Logan-centric musings
Apr. 11th, 2006 04:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dangermousieVeronica Mars is on tonight, as opposed to tomorrow. Yay. One less day of wait.
While browsing the TWoP boards, the Logan/Veronica thread, I came across this quote from one of the posters:
"That's sort of the tragedy of Logan, don't you think? It's what makes him a woobie. He's forever giving his whole heart away and only getting a little piece in return."
Which was one of those times when you read something and a lightbulb goes on and you go "exactly. Why didn't I see it before?" I think this is what makes him so attractive. Because, I realized quite a while back, even though the show's protagonist is Veronica (who I like just fine, btw), Logan is my favorite character. In fact, if I had to think of Top 10 VM scenes, I'd imagine the majority would be Logan scenes. My very favorite scene certainly is, and it actually encapsulates the sentiment above perfectly, as it's the scene of Logan, sitting alone in his hotel suite on Christmas Eve, watching the tapes of Lilly having sex with his (abusive) father, torturing himself over and over. I think it's the sleeves pulled over his hands as if he's cold, or maybe the fact that he isn't bawling but his eyes are devastated and teary and his voice broken when he talks to Keith.
Of course, if all he was is a woobie, an angsty mess for the writers to torture, I'd have much less interest in him. I just love the combination of a wholly vulnerable interior with the sarcastic, verbally clever, and yes, quite flawed (he is classist, he is NOT a humanitarian by any stretch of the imagination) rest.
But I think the most attractive thing about him is his passion (and no, I don't mean that kind of passion, get your minds out of the gutter). He is never indifferent. He can be hateful or loving or anything in between, but he is always engaged and he is always feeling keenly (perhaps too keenly). And it's his capacity for feeling and for love, which is a bit of a miracle, considering his up-bringing. He keeps looking for reciprocal love that he's never had from his parents, and after even a little bit of affection, he will cling like a drowning person and return that many times over. He would put much more of himself in than is proportionate, because he is so grateful for caring, and because of this, it would never be an even outpouring of emotion and he will end up hurt, yet this will make him more desperate to find affection and so he will grab onto anything and the cycle would start up again. The fact that he is still desperate for caring and he keeps looking for it over and over again is both sad and touching, and proves that Logan is both damaged and an optimist.
He loves his mother desperately, even though she is a sorry excuse for a mother, letting his father abuse him, spending her days in haze of booze and drugs, and finally abandoning him to his father's tender mercies completely through suicide (not to mention the tabloid stuff she leaked, never thinking the effect it would have on her son). Yet, all he wants after the suicide is to find his mother is alive. He just needs to know she is alive somewhere, and is in hiding, and got away and will never come forward, which is pretty damn selfless.
He loves Lilly, because she showed him easy affection and sex and he latches onto it, even though even before Lilly committed the ultimate betrayal by sleeping with his father, she was far from a good girlfriend and he knew it. His "I loved Lilly. And Lilly loved guys" shows just how well he knew the emotional power imbalance in that relationship.
He holds onto Duncan, childhood friend, who slips into zombie land and later runs off to Mexico without telling him (and a whole bunch of other stuff happens in between).
He hooks onto Hannah, even though it started as a manipulation to get him out of jail, because she believes in him and cares about him, even though she only knows his facade. He just can't remain dispassionate.
And he holds onto Veronica, who showed him caring after his mother's death and with whom he had a giddy and passionate but very brief relationship even after a whole bunch of events which I am sure I need not enumerate.
I think this season he is getting better at letting go, but just a bit. See his watching those Lilly tapes. He is a long way from healed or normal.
I remember when I was first thinking of giving VM a try, I went to look at the cast pics and ended up wondering: "Why is everyone so crazy about Logan. He is strictly average in looks." And then I saw the Pilot and my overwhelming reaction was "this is the guy everyone in fandom wants the heroine to end up with? The guy who taunted her, bashed in her headlights and whom she introduces to the audience as an 'obligatory psychotic jackass?' Are they insane?" Yet, long before the time of their first kiss, I had completely fallen for his character, and realized that good or bad, I couldn't keep my eyes off him, and Logan scenes automatically became favorites.
The thing that I think is most remarkable about the audience's changing view of Logan (for amusement's sake, go read the very early pages of the Logan thread. Everyone hated him) is that Logan is not 'reformed.' Instead, he is revealed. A few episodes in, he doesn't suddenly start helping old ladies across the street, or sees the light and joins the Peace Corps. But we learn what makes him tick, we learn about how much he loved Lilly, we learn about his vulnerabilities. We learn just why he is so horrible to Veronica (and significantly, it makes his reactions human and forgivable without making him either into a Saint or Veronica into a shrew), we learn about his home life and see how much it has shaped his prickliness and sarcasm and solipcism (and once again, kudos to RT for being so subtle and so good about the horrors of the Echolls home. That ending scene in 'Return of the Kane' is haunting more for what it doesn't show, and the show doesn't milk this, in fact barely refers to it afterwards, but you can never forget it, and you can only fully understand his interactions with his father in light of the RotK revelations). In fact, he has no guide in how to be a decent human being, not in the environment he is in, and he is still learning. And another key, understated, subtle revelation (in One Tree Hill it would be the subject of a teary special episode) is that Lilly's death changed him as much as it changed Veronica. Because we don't really think of it, even though we know Veronica's changed. We don't think that it could have the same effect on Logan. We take Veronica's word that he is an OPJ (and yet another instance of an unreliable narrator. We assume what she says is the sum total of the truth, but it's only part and not even she believes all she says) and assume he's always been one.
Basically, Logan is my favorite character because he is so complex. He is woobie and hurtful, snarky and vulnerable, abused boy and social opressor. He is such a passionate, vulnerable, dangerous contradiction, he is irresistable.
While browsing the TWoP boards, the Logan/Veronica thread, I came across this quote from one of the posters:
"That's sort of the tragedy of Logan, don't you think? It's what makes him a woobie. He's forever giving his whole heart away and only getting a little piece in return."
Which was one of those times when you read something and a lightbulb goes on and you go "exactly. Why didn't I see it before?" I think this is what makes him so attractive. Because, I realized quite a while back, even though the show's protagonist is Veronica (who I like just fine, btw), Logan is my favorite character. In fact, if I had to think of Top 10 VM scenes, I'd imagine the majority would be Logan scenes. My very favorite scene certainly is, and it actually encapsulates the sentiment above perfectly, as it's the scene of Logan, sitting alone in his hotel suite on Christmas Eve, watching the tapes of Lilly having sex with his (abusive) father, torturing himself over and over. I think it's the sleeves pulled over his hands as if he's cold, or maybe the fact that he isn't bawling but his eyes are devastated and teary and his voice broken when he talks to Keith.
Of course, if all he was is a woobie, an angsty mess for the writers to torture, I'd have much less interest in him. I just love the combination of a wholly vulnerable interior with the sarcastic, verbally clever, and yes, quite flawed (he is classist, he is NOT a humanitarian by any stretch of the imagination) rest.
But I think the most attractive thing about him is his passion (and no, I don't mean that kind of passion, get your minds out of the gutter). He is never indifferent. He can be hateful or loving or anything in between, but he is always engaged and he is always feeling keenly (perhaps too keenly). And it's his capacity for feeling and for love, which is a bit of a miracle, considering his up-bringing. He keeps looking for reciprocal love that he's never had from his parents, and after even a little bit of affection, he will cling like a drowning person and return that many times over. He would put much more of himself in than is proportionate, because he is so grateful for caring, and because of this, it would never be an even outpouring of emotion and he will end up hurt, yet this will make him more desperate to find affection and so he will grab onto anything and the cycle would start up again. The fact that he is still desperate for caring and he keeps looking for it over and over again is both sad and touching, and proves that Logan is both damaged and an optimist.
He loves his mother desperately, even though she is a sorry excuse for a mother, letting his father abuse him, spending her days in haze of booze and drugs, and finally abandoning him to his father's tender mercies completely through suicide (not to mention the tabloid stuff she leaked, never thinking the effect it would have on her son). Yet, all he wants after the suicide is to find his mother is alive. He just needs to know she is alive somewhere, and is in hiding, and got away and will never come forward, which is pretty damn selfless.
He loves Lilly, because she showed him easy affection and sex and he latches onto it, even though even before Lilly committed the ultimate betrayal by sleeping with his father, she was far from a good girlfriend and he knew it. His "I loved Lilly. And Lilly loved guys" shows just how well he knew the emotional power imbalance in that relationship.
He holds onto Duncan, childhood friend, who slips into zombie land and later runs off to Mexico without telling him (and a whole bunch of other stuff happens in between).
He hooks onto Hannah, even though it started as a manipulation to get him out of jail, because she believes in him and cares about him, even though she only knows his facade. He just can't remain dispassionate.
And he holds onto Veronica, who showed him caring after his mother's death and with whom he had a giddy and passionate but very brief relationship even after a whole bunch of events which I am sure I need not enumerate.
I think this season he is getting better at letting go, but just a bit. See his watching those Lilly tapes. He is a long way from healed or normal.
I remember when I was first thinking of giving VM a try, I went to look at the cast pics and ended up wondering: "Why is everyone so crazy about Logan. He is strictly average in looks." And then I saw the Pilot and my overwhelming reaction was "this is the guy everyone in fandom wants the heroine to end up with? The guy who taunted her, bashed in her headlights and whom she introduces to the audience as an 'obligatory psychotic jackass?' Are they insane?" Yet, long before the time of their first kiss, I had completely fallen for his character, and realized that good or bad, I couldn't keep my eyes off him, and Logan scenes automatically became favorites.
The thing that I think is most remarkable about the audience's changing view of Logan (for amusement's sake, go read the very early pages of the Logan thread. Everyone hated him) is that Logan is not 'reformed.' Instead, he is revealed. A few episodes in, he doesn't suddenly start helping old ladies across the street, or sees the light and joins the Peace Corps. But we learn what makes him tick, we learn about how much he loved Lilly, we learn about his vulnerabilities. We learn just why he is so horrible to Veronica (and significantly, it makes his reactions human and forgivable without making him either into a Saint or Veronica into a shrew), we learn about his home life and see how much it has shaped his prickliness and sarcasm and solipcism (and once again, kudos to RT for being so subtle and so good about the horrors of the Echolls home. That ending scene in 'Return of the Kane' is haunting more for what it doesn't show, and the show doesn't milk this, in fact barely refers to it afterwards, but you can never forget it, and you can only fully understand his interactions with his father in light of the RotK revelations). In fact, he has no guide in how to be a decent human being, not in the environment he is in, and he is still learning. And another key, understated, subtle revelation (in One Tree Hill it would be the subject of a teary special episode) is that Lilly's death changed him as much as it changed Veronica. Because we don't really think of it, even though we know Veronica's changed. We don't think that it could have the same effect on Logan. We take Veronica's word that he is an OPJ (and yet another instance of an unreliable narrator. We assume what she says is the sum total of the truth, but it's only part and not even she believes all she says) and assume he's always been one.
Basically, Logan is my favorite character because he is so complex. He is woobie and hurtful, snarky and vulnerable, abused boy and social opressor. He is such a passionate, vulnerable, dangerous contradiction, he is irresistable.
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no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 09:06 pm (UTC)Beautifully stated.
JD said something in his TV Guide interview about Logan always having a place for Veronica in his shrivelled little heart. I wanted to scream at him. Logan's heart isn't shrivelled. But I think you may actually have caught on to the real issue. The problem is that he keeps so generously giving it away with little/nothing in return. If Logan were truly loved unconditionally, his heart wouldn't be so shrivelled.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 09:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 09:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 09:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 09:14 pm (UTC)Guuuuuh. Love the icon!
no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 09:19 pm (UTC)If Logan were truly loved unconditionally, his heart wouldn't be so shrivelled.
Exactly. His closest companion is Dick! He cannot mature and flourish emotionally without being in a healthy, loving relationship (and no, it doesn't have to be romantic, but seeing that unknown relatives are unlikely to pop out of the ground, romantic has the best chance). He cannot learn, he cannot grow, he cannot know how to be in a healthy relationship, if he's never even been in one.
He already has the ability to love and to care (in fact, he is too desperate about it). But now he needs someone to care back for him, so he wouldn't be so lost and without moorings.
Logan
Date: 2006-04-11 09:32 pm (UTC)That is it. Exactly. And it is one of the things that makes me adore the show. So rarely is that reveal done so well as with Logan. He builds from the OPJ we first meet through tiny snippets and looks and watery eyes, so that when he arrives to save Veronica, leading with his fist we understand that passionate kiss.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 09:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 09:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 09:50 pm (UTC)Re: Logan
Date: 2006-04-11 09:51 pm (UTC)Oh yes. I love that there is no grand moment of shocking revelation. Instead there is a slow build that you don't even notice at first. And it all makes sense, and it doesn't feel forced.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 09:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 10:08 pm (UTC)When I first started watching (I'd seen about two episodes and then bought the DVD), I barely knew a thing about the show, so I was completely unprepared for the extent of the love for Logan. I think it's a realistic portrayal of a very complex character-- on the outside, he appears mean, manic, and heartless, but it's because he tries to. Not only will the "mean" win him points with his friends (friends meaning people like Dick, not people like Duncan-- I'm recalling the scene where Duncan accuses him of going over to "the dark side, bit by bit," so at least someone calls him out on it), but it does a little bit in ensuring that he won't get hurt again. Until, whoops, he slips up again by actually needing some sort of human contact.
He was never going to be the sort of character that Dick or Duncan is. Dick actually IS mindless and heartless, while Duncan has had a stable home life and genuine caring from his family.
Even in the face of the obstacle that is his abusive father, he fights back. He reciprocates with his biting sarcasm, which does seem to get through to his father occassionally-- the scene where Logan talks about his allergy to shellfish or something, when Aaron happens to be making crab cakes, is both funny (because of the sarcasm and the cluelessness of Aaron) and heart-wrenching, because he obviously doesn't know a VITAL fact about his son.
He's a really interesting character, definitely-- both his motivations and his actions. We've seen him be able to have that mindless sort of relationship (Kendall, Paris Hilton's character), but we all know he's actually looking for something more meaningful, and just doesn't seem to want to admit it.
Sorry for my incessant babble, but I really loved what you said! Thanks for sharing.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 10:08 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 10:28 pm (UTC)I know! [/monicagellar]
Great post - nice explanation for why Logan is such a compelling and interesting character. It's hard for the uninitiated non-fan to understand, because his awesomeness is not in his looks, at least for me. He's definitely one of the more interesting tv characters in a long time, on a show filled with interesting characters, including a pretty great heroine.
Re: Logan
Date: 2006-04-11 10:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 11:31 pm (UTC)it does a little bit in ensuring that he won't get hurt again. Until, whoops, he slips up again by actually needing some sort of human contact
Yes. He lashes out first so as to protect himself, to prevent his being relaxed and then off-guard when hurt (courtesy of his screwed up family life, I'd imagine). Plus, that way if someone is horrible to him, that way he at least deserved it. I really think it's all Aaron's fault: just watch Logan push all the buttons even as he is terrified, almost like playing chicken. It's sort of a defiant "I am not afraid" (precisely because he is) and "at least this way there will be a reason for abuse" (because by making it be for something, makes it feel less arbitrary and Logan less helpless). I think I went on a tangent here.
Duncan has had a stable home life and genuine caring from his family.
Yes. His mother is a bitch but she clearly loves her son in her cold way. And his father adores him. What a contrast between his home life and Logan's. Of course, there is the fact that Duncan is not a very passionate person, or a person who has strong emotions or needs people. He can detach, and Logan is incapable.
He reciprocates with his biting sarcasm, which does seem to get through to his father occassionally-- the scene where Logan talks about his allergy to shellfish or something, when Aaron happens to be making crab cakes, is both funny (because of the sarcasm and the cluelessness of Aaron) and heart-wrenching, because he obviously doesn't know a VITAL fact about his son.
I loved all of Aaron-Logan scenes last season (and the one we got this season) because of the emotional quicksand and the fastness with which reactions and emotions would change: from falsely funny to truly hurt and bitter (Logan) and falsely chummy to menacing and creepy (Aaron). And yet, no matter what, Logan is heartbreakingly vulnerable to his father, he doesn't feel pure clean hate, and I think that is the saddest thing of all.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 11:32 pm (UTC)He's easily the most complex, fascinating and by far my favorite character ever.
Yeah, it's the complexity that makes him so fascinating. It's like a coccoon or an onion. Peel and peel and peel layers.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 11:33 pm (UTC)Exactly. I like his looks (now) because I fell for his character, not vice versa. Duncan was, IMO, far more traditionally good-looking. But Logan's charisma and intensity make him by far the more mesmerizing to watch.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 11:40 pm (UTC)That's one of the reasons I sort of feel sorry for viewers who are late to the VM DVDs, if they know about the Logan adoration in advance. Almost *everyone* hated him for those first few episodes and the Logan "reveal" came so gradually over time and that's one of the reasons it was so great. I didn't realize I had been run over by the Logan love train until well into 1.14 or 1.15. It sneaks up on you so stealthily . . . heh.
But it's a different experience entirely for new viewers to watch the Pilot thinking, "okay, at some point I guess I'm supposed to like this jerkwad?" They know it's coming and are ready for it. Which may even negate it for some people because they might be more resistant, like: "I hate him so much and I don't care what they do to try to make me like him b/c that won't change." If that makes sense.
Anyway, great post. :)
no subject
Date: 2006-04-11 11:50 pm (UTC)I never thought about Logan lashing out simply to feel that the abuse would be deserved-- that's a great point, as it takes away the feelings of randomness about the attacking his father does. Example: when he mentions that his dad is going to give half a million to charity, he KNOWS the shit that awaits him. But he does it anyway. He does it with a smile, actually, as though trying to delude himself about his unhappiness.
re: Duncan: while I loathe Celeste, I do think that Duncan at least has examples in his life of how to be at least slightly rational and functioning. His family's far from healthy in every way, too, of course, but at least Duncan started off with a better base.
I also think part of the appearance of detachment Duncan has had to do with the medications he was taking. Those supress a lot, and, as soon as he goes off them (whether from the side effects, which is a big part of it, or from everything that was supressed while he was on them), he does some weird things. Case in point: jumping off the bleachers. That seemed, to me, like more along the lines of something Logan would do. But I don't mean to digress and make this into a Duncan rant, so back on track for me :)
Logan and Aaron obviously have no idea how to handle each other, which is shown through their complete lack of finesse when dealing with one another. They seem to simply want to avoid one another as much as possible. Even then, as you said, Logan doesn't hate his father. I can't imagine NOT hating someone who's done that to me, honestly. I truly think, though, that his feelings for his mother show the genuine depth he has for those he truly cares about.
So, definitely-- I, like you, went from dislike to slight displeasure to mild interest to fascination, and now we've hit the point where, even if I can't stand half of what he does, I can't stop watching! It just goes to show that people will show up to watch the intricate mysteries and will stick around for the greatest characters on TV right now.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-12 12:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-04-12 12:56 am (UTC)Time to go watch VM.
no subject
Date: 2006-04-12 12:59 am (UTC)Example: when he mentions that his dad is going to give half a million to charity, he KNOWS the shit that awaits him. But he does it anyway. He does it with a smile, actually, as though trying to delude himself about his unhappiness.
When Logan is cornered, he lashes out, often at himself. Here, he likely knew his goose was cooked anyway, but still, chances of Aaron beating him increased exponentially after his stunt. But he still did it, in part (I think) because provoking was his way of asserting his autonomy and hitting back. And I think there is a certain comfort in thinking 'no, I control my destiny, however horrible it is. It is all my fault' rather than 'universe is cruel, life is meaningless and I am powerless.'
The fact that the guy is functional after all his stuff is amazing.
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Date: 2006-04-12 01:00 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2006-04-12 01:46 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2006-04-12 10:48 am (UTC)