…that we herbivores started seeing more veg*n TV and film characters who aren’t walking stereotypes. I hate stereotypical characters – it doesn’t help the animal-friendly movement to have a vegetarian character on a sitcom if he or she is the sort of person other people fear becoming (i.e. whiny, sickly, boring…). In a world where fiction (TV, film, Second Life, etc.) dominates culture, more and more people are becoming horribly lazy about sorting it from fact.
(Side note: A few veg*ns feel Lisa Simpson is a little too straight-laced and self-righteous, but it’s important to remember that Lisa isn’t just The Simpsons’ most well-known vegetarian character. She’s also the show’s voice of morality, quite possibly its smartest character, an excellent student, and a gifted musician. If it’s wrong to wish for a little of Lisa in all of us, I don’t want to be right.)
With Ugly Betty on a brief hiatus, my Thursday nights are currently ruled by Bones. I was a little hesitant to watch last night’s episode, since I knew it would take place in a zoo, but I couldn’t resist tuning in because I knew the show would be introducing a vegan character. The wording of the TV Guide spoiler led me to suspect the character would be new – someone never before seen on the show. Some fans were even speculating that the vegan character might be Michelle Welton (daughter of last night’s victim) or recent intern Arastoo Vaziri.
Instead, the writers gave us a little surprise, and I applaud them for it.
In the first five minutes of last night’s episode, we find out recurring character Dr. Clark Edison is the mystery vegan. I certainly wasn’t expecting that! Clark is my kind of vegan character – highly intelligent, hard-working, articulate, occasionally witty, and clean-cut. Sure, the writers took an existing character and added veganism to the mix, but so what? The importance of likable fictional vegetarians and vegans should not be underestimated where veg*n PR is concerned. Characters like Clark (who is fairly popular with viewers) serve as fictional ambassadors for ethical living, indirectly telling viewers from Seattle to Spain that being vegan doesn’t have to mean being a cranky anarchist, an unwashed hippie, or that scrawny guy from the accounting department who grumbles loudly about the odor from a coworker’s meatball sandwich. (No offense meant to veg*ns who fit the above descriptions, of course. Lots of us have been there at least once.) Going vegan doesn’t mean overhauling one’s entire personality – it means becoming a more ethical and conscious person. But, omnivores generally need to see it to believe it, and many of them rarely (or never) meet herbivores in real life.
Honesty compels me to admit my favorite intern is still adorably fact-obsessed English nerd Vincent Nigel-Murray*, but I will certainly look forward to Clark’s future appearances.
BTW, if you would love to see more tree huggers and plant eaters portrayed positively on film, check out Green Light Flix.
*I may be a little biased here, since I’m romantically involved with a brainy Brit and have a head full of random facts. Would it interest anyone to know that vegetarian rock goddess Joan Jett wears latex on stage, not leather as many fans assume?
