How important is it that the  lead protagonist of a film, book or TV show be a good role model for their intended audience?

After sitting through The Twilight Saga: New Moon with my 16-year-old sister last weekend, I realized I didn’t want her idolizing Bella Swan in any way. Bella, if you didn’t know, is a bit of whiny idiot. She places a boy above her family, friends, safety and independence — not an example I’d like my sister to follow.

I’m not the only person against Bella and Edward Cullen, her vampire boyfriend. According to Jezebel, a feminist blog, a LiveJournal user went so far as to detail 15 ways in which Bella and Edward have an abusive relationship by using a checklist from the National Domestic Violence Hotline.

But when I remember some of my favorite characters from the past, I have to question if all this outrage is really worth it.

I looked up to Cher from Clueless, all of the Disney princesses, Sabrina the teenage witch, Topanga from Boy Meets World, all the girls of The Baby Sitter’s Club, Nancy Drew, Hermione Granger from Harry Potter and now Liz Lemon from 30 Rock. Even though some of these female characters exhibit vapid and shallow qualities, I didn’t become a selfish drama queen because of it.

They’re all just characters, some of whom are intentionally satrical. But it has become the norm that characters tied to minority groups are analyzed for their portrayal of that community, when in reality, they shouldn’t have to be the poster child.

Case in point: Kelly Kapoor from The Office. She’s a vapid employee who happens to be an Indian-American woman. Some people say she portrays Indians in a negative manner. However, due to the nature of The Office, Kelly’s character is far from being the most controversial.

Male characters typically aren’t as heavily analyzed as female ones. I asked a few of my friends about their male role models to compare if they were any better than mine. They named Batman, Wolverine, Ace Ventura, Dr. Christian Troy of Nip/Tuck, James Bond, the Hardy Boys, T.J. Henderson from Smart Guy, and Kenan and Kel as their role models. Somebody said David Hasselhoff was his hero, but that has to be a joke (unless drunk cheeseburgers are your thing).

Very few of those characters are shining role models for their intended audiences. Really, who wants to hang out with an emotionally unbalanced playboy who dresses up as a bat? An obnoxious investigative veterinarian? A man who has double entendred so many women that his herpes probably has chlamydia? Despite who they looked up to, most of my friends function relatively fine in society without constantly proclaiming their love for orange soda.

These characters have the ability to affect a person, but they don’t have the power to completely change a person. Very few are going to become vapid teenagers solely because they watch Clueless, or start sexualizing sandwiches because Liz Lemon is their hero.

These characters should just be characters in a story. However, it is especially important to remember this when certain stories explode into pop culture phenomena. I’m sure my sister and other female fans alike will be just fine, but all in all, I still hate Bella.

Shruti Rastogi is a senior journalism major. She can be reached at rastogi at umdbk dot com.