May - 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters, #140: Nightcrawler

Joe Pace

May 19, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters, #140: Nightcrawler

When Marvel resurrected the X-Men in 1975, they moved from the concept of teenage students to older, more seasoned mutants from around the globe. The seminal Giant-Size X-Men by Wein and Cockburn appropriated a very raw Wolverine into the X-universe, rescued Banshee from the slush pile of the original series, and gave us three compelling original characters who would prove durable mainstays of the team: Storm, Colossus, and Nightcrawler. Of these, Nightcrawler has probably be

Favorite Fictional Characters, #139: Barbarella

Joe Pace

May 18, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #139: Barbarella

Let's not mince words - Barbarella is some weird, funky stuff. It's very much a product of its time, a sexploitation classic from the hedonistic, boundary-testing late 1960s. Director Roger Vadim conceived of the project as exaggerated camp, a kind of adult tribute to mid-20th century comic strips. The movie is a wild and often bewildering aggregate of images and noise, with a nominal plot and the strangely magnetic presence of Barbarella herself, portrayed by a young Jane Fo

Favorite Fictional Characters, #138: Ferris Bueller

Joe Pace

May 17, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #138: Ferris Bueller

Ferris Bueller shouldn't be anyone's hero. He's a borderline sociopath, using everything and everyone for his own purposes with express disregard for the fallout. He exhibits a shred of humanity later for his concern over Cameron in the wake of the car murder, but I suspect some of this is fear that he'll be implicated. Ferris is a hedonist, a slick-talking con artist in search of his next experiential high, destined for a future as a Wall Street bankster. He lies, he cheats,

Favorite Fictional Characters, #137: Hamlet

Joe Pace

May 16, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #137: Hamlet

Hamlet is one of the great works in English literature for many reasons, but among them is the fact that it can serve as a bit of a cipher. Much like the Bible itself, Shakespeare's longest work has been interpreted many different ways, through many different lenses, and subject to appropriation by all manner of social and political agendas. Is the Prince of Denmark mad or brilliant? Is Ophelia a stereotype of hysterical femininity, or a post-modern paragon of womynhood? The

Favorite Fictional Characters, #136: Arya Stark

Joe Pace

May 15, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #136: Arya Stark

For a a family with such proudly self-proclaimed hardiness, House Stark doesn't demonstrate much staying power. I'd be wary of spoilers here, but if you aren't familiar by now with the violent and tragic fates of the northmen in Martin's sweeping, epic saga, then I have to assume you're just not all that interested. Winter may still be coming, but there will be fewer guests at the party than we might have expected when A Game of Thrones began. Honor, loyalty, and integrity ma

Favorite Fictional Characters, #135: Dr. Emmett Brown

Joe Pace

May 14, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #135: Dr. Emmett Brown

Talking about Rufus the other day reminded me of another of my favorite time travelers, the addled genius Doc Brown from the Back to the Future franchise. Oh, you didn't know there was more than one movie? Lucky you. As much as the original installment was well-conceived, tightly written, and almost flawlessly executed, the sequels were eminently forgettable. So let's focus our energies on the 1985 classic. This was at the height of Michael J Fox's powers, when he was one of

Favorite Fictional Characters, #134: Peter Gibbons

Joe Pace

May 13, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #134: Peter Gibbons

Office Space is a blisteringly accurate hit job on the soul-sucking nature of the workplace in modern America. As the saying goes, it's funny because it's true. It's somehow laugh-inducing and cringe-worthy, with plenty of characters and situations we all recognize from our own dignity-grinding experiences as employees. From bloodless, passive aggressive boss Bill Lumbergh to the parasitical consultant Bobs to mumbling, stapler-fetishist Milton, the company where Peter Gibbon

Favorite Fictional Characters, #133: Rufus

Joe Pace

May 12, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #133: Rufus

Greetings, my excellent friends. You know, for a 1989 fluff piece, Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure holds up. Not only is it the highest and best use of Keanu Reeves as an actor, it remains enjoyably silly more than a quarter-century later. If you really want to play time-travel mind games with yourself, consider this: it's been 27 years since this movie was released. 27 years before that, JFK was alive. We're getting old, gang. Even our pop culture touchstones are getting

Favorite Fictional Characters, #132: Aughra

Joe Pace

May 11, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #132: Aughra

The Dark Crystal is a trippy visit to the darker and more epic places in the souls of Jim Henson and Frank Oz, and anyone who watched it before the age of 10, as I did, is unlikely ever to forget it. It is lovingly crafted fantasy with an androgynous elfin protagonist and populated (as you would expect) by wondrous creatures of all shapes and sizes. TheSkeksis are terrifyingly decadent, the urRu solemnly staid, and the pod people passively smurfy. The lead characters of Jen a

Favorite Fictional Characters, #131: The Terminator (T-800 Model 101)

Joe Pace

May 10, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #131: The Terminator (T-800 Model 101)

I've only ever seen the original Terminator movie and the blockbusting sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. My understanding is that the subsequent installments are a spiral of bad writing and bad acting. I'd be happy to hear opinions to the contrary, but in their absence I'd rather continue to cherish the first two films in blissful, willful ignorance. The Terminator is Arnold Schwarzenegger's most iconic role (aside, perhaps, from Conan), and is one that perfectly suits both

Favorite Fictional Characters, #130: Fritti Tailchaser

Joe Pace

May 9, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #130: Fritti Tailchaser

Tad Williams is a well-known fantasy author, but my favorite of his catalogue is his first novel, the strange, complex cat story Tailchaser's Song. Williams is channeling Tolkien here, inventing an entire world, language, folklore, and layered history, but he's doing it with cats. His feline protagonists are intelligent, self-aware creatures, considering themselves as the primary species on the planet and the center of the universe (as cats are wont to do). These are feral ca

Favorite Fictional Characters, #129: Molly Weasley

Joe Pace

May 8, 2016

Favorite Fictional Characters

Favorite Fictional Characters, #129: Molly Weasley

For Mother's Day, I thought long and hard about which fictional mother I would consider my favorite. There are certainly a lot of possibilities, and the matter is open to all sorts of debate, but I kept coming back to the grand dame of the Burrow, the materfamilias who raised six boys (including, somehow, Fred and George) and a girl (and, at times, Harry, too) and did it all on a government salary. Molly embodies all the criteria of many great mothers: boundless, unconditiona

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