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Thursday, June 05, 2003   Abunch of Friggin Idiots The scholars over at VH1 AFI have compiled another top 100 list, this time the 100 best heros and villains in American movies. Julie and I watched the last hour of the 3 hour(!) show on Tuesday and were pretty put-off by the results. Matt, of I Fought The Law fame, was also compelled to blog about the poor quality of the list, saying "Atticus isn't a movie hero. He's a literary hero. Has anyone born after 1975 actually *seen* To Kill a Mockingbird apart from watching it in your eighth grade English class after reading the book?" And I agree with him fully and would like to add: Darth Vader only #3? What the Hell? Now, I may be a Star Wars geek, but lets see here: Hannibal Lector vs a representation of archetypical evil. There is a reason why Star Wars has impaced so many people for so long, and it is the power of myth. Lucas, evidently stoned off his ass, wrote a story that interfaced with a thousand years of human mythology. He created characters that drew on archetypes that crossed cultural borders and spoke directly to us as humans. Luke, Leia, and Vader are characters that have been around SO long they our built into our very humanity. And yet Norman Bates and Hanibal Lechter get higher spots on the AFI list? Two friggin serial killers. Crazy and villainous are two different things. I know someone (Matt perhaps? Or will it be the always disagreeable Pauly-T?) will mention that Vader was just a henchman for the Emperor, and it is the Emperor that was the bigger villain. Well, while that is true, the narrative of the trilogy is more focused on Vader. The Emperor is there to motivate Vader and though his presents, give Vader more depth. And as a final argument let me say that Vader cut off his own son's hand! That is just fuckin COLD. Update: I just saw this on the list: Mahatma Gandhi is listed as the 21st best Hero in American cinema. What the HELL. It reminds me of the story of the Author who tired to sell a script about Elliot Ness and the Studio passed because they didn't want to deal with securing the rights to "the character from the Untouchables" and they refused to believe the author when he told them that Ness was a REAL PERSON and thus not subject to Copyright... posted by JMV | 6/05/2003 10:33:00 AM |		Octopus Hat Pics From Flickr Other’s Blogs Julie Matt Holohan John Forrest Mary Matt Hals Iason Chun Meli Paul Greg Potter Greg Flores Catherine Links BoingBoing Blogging.la 43 Folders Lifehacker archives < 01/01/2003 - 02/01/2003 02/01/2003 - 03/01/2003 03/01/2003 - 04/01/2003 04/01/2003 - 05/01/2003 05/01/2003 - 06/01/2003 06/01/2003 - 07/01/2003 07/01/2003 - 08/01/2003 08/01/2003 - 09/01/2003 09/01/2003 - 10/01/2003 10/01/2003 - 11/01/2003 11/01/2003 - 12/01/2003 12/01/2003 - 01/01/2004 01/01/2004 - 02/01/2004 02/01/2004 - 03/01/2004 03/01/2004 - 04/01/2004 04/01/2004 - 05/01/2004 05/01/2004 - 06/01/2004 06/01/2004 - 07/01/2004 07/01/2004 - 08/01/2004 08/01/2004 - 09/01/2004 09/01/2004 - 10/01/2004 10/01/2004 - 11/01/2004 11/01/2004 - 12/01/2004 12/01/2004 - 01/01/2005 01/01/2005 - 02/01/2005 02/01/2005 - 03/01/2005 03/01/2005 - 04/01/2005 04/01/2005 - 05/01/2005 05/01/2005 - 06/01/2005 06/01/2005 - 07/01/2005 07/01/2005 - 08/01/2005 08/01/2005 - 09/01/2005 09/01/2005 - 10/01/2005 10/01/2005 - 11/01/2005 11/01/2005 - 12/01/2005 12/01/2005 - 01/01/2006 01/01/2006 - 02/01/2006 02/01/2006 - 03/01/2006 03/01/2006 - 04/01/2006 04/01/2006 - 05/01/2006 05/01/2006 - 06/01/2006 06/01/2006 - 07/01/2006 07/01/2006 - 08/01/2006 08/01/2006 - 09/01/2006 09/01/2006 - 10/01/2006 11/01/2006 - 12/01/2006 01/01/2007 - 02/01/2007 02/01/2007 - 03/01/2007		Me, Elsewhere My flickr page My Space Profile ATOM Feed Comments Feed OctopusHat Super-feed! Buy John Beer Links