You might have noticed the recent trend of character personality quizzes filling up your social media newsfeeds. These quizzes promise to let you know which character you are most like, making it seem as if we read and watch television to find traces of ourselves fleshed out in fictional form.
CJ Hauser of The Millions challenges the notion in an essay called “Just (Un)Like Me: On Our Favorite Characters.” As Hauser phrases it, our favorite characters should provide us with the opportunity to “[gain] access to identities, consciousness, and experiences different than [our] own.” For this reason, Hauser thinks that we should set aside questions about “who we are” in works of fiction, and instead, should begin to think more deeply which characters we love.
After all, “…what says more about a person really, than who they love?”