MovieChat Forums > John Doe (2002) Discussion > I don't buy the premise that John Doe ca...

I don't buy the premise that John Doe can't get a date.....


This only relates to the character not being able to find a girlfriend ....

Sure, he implodes during the speed dating episode. Sure he gets one hot woman to kinda like him. He gets that beautiful British Scientist for all of two episodes. But being a man myself, I was struck by the impossibility of it all....

1) He's good looking. He had a model face and a male stripper body. So it doesn't matter how quirky or odd he is, women will swoon at his handsome quotient.

2) He's RICH. Hello? Handsome, athletic AND rich?

3) He's smart, compassionate and wants to help people.

What the Hell? The scriptwriters don't know women, at least women on THIS planet. They would be throwing themselves at this guy.

A more plausible recurring plot point would be for him to be fending off advances by lovelorn women or schemers or con artists or gold diggers.

But to force the story to make him 'isolated' and 'lonely' doesn't make sense. Now if they had cast an UNATTRACTIVE actor to play the role, wow, talk about being able to mine hundreds of script ideas on human interaction.

Don't get me wrong. I liked the show and I like Dominic Purcell. I just can't ever see the guy having problems getting a date with a woman. IN the speed dating episode, even the 'geek' women didn't choose him. WTF? :D



Dr. Kila Marr was right. Kill the Crystalline Entity.

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Being attractive does not always equal lots of attention, nor does it mean you can be lonely and isolated even if you're completely gorgeous.

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"Betty's voice brought darkness to the land." - Amanda Tanen

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Where do you see this? I interact with hundreds of people a day. There is a standard of behavior that is to be expected. Gorgeous people get attention. To have them be invisible does not compute, especially considering how shallow most of the human race is.

Dr. Kila Marr was right. Kill the Crystalline Entity.

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I don't care HOW many people you interact with a day because I talk to at least a hundred strangers a day myself. I know how people act and I *DO* get the point you're making yet I disagree that just because someone is attractive they can easily find dates. Being attractive is one thing. It is another thing blending in with the average person. My ex is a very handsome man and I always thought, and still do he was a really cool guy, and I found him fascinating, but I didn't know how to deal with him because he was smart but very absorbed into his own world and own way of thinking.

And I myself get approached but I'm kinda "different" too. People don't expect me to be into topics like existence/spirituality to stuff like sci-fi and fantasy, usually it's shallow people who approach me and I've even had someone say I'm a huge nerd for having my looks, being "different" is a huge factor regardless of looks, so I can easily buy John Doe having trouble finding acceptance easily and he's definitely more attractive than I am...at least when he filmed this show. ;)

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"Betty's voice brought darkness to the land." - Amanda Tanen

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One, wrong. Two, I would not expect a gay man to be so presumptuous as to speak for the social dynamic of hetero couples. For one, I cannot speak for gay men because I am not one nor would I apply my understanding of hetero social dynamics to gay relationships. It would be inappropriate, I would assume the opposite would be true for any fair minded person.

Also I don't expect a gay man to care one whit about the social dynamic of how women and men date. Despite there being always exceptions to the rule, women WILL gravitate towards the alpha males. Despite his social awkwardness, Dominic Purcell, is an alpha male. Athletic physique, handsome, smart and rich. Period. He WOULD get a date. Sure, he might lose them quickly by acting weird, but that is not the point. He is not cruel, he is not sadistic. He would get tons of dates, period. Keeping a partner is another issue and not what I was talking about. People are shallow. And there are plenty of straight women who are shallow. Thus your theories don't hold water.

You don't care how many people I interact with on a daily basis? Fine. But you are speaking outside of your element.

Dr. Kila Marr was right. Kill the Crystalline Entity.

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I may be gay but that doesn't mean I haven't been in heterosexual relationships and to say they're that fundamentally different is silly to me. All I'm saying is, I think it's perfectly believable girls can find an attractive man sexy but still not want to date them if they come across as weird, and attractive people are shy all the time so it's also believable John could be awkward and uncomfortable handling those situations.

And no, I don't care, because regardless of what you say you're understanding of people is a lot different than the understanding I've gotten of people from interacting with a number of them that could be just as high or higher than the number of people you interact with.

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"Betty's voice brought darkness to the land." - Amanda Tanen

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Being attractive is one thing. Being able to have a conversation is another. I loved John but as a man I'm just guessing, wouldn't it be really obnoxious to have a conversation with a man who pretty much knows everything? And he always seems to be thinking of a million things at once so his conversations are always short and to the point. He always seems as if he's a million miles away when talking to other people. He's great and all that but being hot can only get you so far. Attractive people do get alot of attention, but in my opinion, i find it harder to talk to a woman who is really beautiful as opposed to someone who is only slightly attractive. Add on someone who's the smartest person in the world...I'd just smile and keep walking

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Gotta agree about the conversational aspect. John is a human encyclopedia on speed. Jumps from topic to topic with lightning speed and rambles off fact after fact. Personality and sense of humor go a long way in keeping someone engaged.

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He did have a (shorlived) love interest, and Stella had a crush on him (although never acted on it, from what I remember).
Maybe if they have had more seasons they would have explored his love life more, either with LT Avery or Stella.
I think it made sense he was alone most of the time, putting his looks aside his personality wasn't easy, and he didn't even know himself.
I've seen more recent shows that also cast attractive actors in this kind of role, mistake, I think it'd be more believable if they casted someone unnatractive, but casting is kinda shallow and someone attractive sells more (don't get me wrong, DP did well in this role).

Like the view? It's the only thing you'll be catching tonight

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