interactions! imagine ryan suffers injuries in soccer match, ryan suffers bully, ryan meets a girl who dislikes him really (not like lindsay did) and competes with him for anything but love-triangle (like alex did). a great villain girl or whatever. there's not only love troubles in campus!

tc_mahfood · 10-17-2009, 07:13 PM

I think Ryan's life sucked the most out of all the characters on the OC...

Like emotionally I don't know how he wasn't f0cked up in the head after all he'd been through and how wrongly he was treated by everyone (including those he loves). He did so much for everyone, and you're right goodperson... he seldom got anything in return. Instead, people he loved would just leave him. People say Marissa's life sucked the most, but it really didn't imo... Marissa MADE HER LIFE SUCK more by doing drugs, alcohol, etc., but her main issues were not worse than Ryan's imo (besides the sexual assault). She just handled her problems badly, whereas Ryan was emotionally tougher.

goodperson · 10-17-2009, 08:53 PM

lol at (besides the sexual assault).!

tc_mahfood · 10-17-2009, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goodperson (View Post)

lol at (besides the sexual assault).!

Yeah...

I figured Ryan was never raped or sexually assaulted so Marissa had it worse on that. I've been sexually assaulted before. It's emotionally damaging.

**LoveBEN** · 10-17-2009, 09:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tc_mahfood (View Post)

I think Ryan's life sucked the most out of all the characters on the OC...

Like emotionally I don't know how he wasn't f0cked up in the head after all he'd been through and how wrongly he was treated by everyone (including those he loves). He did so much for everyone, and you're right goodperson... he seldom got anything in return. Instead, people he loved would just leave him. People say Marissa's life sucked the most, but it really didn't imo... Marissa MADE HER LIFE SUCK more by doing drugs, alcohol, etc., but her main issues were not worse than Ryan's imo (besides the sexual assault). She just handled her problems badly, whereas Ryan was emotionally tougher.

THANK YOU! I agree completely!

tc_mahfood · 10-17-2009, 09:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoveBEN (View Post)

THANK YOU! I agree completely!

You're welcome.

**LoveBEN** · 10-17-2009, 09:27 PM

Ryan had the worst life. even when he was with the Cohens his problems kept on coming but he did everything he can to stay out of troubles.

tc_mahfood · 10-17-2009, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoveBEN (View Post)

Ryan had the worst life. even when he was with the Cohens his problems kept on coming but he did everything he can to stay out of troubles.

It could have been worse though.

Many of the fanfics have Ryan in PURE SUFFERING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cancer, hospital, gang victim, raped in prison...