By all accounts, I should love the new television show, the Bionic Woman (Jamie Sommers). I enjoy seeing a woman who knows a few self-defense moves, and someone who faces trouble head-on. The creators have even built in “sympathetic” devices — a little sister who Jamie has to deal with, the death of her boyfriend, the loss of her baby, the changes in her body. That should, in theory, make us feel for her. Even, like her.

Except, I don’t. As I was watching episode 2 this weekend (had it on TiVo), I realized that the reason I can’t engage in the show is because I don’t believe this character. I am not connecting with her. Why not?

I think it’s a lack of realistic emotions. What am I talking about? Let’s take another tough girl show that I LOVED — Alias. In the pilot of Alias, we see our heroine (Sydney) being interrogated — this is rough, and yet it interests us. But what REALLY hooks us into the show is the flashback to the death of her fiance. Sydney has just told him that she lives a double life, and she debates giving it up for him. She decides she loves him more, tells her “boss” (the evil Sloan!) that she’s out…and when she comes home to find her man dead, she is destroyed. (even worse, he’s been killed by her own people!)

The creator takes the time here to let us experience her loss. We see Sydney unravel, see her pain. We watch as it knocks her down. We understand those emotions, and because we get a glimpse of them, we connect with her. Then, when she decides to go after the villians, and embarks on her double life, we are right there with her. Alias did a great job of keeping Syndney the Woman real, while maintaining the Syndney the Super Hero standard.

Bionic Woman has a simliar story pilot. Jamie discovers she’s pregnant, is proposed to, gets into a car accident. That’s a great setup. We should care about what happens to her. But it’s at this point the story emotions begin to go downhill. When she discovers she’s lost the baby, when she discovers she’s lost three of her LIMBS, she gets angry and slams her boyfriend against the wall.

I would have liked to see her crumble, maybe. Let’s see some real pain, some crying. Then, of course, get mad. Her immediate violent reaction (although I understand the nature of the show is about her strength), however, disconnects me from the character. It happens again when her boyfriend dies. She’s astuere, almost clinical in her response. Her sister asks, “Are you okay?” And she replies, “I will be.” Huh? How deep is this woman’s heart, anyway?

It makes me think about my own characterization, and making my reader care about my players. Putting them in a sympathetic situation isn’t enough — I have to create connection with my reader. I do that by making my characters realistic, giving them honest emotions, letting them feel the pain they’re in. I allow the reader to see the softie inside all that toughness.

Then, perhaps, when they go to save the world, they reader will go with them, cheering them on.

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