Yes, Even Extras on CSI

What generally pulls us to the stories, books, tv shows, and movies that we like? Characters. This is entirely debatable of course, as with most any thought, but I find characters to be the most important part of a narrative. An amazing premise is an amazing premise, but without strong characters it can easily fall apart. When "reading" in to characters it is often important to consider viewing them from a semiotic stance. Characters are not real, they are not authentic, and they are not meant to be. They are constructed from discourse and are meant to be read and interpreted by the viewer as signs or icons. They hold ideological meaning and are key to communication within a narrative.

All characters serve some type of purpose, yes, even extras on CSI. Sometimes they are merely constructed to show that there is a population, but in doing so their purpose is to communicate to the viewer that people are around. However complex a character is, they usually tend to fall within a range of archetypes/roles. Some are very obvious but others must be deeply examined to truly grasp their significance and purpose. The most common roles are that of the hero, villain, donor, dispatcher, false hero, helper, princess, and father. To simplify the correlation between characters and character roles, I tend to think of a character as the "person" and their role as essentially their purpose, reason, or place in the narrative.