Why dont people like Adam?

Been reading threads and for the most part enjoying this message board. A few posts in the Parts You Cant Watch Thread a few people said they did not like Adam.

I like the Frankenstien theme. It did get long though especially writing for A and N. I hate them.

If nothing else the storyline shows you just how hard it is to be good even if you are inherently so. Poor Adam cannot know who is really his friend and he chooses the bad guy but that is not his fault. I wonder how many of us really know what the people in our lives are really like? That is the creepiest, and scariest storyline in my opinion because it has a basis in fact. You can't know who your friends really are or who is really good or bad and for anyone suffering any kind of abuse you know what I mean.

Then again, Adam could think for himself instead of allowing N to do it. This is how evil works. We see it today in the news. Seems like no one has any sense of personal responsibility and no one wants to think for themselves. The Dharma Of Dark Shadows

DS RULES

I liked the beginning of the Adam story.  Once Nicholas Blair got involved, it messed the whole story up and it went downhill from there.  I'm sure they could have come up with interesting developments with just Adam and not the resulting story they used.

What gets me about Adam is that nobody ever talks sense to him.  Nobody says to him:  "Adam, if you're nice to people, they're more likely to be nice to you."   Or:  "Adam, I'm sorry that in just a few short weeks you haven't managed to find an ecstatically satisfying romantic relationship, but most people don't manage to find one in all their lives."  Or:  "Adam, the reason people dislike you is not that you're ugly.  It's that you're an immature pain in the neck."  I can't remember what they do say to him.  All I remember is that it's stupid and irrelevant.  (I used to have an uncle like that.  It was OK that he was an jerk.  What was not OK was that when I talked with him, I turned into an jerk.)

In the episodes before Adam actually came to life, there was a wonderful feeling of "This show could go in a million different directions."  What's the episode in which Harry comes home to Mama?  That was great - so many possibilities were in that episode.  And then we got Adam.  It's not that I'll never watch that storyline again.  And I won't fast forward through it either.  But it's very, very frustrating to watch.

He was controlling, got annoying a lot of times, thought his way was the only right way to do things, badgered Julia too many times, and for the most part he just got on my nerves. I don't like Frankenstien storylines. It doesn't work for shows. They tried it on Buffy The Vampire Slayer and that season/villain is considered one of the least favorite among fans.

I always felt sorry for the poor schlub- he didn't ask to be born, and he was only created as a means to end Barnabas' curse.  Just try living with that!  Besides, if anyone is to blame for Adam getting violent later on, it's Nicholas!  He was the one who put all those ideas in his mind about creating Eve.  Nicholas didn't give a damn about Adam, but the same could be said about Barnabas and to a lesser extent Julia.  Adam was merely Nicholas' pawn in his grandiose schemes.  At least Eliot Stokes showed real compassion in giving Adam a chance for a real life.  If only Barnabas & Julia had acted more humanely to him, tryinmg to educate Adam in the ways of the world and doing something about those scars!  My heart broke for him because he really loved Carolyn.  Of all the various men in her life, I felt that Adam was probably the best for her: he didn't have ulterior motives like sacrificing her to some stupid altar like Jeb, or to use her as a pawn in a campaign of revenge as Burke did.  The chemistry between Robert Rodan and Nancy Barrett was delicious- very close to being DS' version of Beauty & the Beast.  No wonder Sam Hall wanted to revive the romance down the road, as he outlined in his TV Guide article.  This love story has yet to fully explored!

I guess why I didn't care for him is because I didn't care for the storyline - the whole Frankenstein thing was, IMO, schmaltzy.  I remember seeing it when it first aired in the stone ages of back-and-white TV sets that took forever to "warm up" with knobs that turned and a rodor sitting on top to maneuver the antennae on the roof (through which you could only pick up three stations), and it really frightened me, but I was only ten-years-old.  But now I see it differently.  It didn't have any of the subtlety or finesse of the last monster-on-the-loose-in-Collinsport, i.e., Barnabas' first appearance.  For that one, the only thing anyone knew was that a serial killer was out there who was never seen or ever caught.  In this one, Adam was lumbering about, terrorizing hapless witnesses, breaking into Collinwood and carrying off the beautiful girl before her frightened mother, etc.  And everyone was trying to hide him from one place to the next - the basement of the Old House, Stokes' apartment, the abandoned shed, the closed-off West Wing, at Nicholas' cottage.  The guy never got a chance to unpack.  No one really knew what to do with him.  It was all just too long and convoluted for me.

Gerard

I liked Adam and the Adam storyline.  What Adam really needed was a hug - but nobody ever wanted to give him one!  Barnabas was a jerk to him, Willie was sadistic towards him, Nicholas used and twisted him, and Eve loathed him.  The only person who was ever completely nice to him was Stokes.

  Adam functions as a metaphor for the abused/neglected teenager who "falls in with the wrong crowd" and who suffers from a bad case of unrequited love which he blames on his ugliness.  He's the outsider, who becomes embittered over his unfortunate circumstances.  As Charles_Ellis said he is not inherently evil - the reactions and treatment he gets from other people cause him to become that way, much like the Monster in Shelley's novel.  Indeed, Rodan's Adam is closer to Shelley's creation than many film versions are.

-Penny   

The original novel was about Man usurping the perogatives of God.

The original movie was about Man's inhumanity to man.

I've never had a clue what the DS version was about.....

The original novel was about Man usurping the perogatives of God. 

The original movie was about Man's inhumanity to man.

I've never had a clue what the DS version was about.....

About man getting ahead?

Gerard

About man getting ahead?

Or was that a head?.........

Adam was cobbled together, and when he is brought to life he's virtually a blank slate. I really enjoyed watching Robert Rodan's portrayal of the childlike Adam, it is very convincing and well done.

Unfortunately, Barnabas was simply using him as a means of escape from his curse, and viewed him as little more than a tool, in fact, not many people were kind to him, which was really all he needed. I felt so terribly bad for him. It wasn't his fault he turned violent. After all, he had Nick to guide him.  

Sam Evans tried to help him, but obviously that was short lived.

Dear professor Stokes was the only one to show true compassion for him.

I know Carolyn was nice to him, but she really was at a loss as how to deal with him.

My only objections to the Adam story line was that it dragged on much too long and became rather boring.

And it made me angry the way Nick kept putting ideas in to his mind, feeding Adam so much rubbish, and Adam was too innocent to understand Nick's scheming and dishonesty.

In the end, poor Adam was taken advantage of, passed from one person to another, that blank slate which could have been filled with so much goodness was blackened with malice and anger, quite a sad tale.

There's also an interesting interpretaion of Frankenstein stories that it touches on the concepts of the human male's inability to create a child on his own, and the responsibility of parenting a child. 
      I do think the Adam storyline touch on Barnabas's inability to take responsibilty for his part of Adam's creation. Adam is in many ways his surrogate child. Yet, Adam is consistenly treated more like an animal. This may give an indication that Barnabas, not having a "perfect, normal" child, may not have been the best parent. Professor Stokes at least treats and respects Adam like a "special needs" child.
      I think what get tedious about the story is just how badly the second half was paced at times. Likewise, the "evil" Adam, is almost bereft of the sympathetci qualities he had earlier. Rodan was very very good up to that point.Eve never really has any sympathetic qualities,(not Marie's best role!  ) but lacks the kind of charm Nicholas has while still being throughly evil.     None of this is the actor's faults. Its just the scrpits tend to get a little rushed to resolution in the final third, IMHO.

Michael

I think Barny and Julia are complete idiots. I realize that the writers are at fault and they wanted to have something 'crazy' or whatever to make viewers tune in but instead they made Barny and Julia child abusers. BandJ are also idiots. ONE word would've solved it all: WINDCLIFF.

That isn't what the writers thought that the viewers would tune in for and I suppose Frid was tired of biting girls so they had to do what they could but it is still hard to watch because I hate seeing Adam abused. And it makes it very hard to make excuses for Barny. Barny fans will love him anyway because they are all having sex with him in their fantasies but that just dont gel with me. Barny is evil and that is all there is to it. I used to like Barny when I first started watchin the series, then I grew a brain and realized that all his whining that he wants to be human is only because it is inconvienient to be a vampire sometimes and he has the balls to think that he can still have all the girls he wants. The man has no compassion for anyone especially not Adam. He, as someone else said, only created Adam for his own selfish reasons. Barny is selfish and shallow. This series of episodes shows it. Now that he is free from the curse Adam has no use nor does Barny want to be responsible. AGAIN, all through DS is the theme of lack of personal responsibility. All characters show this. DS can be viewed as a moral lesson play or having valuable things to say not just silly rattling sets. I like that part of DS too but it is not why I am a fan or continue to view the series on video.

And one could say that this series of episodes shows why Barny doesn't want Julia or Magda or any challenging female: because he is a jerk that wants to control everyone and he doesn't want a challenging relationship. He wants, like Q-Man, to have no responsibilities. I mean, do you REALLY think you could stand two minutes with Josette? She must be blonde.

Julia is a terrible doctor. I am not able to believe that she is some genius blood specialist AND a psycologist. If she were so smart she'd know how to handle Adam. And put Barny in diapers.

For killing Woodard and abusing Adam and the fact she is insufferable, a bitch, and looks like Michael Jackson I don't think Julia should be allowed to have Barny. That should be her punishment.

And as for Barny...he should have to spend eternity with Angelique. Hehehe, that is punishment enough! I respect Lara Parker and certain she'd be a hoot to hang with, not on the gallows, however, I HATE Angelique. She is a bitch and a whine and I just can't watch her. She isn't evil in a way that makes you fascinated she is just a dumb blonde with powers. Even the devil can't stand her that is why she is constantly appearing...that'd be some funny fanfic. The REAL reason Angelique is on Earth is not because she wants Barny but because no one, not even the devil, wants her. She is also insulting after a while. She makes women appear stupid. She has a very teenagerish angst and dialoug which isn't unusual since a huge part of the DS audience where horny teens. Oh, bite me Barny! Cream, cream.

Barny acts like an immature teenager too at times and I LOVE the looks that Julia sometimes has on her face when he starts rambling on that he is gonna kill someone. She's his freakin' parental unit!

Man, I love Dark Shadows!

He was controlling, got annoying a lot of times, thought his way was the only right way to do things,

Like a fundamentalist in any religion. Or any child. He WAS a newborn for pete's sake. Do you have kids? Be prepared.

I don't like Frankenstien storylines. It doesn't work for shows. They tried it on Buffy The Vampire Slayer and that season/villain is considered one of the least favorite among fans.

Prbably because the fans are mindless teenagers who only want something of sexual fantasy value. They don't want to actually think. I don't think Barny or any vampire would be popular if there wasn't strong sex vibes that Hollywood invented. Real vampires legends say that they have foul breath and appear more like Nosferatu. I don't think Nos is sexy.

America really has to grow up.

i myself don't have fantasies of having sex with Barnabas
but maybe that is just me

i hated the adam storyline because it was boring

jennifer