somniloquence

Can he be both? ;-) The thing I think rubs me the wrong way most in this fandom is that yet again, we have the big mean ugly mean guy syndrome (all the tough ones are big and mean and ugly and mean!) and the pretty frail girly suffering angelic beloved guy syndrome. I hate that. I actually think, in a lot of ways, that Dom is way more sensitive and emotional than Brian is -- you see it especially with Mia, the way he relates to his team, especially in that dinner scene. But he's just big ugly mean guy to 90% of the fandom, because Brian is so pretty and sweet and frail and the "little guy" (nemmind that he's taller). Gah. So, anyway, I think Dom can be both misunderstood and a psycho. He's got lots of facets.

Se, we really are experiencing this fandom differently, because my first impression was that it was all about Dom -- that people missed (or ignored ) the fact that while he is indeed, kind of a nurturing , take-care-of-family guy, he is also a criminal. Not just for Linder but because he's been master minding truck heists for months, and when he's not doing that, he racing illegally. Both of which are part of his allure and his charm, but I definitely go the impression that None Of It Was His Fault. Granted, the impression didn't last long and by the time I'd read most of what was out there, it seemed more balanced. My impression was that yeah, in some corners, Brian was the frail tiny one…but also that he was the one in the Wrong for lying to Dom about who he was. (Which you know, maybe he was, but uh, criminal. Police investigation…)

I am all for the rebel without a cause admiration -- really. And I don't actually see Dom as really being psychotic. I think he consciously puts that rep out there because you know, in the crowd he runs with, it's useful.

I do agree that Dom is both sensitive and more emotional, although I think it's more that dichotomy of Brian appearing sensitive (which he is, but it's more obvious on him) but less outwardly emotional, whereas Dom's sensitivity is something you only catch glimpses of but emotionally, he is *out* there. Angry, happy, impatient, amused, what he's feeling you see immediately. In truth, I think Brian has more pathological behaviors than Dom, mostly because we never really see in the film what *drives* him. We know, or see more of what drives Dom, for good or bad.