Is your character aware of who they are? Strengths? Weaknesses? Idiosyncrasies? Capable of self-irony?
CHARACTER SOLIDIFYING !status : accepting.
46. is your character aware of who they are? strengths? weaknesses? idiosyncrasies? capable of self-irony?
vince gilligan has said in interviews that jesse is a leader who thinks he’s a follower. i would agree 110% with this description, as jesse has a fairly narrow self-perception ( which is only hindered by the constant ridiculing that comes with having walt as a mentor : apply yourself, you don’t think, you never figured out how to think, etc. ) and is definitely more in tune with his weaknesses than he is his strengths by a long shot.
this, of course, has been reinforced by his parents from day one. they praise academic achievements first and foremost : mathematics, literature, the sciences, societal contributions, technology, music. the latter is actually hugely interesting as they seem to be selective even within that range as a sort of sub-category. jake playing the piccolo is an achievement, whereas jesse playing the drums doesn’t necessarily count as impressive since it isn’t classic. i’m not at all suggesting jesse played the drums in hopes of appeasing his parents ( although he may have had some notion that it could have ) as i genuinely think he enjoys more creative subjects such as music for the sake of liberal expression, but i digress !
as far as awareness in other areas, again, he only knows of his quirks and such when they’re pointed out due to annoyance : he knows he’s slow to grasp things because it’s drilled into him by teachers, by walt both in school and in the drug trade. he knows he’s messy, he knows he’s forgetful, he knows all his bad traits by heart since they’re pointed out to him. positive traits are harder to instill in him, as he’s quick to brush them off as false. walt tells jesse his meth is up to par in season 3, but i don’t think he really believes it until season 4-5 ish.
as a result, just for Future Reference, literally anyone pointin out good qualities of jesse’s will leave him flustered, flattered, shy, brought down to earth, you name it ! he’s really not used to compliments and doesn’t really know how to process them, will probably blush ( : an angel !
self-irony is never really externalised : his low self-worth has already been established, but i don’t really think he can afford to reinforce that. sometimes he’ll say something that unintentionally reveals his low view of himself but it’s never as direct as insults or mockeries for the sake of humour as a coping mechanism or whatnot.