Ben Mason 3.0: More Awesome Than I Thought?

In the very last hour of Guest-Writer-A-Con, BethTX returns to give a different perspective on the blog’s favorite character: Ben. 

Ben Mason 3.0

The idea for this article came, as most of my writings do, at work while I’m looking for a distraction from real life. I’m sure my company doesn’t need reports to be accurate or anything, so my mind started to wander to Falling Skies; specifically, to Ben Mason and why he seems to be the reigning fan favorite.

I love Ben. Now, I know what you’re thinking: squealing fangirl=dismissed. Nope. I’m old enough to be Ben’s great-great-great grandmother with room in there for another couple of generations and I haven’t squealed since the last time I stuck my foot in a shoe containing a scorpion. I just love the character and it seems I’m not alone in my opinion for once.

It hit me this Friday mid-spreadsheet (thereafter sadly abandoned in favor of this article) that there is very little that unites the majority of fans of any show. True Believers tend to be polarized along very specific lines about every single character. Witness the online gang fights between Team Shane and Team Rick fans of The Walking Dead. Team Shane all the way, baby, and the sooner they kill off Lori, that conniving, manipulative, despicable—sorry. I took a solemn blood oath to stay on-topic. The point is that I’ve read articles, blogs, and discussion boards around the internet and have yet to see anything but positive fan response for Ben. Of course, some of his actions have been criticized, but the character himself has worked his way into fan’s hearts this season. We’re just able to identify with him, but why?

Mad credit has to be given to the immensely talented Connor Jessup. In the hands of a less-able actor Ben and all the changes he’s going through would have sunk faster than Rosie O’Donnell in a pool of quicksand. Of course, the best actor can’t overcome bad writing, so props go out to the Falling Skies writers for actually making a teen character both believable and non-whiny. Ben easily could have gone the other way and been groan-inducing fan Kryptonite, the Wesley Crusher of the alien apocalypse. [Hey! I like Wesley Crusher! -Greg]

So why do we like Ben? First of all, he’s a teenager and fans are either teenagers themselves or have been one in the near past. We all remember that awkward stage where no matter how popular we were inside we felt like a being from another planet. We may have been lacking the actual glowing worm creature spiked to our backs, but we can all identify with Ben’s feelings of isolation and feeling different from everyone else. In spite of having the unending support of two brothers and an adoring father, Ben feels all alone in the universe. Remember when you thought no one else in the world had ever had a pimple on the night of a big date? Yeah, that, times about a hundred for Ben. No one around him does understand. I’m a crusty old broad, but I sniffled a little when Ben pulled off his shirt to show Tom his back and said, “They turned me into a freak.” You win, Ben. My pimple on date night story has been shamed and sent home to its mama.

We also like a hero, and Ben is a hero. That word gets thrown around a little too freely in our society (rant mode activated) and I’d like to point out that just surviving something does not make you a hero. It just means you got lucky. A hero is someone who not only survived but did something courageous in the process. Everything Ben has done since being unharnessed is an attempt to overcome his demons and use his experience toward the greater good. As much as he wishes he’d never been harnessed, he’s determined to use its residual effects– strength, speed, enhanced senses—to protect the 2nd Mass and kick the aliens the hell off his planet. The Skitters really created their own worst enemy when they harnessed Ben. Weaver had a throwaway line where he told Tom that the 2nd Mass was essentially sunk during the Battle of Fitchburg until Ben found a weakness in the Skitter siege and exploited it. But, by all means guys, keep calling him a razorback and ostracizing him. Sheesh.

Ben is a flawed hero, which works in his favor. We don’t like perfect heroes. They’re boring characters that make for boring television. As pure as Ben’s heart and intentions are, he’s still very human and relatable. His overconfidence on an unauthorized mission leads to Jimmy’s death. He hides his growing connection with the Skitters even from his family out of fear. He’s so desperate for someone to connect with that he’s easy prey for Karen the Overlord’s Executive Assistant. He goes from Slipknot emo one moment to Eminem anger the next (Anyone who didn’t let out a little snicker of glee when Ben forced Hal to his knees, raise your hand. Put your hand down; you’re lying.)

The final point that really stands out is that we watch post-apocalyptic shows like Falling Skies partially because we wonder how we ourselves would react in that situation: civilization gone, every day a life-or-death struggle, food and technology in short supply, and enemies all around. Ben is doing what most of us would like to think we would: fighting heroically no matter the cost. We may be accountants, lawyers, or students now, but the minute those alien ships land we picture ourselves putting down the iPhone and picking up the Desert Eagle nine mil to take some serious guerrilla whoop-ass to those scaly green dudes. After all, if a self-described “math geek” who was pretty much bully fodder for his older brother can do it, we like to think we could too.

Beth did NOT have a website she wanted to plug, so I leave you, as always, with the wise words of Wesley Crusher:

Keep the Resistance Strong!

~ by The Falling Skies Blog on August 5, 2012.