When you look in the mirror, which Hills character is staring back at you?

No matter whether you're a fan of The Hills or not, you have a favorite character. If you've seen even one episode, one specific character will probably stand out to you, or become representative of the show as a whole. Everyone can relate to someone.

I'm sure this is purposeful; the show is popular because of the cast and relationships the audience makes with them. In fact, the producers probably work really hard to make sure that the personalities-- at least the superficial, archetypical personalities like "Spencer is the jerk," "Justin is the badass rebel"--are evident, even to the point of caricature. This way, you can't help but be attracted to, or repulsed by, a cast member... even if it is on a simplistic level.

So, who do people relate to on The Hills? Personally, I find positive and negative identifications with all of the cast. I see the most similarity (and, I admit, desired or idealized identification) between myself and Whitney; she is motivated and definitely has a head on her shoulders. Also, she puts herself above the drama that Lauren constantly surrounds herself with, and especially in the earlier seasons, sort of rolled her eyes at all the dramatic crap Lauren had to say about her silly friendships and love life. I think that Lauren is egotistic as hell, Audrina is definitely not the brightest penny in the jar and Heidi is just completely delusional. A little harsh, I know. Sorry. Viewers feel like they really get to know the characters on the show and everyone has their opinion... so I wanted to see what everyone else thought. "Who is your favorite character?" I asked my survey-takers.

At this point, the most liked female character is Whitney Port at 40%, followed closely by Lauren Conrad at 34.3%. The favorite male character is Brody Jenner at 41.2% with Justin Bobby at 26.5%.

So YAY! The people like Whitney too! I found that most people saw Whitney in a similar light as I do. People find her to be the "most competent," and "level-headed" female character. One respondent even went so far as to say, "she's the only real person on the show. i never understand why LC is the star when she sucks at everything." I must admit, I kind of agree. But if there are fans like me and respondent #21, who don't think Lauren's the most interesting character, why are there so many people who do list her as their favorite? It seems that most respondents like LC because she is the most "down to earth" and "relatable" girl. That's probably because she's the main character and narrator, and thus, the audience knows the most about her and her point of view. People see Lauren's situations reflected in their own lives: "she's really trying to figure out who to trust and how to get through stuff," said one person, while another likes how Lauren values her relationships and another empathizes, "we make the same mistakes with love...over and over again." One of the most opinionated respondents went so far as to personally define each of the characters saying, "it seems that Lauren is really the only one with a brain. Whitney is more or less together but seems completely vapid when she talks. Audrina might be the stupidest person to ever have existed. Heidi I just can't really tell if she's ever being serious or not, but she seems to have fun. Lo is a little bitch, Stephanie is a loser." Like I said, everyone has an opinion.

People were not as vehement about the male characters; no one seems to take them very seriously. In fact, most of the survey-takers were more interested in the appearance of the guys than their personal character, repeatedly explaining their preference by first saying "he's sooooo cute," and then commenting on their internal qualities. Again, fans seem to like the cast members that they can most easily relate to or trust. For example, people see that Brody is very loyal to Lauren and explain that he "displays qualities that i look in a friend such as trustworthiness and lets lauren know when friends are trying to use her." In my opinion Brody is a favorite because he's Lauren's favorite, and if people like or admire Lauren, they'll trust her judgment in the other characters. Justin is a favorite for different reasons; unlike Brody, Lauren nearly hates Justin and even tells Audrina that she is disgusted by him... so, following suit, why do we like JB? "Because he always seems to be himself, even if he is shitty sometimes, he doesn't let the TV drama affect who he is," seems to be the most popular sort of response. Because he is such a non-conformist in the monotonous LA social scene, people don't think he's playing a role, There are negative identifications at play as well as people believe he is "silly" and takes himself too seriously.

And I agree. But, I mean, everyone on The Hills takes themselves too seriously, so who are we trying to kid? The stereotypes and archetypes of these characters that have evolved over the seasons are the reasons we connect to The Hills. The show, and its audience, would be nothing without the stand-out personalities of the cast. Not only do we all have our own opinions here, but moreover, we're all entitled to our own opinions here.