One of my very favorite prime time shows is Chuck. I don't watch much TV here at school, but whenever I get in the mood to watch TV Chuck is usually the first thing I hit up on Hulu. The show isn't particularly deep, but the dialogue is usually pretty entertaining and funny and the plot is fast paced.
Besides being one of the shrinking number of prime time comedies that isn't overly filled with offensive material, I've always really liked "Chuck" because the main character, Chuck Bartowski, is portrayed as a really average guy thrust into a spy lifestyle. However, instead of quickly becoming calloused to the moral complexities of his job, the character somehow maintains a strong sense of morality and "normalness" in regards to the sticky situations he is put in. The whole appeal of Chuck's character is that he serves as a foil for the other spys, government workers, and bad guys who no longer have an accurate gauge for right and wrong. Chuck consistently wrestles with how to "do the right thing" in complex situations where the right thing isn't obvious. Chuck's morality often seems to get him into more trouble than its worth, but by the end of the 42 minute episode somehow Chuck's moral compass has won another victory for the good guys. It would be easy for the writers to write in a "do-good" character like Chuck as a fool or a failure, but I enjoy how they give some credence to his moral sensibilities. I'm not sure if the writers have some bigger agenda in writing like this, but I have been pleasantly surprised that its seemed to appeal to a large majority of Americans.
I liked Chuck's character for a long time before I knew anything about the views of the actor that plays him, ZacharyLevi. When I was reading more up about him tonight though I stumbled on this statement he had made, "My job on my set, I believe, is to first just love people and gain that trust with people where they know that I really do love them and care about their well-being, so that when they are running into problems, they will hopefully, at some point, come to me and ask me, 'What is your peace all about? What is your comfort all about? Where do you get your love? Where do you get your talents?' And I can turn to them and say without blinking, 'Jesus Christ.'" That was pretty exciting to hear - and somehow I really do think his faith shines through even in his TV personality.
A morally upright character is hard to run by these days, even more so when you add into the mix that he is both morally on the right track AND fairly successful.
ReplyDeleteChuck strikes me as an Maxwell Smart-esque character, though less of a bumbling idiot and more of the average joe in an un-average situation, which appeals greatly to our generation.