Day 14 – Favorite male character
If I’d been keeping up with this and written t his back when I first started this “one month” meme *mumble* months ago, I’d have had an entirely different answer to this question, but I’ve since acquired a new obsession favourite TV show, namely USA Network’s White Collar
Which brings me to Neal Caffrey.
The short premise of the show is “He’s a charming con-man with a heart of gold. He’s the FBI agent who put him in prison. They fight crime!” Specifically, they fight the kind of high-stakes, big money crimes that you’d expect the “white collar’ division of the FBI to tackle: art heists, stock swindles, counterfeiting, etc. The sorts of crimes that Neal specialised in, and quite often ends up going undercover to help solve, because he moves easily in that world.
I like Neal Caffrey because he has style. He dresses well, he’s charming, extremely intelligent and well-spoken, has a wicked sense of humour, a great sense of fun and adventure, and a taste for the finer things in life. I remarked recently to kitanzi that I often “aspired to a level of sophistication that I do not always possess.”, and this is a character that embodies all of those traits that I admire and covet. (Well, except for the “criminal” part of it. But, hey, nobody’s perfect.)
I will even admit that he directly inspired me to take a critical look at my own personal sartorial style and make some needed changes. So this show has done me a great deal of personal psychic good.
If you’re not watching White Collar, do give it a try. Many of the things I love about the show (particularly the relationship between Neal and FBI Agent Peter Burke, Burke’s relationship with his wife Elizabeth, the amazingly crisp dialogue, the fantastic undercover heist plots, and the narrative sub-plot that runs throughout the entire show) lie outside the scope of this entry. But it’s hands-down my favourite show on television, and USA just announced that it is being renewed for a 3rd season. I recommend it highly to anyone.