You bring up some interesting points,
baker_grad, but please don't post three times in a row. You can edit your post to include quotes or just make a really long post. Thanks.
I actually used to not be able to stand Meredith on Grey's Anatomy. I thought she was selfish and self-centered and made mistakes all over the place and was wishy-washy. Now I like her because like you said, I get her. Still, whether I liked her or couldn't stand her, I never, ever denied she was a fully fleshed out, complex character played by a gifted actress. Even when I couldn't stand Meredith, I never thought Ellen Pompeo was a poor performer. She's not. She really is incredibly talented and is the absolute right person to the be the lead of the show. Sometimes we're not supposed to like Meredith, and that's pretty brave.
I think if the same were true of Lindsay, I could at least respect her as a character. But there's so little there outside of the fact that she landed the hot guy on the show and that she's selfish. And at least with Meredith Grey, when she's a selfish bitch there are people there who call her on it. But I have a feeling we're not supposed to find Lindsay selfish, despite the fact that her first thought is
always of herself.
As for her looks, I think people are biased in both directions. I've seen the people who like her say she's cute and little and it seems they conclude because she's cute and little she's also sweet. There are very, very few instances of Lindsay acting "sweet."
I find her extremely plain and this season, downright unattractive, but I don't think that would matter if she
was actually sweet. Who hasn't rooted for the Plain Jane to get the babe? The problem is, Lindsay is such an unpleasant human being that I don't believe for a minute someone that's both good-looking and good-natured (as Danny is) would fall for her. If she were beautiful like Angell, yeah, maybe. But Lindsay? In real life, guys who look like Danny do not go for girls who look like Lindsay unless there's something so amazing about the girl's personality. There just isn't about Lindsay's.
So it's not so much that I dislike Lindsay and don't think Danny belongs with her as it is just plain unrealistic. Sure, guys fall for bitches. But generally, they're really pretty bitches.
I think Lindsay's a wish-fulfillment character for any plain jane who wants to get in Danny's pants. To me, that's kind of insulting.
But anyway, getting away from Danny, I'm still not sure what "room to grow" she needs at this point. She's been on the show for three seasons--shouldn't we at least have a consistent character by now?
baker_grad said:
Canon fact: Lindsay left the crime scene in "Silent Night" without telling Stella or offering an explanation.
Canon fact: When Stella tried to talk to Lindsay about leaving the crime scene, Lindsay yelled at her to, "Leave me alone!"
But the thing people forget is that she had a reason. Her character had a reason for all of these things. I got that. I wonder how often she ever had to open up about what happened. She's closed it in. These people don't know, so she doesn't know how much to say, doesn't want to say the whole story. With the phone call you find out about later, the line she says to Stella makes perfect since. "I don't know what's happening to me." or something like that. Because she'd probably pushed that back for so long to have it come out has to be hard.
Sure she had a reason, but she acted like a brat, not a grown-up. If she'd said to Stella, like a mature adult, and said, "I can't deal with this," I think most people would have respected her. But she dealt with it like a spoiled child. Who honestly yells at her boss, "Leave me alone!"??? Really?
I also think its interesting that people claim to want more details--yet details that are given are just ignored. Why?
But the details keep changing--first she's light and fun, then she's angst woman, then she's dealing with her dark secret, first she flirts with Danny, then she pushes him away, then she wants Danny...there's not a lot of consistency there.
The one thing that has been consistent is that she's selfish and self-centered.