Seth Cohen’s character in The O.C.

Im sure we all share a few of them.

Maybe its Holden Caulfield.

Maybe its Kurt Cobain.

Maybe its The Smiths orFight CluborGhost World.

Seth Cohen was awesome.

He was awkward and read Chuck Klosterman and drew superheroes and wore the coolest t-shirts.

The O.C.was a deceptively brilliant, clever series that still doesnt get the respect it deserves.

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Think back to 2003.

And hes kind of right.

It was wish-fulfilment, or at least a point of identification for the films main audience.

The O.C.was different it was a Fox teen soap opera.

It was being made for teenage girls.

Schwartz created an adorable goofball version of himself and made a mainstream audience fall in love with him.

Whats great about Seth Cohen is that he isnt just a geek character.

Seth does not have his roots in pre-internet fandom.

He is instead more of a millennial Woody Allen.

The O.C.genuinely went a long way to normalise comics in the mainstream.

Instead they were passionate, interesting, weird-but-funny fans.

Its somewhat crazy idea when you look at it objectively.

That would be madness.

I cant keep track of all of those shows!

I just want to watch all of them to keep up with just the one or two I like!

And doesnt that severely limit the storytelling potential of all of them?

Crucially, he showed that being a nerd about this stuff was really good fun.

Kids who were outcasts at school making being a weird outcast acceptable and being inclusive.

But everything looked so bright in 2003.

Part of what made Seth such an effective character was that he was written so genuinely.

His references were real.

They work on the Homer Simpson Scale Of Jocks To Nerds.

Seth Cohen was different.

He didnt just mention Spider-Man because thats what people would have heard of.

Current X-Men writer Brian Bendis was frequently name-checked.

If the show was on today hed probably be talking up Matt FractionsHawkeyeand Kieron GillensYoung Avengers.

Understandably, this was a big deal and a coup, but it felt so forced and off-character.

The thing is, apart fromStar Warsgetting the odd namecheck, Seth has never really mentioned Lucas before.

If he has, its only to be disparaging aboutThe Phantom Menace.

Who hehasexcitedly shouted about to anyone who would listen, though, is Brian Bendis.

Apart from of course that Bendis wouldnt be recognised by the mainstream viewer, but George Lucas would.

Seth ditching Summer to meet a celebrity is just him being a scumbag really.

Finally, I also want to point out great Seths relationship with Summer was.

True, Rachel Bilson is ridiculously attractive.

But she is by no means a Manic Pixie Dream Girl.

At first Seth is like You like comic books!

I like comic books!

We are going to be together forever!, but life isnt like that.