In Character v. Out of Character

So, A has been accused of having Tristan be too "In Character."

TOO IN CHARACTER?

I know. I thought it was a head scratcher too. See, I like her, had always thought of keeping the characters in character as a good thing. Apparrantly to some, this is a bad thing.

So that got me thinking. What is in character? What is out of character? And do some characters even have a solid enough characterization to make that kind of a judgement?

Take Lorelai, for example. Defined character. She's strong, independant, and completely dysfuncitonal in a functional sort of way. She is obsessed with coffee and doesn't eat very healthy, and when she's dating someone, she will not dress weather appropriate. Best friend of Sookie St. James Belleville. (Still don't know where we all got Melville from) Love of Luke Dane's life, mother to Rory. She never gives up, even if it's only for another cup of Luke's coffee, or getting her daughter into the school of her dreams, or going from a maid to owner of one of the best inns in Connecticut. She can be just about as over the top as you want her to be, because on the show, just that's the way she's portrayed. I like to write Lorelai. I like that she's loyal and true, and when she lets you into her heart, she'll love you with everything that she's got. But she's also not afraid to say what she thinks, and will tell someone, for example, Rory, when she's being an idiot and is going to ruin her life.

See? Defined character.

Now, while I was shredding old docs at work today, I got to thinking about Tristan's character. What exactly do we know about him? We don't know who he was, really, except for the ladies man of Chilton, rich, and arrogant and hot as hell. We know that he has known Paris Gellar for a long time. We know that his parents aren't that great. We don't know his parents names or what he likes to do when not at school to annoy Rory. We don't know if he's a good student, or if he's a James Bond fan or if he's read East of Eden six times or if he's never even heard of it.

Not defined character.

I don't really see where the whole in character/out of character stuff can really come into play with Tristan. He only appeared in a season and an episode, and while he had immense potential *cough* Reason why Matt Czuchry has a job *cough* he's still very malleable as a character. We don't know if he's really broody, or if he has any close friends, or if he loves eggplant and mushrooms on his pizza or if he's gotten his wisdom teeth in. So to say he's out of character is very innacurate. Because he has no super defined traits. The only super defined traits are he's rich, beautiful to look at and popular with women.

What do you think guys? Am I right? Wrong? Did I inhale too much of the liquid paper/Sharpie fumes today in the office?

Katherine