What We Know About the Pop Culture Taste of Your Favorite TV Characters

Just like you, your favorite TV characters have their pop culture favorites, from guilty pleasures to high brow entertainments.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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The favorite films, TV, and music of fictional characters can feed story in many ways. Of course, naming the guilty pleasure band or favorite director of a hero or villain gives us easy character development shorthand. We can distill many clues about the background of a character from their DVR and Spotify. Revealing these kinds of facts about characters can also provide a sharper sense of place. The kind of films and music discussed in a women's prison will be different from those beloved by a upper-middle-class high school will be different from those that generate cable newsroom water cooler chatter. Sometimes a character's relationship to pop culture can do some significant thematic work as well. For example, when Jenna watches Pretty in Pink in an episode of Awkward, the show is situating itself in the timeline of teen drama.

Regardless of the creative reasons for what is on a character's iPod or TV screen, it's always a delight for a viewer to learn about the favorite bands, movies, and series of their favorite characters. When a character geeks out about your favorite TV show, you immediately empathize with them that much more. When a character name-checks nu-metal bands and CBS multi-cams, it's suddenly far easier to dislike them. Though we don't have access to every TV character's list of Facebook likes, we do know a thing or two about their tastes, and that invariably helps shape our view of them. Here is What We Know About the Music/Movie/TV Taste of Your Favorite TV Characters.

Abed Nadir, Community

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Tom Haverford, Parks and Recreation

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Carrie and Fred, "Portlandia"

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Raylan Givens, Justified

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Jenna Hamilton, Awkward

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Dean Winchester, Supernatural

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Rachel Berry, Glee

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Donna Meagle, Parks and Recreation

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Sheldon Cooper, The Big Bang Theory

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Will McAvoy, The Newsroom

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Piper Chapman, Orange Is the New Black

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Carrie Mathison, Homeland

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Selina Meyer, Veep

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Jess Day, New Girl

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Don Draper, Mad Men

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