From a Stereotype, a Certain Seize-the-Day Bravura

Clearly Long Duk Dong is alive (and well?) -- as all great characters are. There's a particular thread in the comments on Monday's blog post that I'm really glad to see, since I didn't have a chance to really talk about it in the radio piece. As lyman put it:

I mean, c'mon - things are pretty crappy for him. Grandpa and Grandpa are treating him like [a] servant, the other kids and snotty brothers are laughing at him, but he goes out and has the time of his life.

Asian or not, Long Duk Dong might as well be a stand-in for "carpe diem." I certainly cannot claim, back in my time as an awkward teen terrified of the other sex, to have embraced life's opportunities the way he did. Sure, we all went to school with that guy who was such a dork, he didn't even realize it. But I confess: when that dork found love with another dork, and together they seemed happy, I was a bit jealous.

The icing on the cake here is a comment that's buried way down in the thread -- one with special relevance to Sixteen Candles:

To this day, when I walk in public, throughout the world, people will double-take, then stare, then smile and then yell, "Oh sexy girlfriend!"

That one made me do a double-take: It's from Debbie Pollack, whose first movie role was as Long Duk Dong's "sexy girlfriend!" She goes on to say some poignant stuff:

Like Gedde, I will forever be trying to break from a very strong and defined character. Yet, it is a character/stereotype, good or bad, that gives us moments to be who we are, actors. Love or hate the character, we are hired to do a job, interpret a writer's words and sometimes we get to make people laugh in how we do that.

From talking to Gedde Watanabe, I got a clear sense that he doesn't see himself just as an actor, but as a comic actor. And with Long Duk Dong, he did what actors are so often told to do: "Make it bigger!" He performed that role with a certain "seize the day" mentality -- and we remember the Donger, in part, because he succeeded.

--Alison MacAdam

3:50 PM ET | 03-28-2008 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post

 

With a Fist in the Air

The Washington Post recently ran a story on a group of syndicated cartoonists planning a protest this weekend. They're targeting newspaper editors who choose not to syndicate one strip created by or featuring minorities because they're already publishing another strip -- often just one strip -- that meets that "diversity demand."

The cartoonists drew strips with similar plot lines -- all of which involve an older, white character lamenting the appearance of "politically correct" minority-drawn strips on the comics page.

While a story in The Root states that the cartoonists eschew calling their united effort a "protest," their decision strikes me as reminiscent of another character originally created in the comics, one whose unique combination of idealism and cynicism deserves recognition. And so, a Your Turn nomination:

Huey Freeman
From The Boondocks by Aaron MacGruder

His name is taken from Huey P. Newton, the co-founder of the Black Panther Party, and not without reason. The 10-year-old radical socialist Afrocentric activist grew up on Chicago's South Side with his younger brother, the wanna-be gangster Riley, where he experienced the debilitating effects that the United States' long history of racial discrimination had on poor African-Americans.

Their Grandfather Robert took them in when their family situation deteriorated, and moved them to the mostly white neighborhood of Woodcrest, whose denizens are met with his suspicion.

Although at times he seems to have an uncanny wisdom beyond his years, Huey is still 10. Other boys might enjoy science fiction; Huey's obsession is what the "mainstream" might call conspiracy theories. (He is, however, inexplicably skilled in the martial arts, which he uses to beat down enemies of black prosperity.)

Huey is usually depicted as the voice of reason, playing the straight man to the antics of Riley and Grandpa, but his occasionally far-sighted view of the world makes him the kind of well-read, youthful intellectual we can respect in some instances -- and lovingly chuckle at in others.

-- Lindsay Totty

Tags: Animation | Comics | Rebels | TV

8:24 PM ET | 02- 8-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post

 

The 'In Character' Blog on the Radio

Did y'all hear it? Did you drive off the road?

Tonight, after Karen Grigsby Bates' Scarlett O'Hara piece on All Things Considered, we made good on a promise we made when we launched this blog: that some of your essays could wind up on the radio.

ATC host Robert Siegel read a (slightly shortened) version of Mike McCabe's Jack Bauer essay on the air. If you missed it, you can listen online: There's a cut in the middle, but you can click here, then click here to cue up the two segments back-to-back in our new Flash player.

Mr. McCabe, consider yourself introduced to nearly 12 million new friends. The rest of you, consider yourself invited to join the competition for the next on-air spot.

-- Trey Graham

6:45 PM ET | 01-28-2008 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post

 

Coming to Grips with Scarlett Fever

Growing up, there was plenty to read on the shelves in our house. In addition to James Baldwin, Langston Hughes and Gwendolyn Brooks, there were Jane Austen, Truman Capote and Louisa May Alcott -- but there was no Gone With The Wind. My mother was raised in segregated Charlotte, N.C., and she had short patience with romantic notions about a Southern glory that had been built on the backs of slave labor. Some of them had been our ancestors.

I stumbled across Scarlett on my own at almost 16 -- the same age Scarlett is when the book opens. In the years since, I've encountered several black women who share my fondness for Margaret Mitchell's vain, willful and, let's face it, emotionally clueless heroine. Like me, they think Scarlett Fever is a complicated business.

"I love the little hussy," writer Terry McMillan e-mailed me as she was frantically trying to finish her about-to-be-published novel. "But you know, for u there is a whole lot of mess attached to that girl! Good luck trying to explain it!"

I don't know that anyone could explain it in the approximately 6 minutes I was allowed on-air, but I guess for me, the bottom line is this: GWTW remains an engaging piece of fiction. And fiction is supposed to allow you to see the point of view of The Other.

Margaret Mitchell did a good job describing the life of Southern gentry. But her black people are largely two-dimensional. It was the great Hattie McDaniel, in the movie, who finally brought Mammy to life.

If you're curious about what Prissy, Mammy and Pork really thought about life at Tara, find yourself a copy of Margaret Walker's Jubilee. Written in 1966, almost exactly 100 years after the Civil War ended, it's the story of Walker's great-grandmother Vyry. Jubilee is an unblinking look at plantation life from the point of view of those who did the work, and it's well worth the search.

--Karen Grigsby Bates

Editor's note: Before we told you Karen's essay was in the works, many of you nominated Scarlett as an In Character essential. We posted Sabrina Stevens' essay on the blog earlier, and there's more Scarlett conversation in the comments there.

Tags: Movies

6:05 PM ET | 01-28-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

Changing the Lens

One of the goals of this series is to occasionally look at characters from an unexpected angle. Thomas Siegman's essay on Gilligan is a wonderful example. Love his "inner Gilligan" theory!

Another example will air this Monday on All Things Considered. NPR's Karen Grigsby Bates examines Margaret Mitchell's feisty heroine Scarlett O'Hara from various African-American perspectives.

I don't want to give away too much, so let's just say that Karen's conditional love for Scarlett is eye-opening. Karen will be our guest blogger on Monday. I know that Scarlett has already inspired some conversation on the blog -- so fan or foe, I hope you'll weigh in on Monday, when Karen has her say about the sassy southern belle.

-- Elizabeth Blair

Tags: Movies

2:32 PM ET | 01-25-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post

 

Meet the Other Intern: Justin Hienz

Readers and listeners: I'm Justin Hienz, an intern at NPR. Every day, I see nominations and comments you submit, and I've been excited to remember with you all those fictional personalities that influence our lives. In reminiscing, I feel compelled to suggest another.

Darth Vader (a.k.a. Anakin Skywalker)
From the Star Wars films, created by George Lucas

Of characters from American fiction, few have elicited as enduring a fascination as Darth Vader. The stiff black suit, the mysterious, ominous mask, the deep, commanding voice, the red lightsaber — he is the personification of evil and anguish, and we love him for it.

He kills subordinate Imperial officers on a whim, and we cheer. He threatens destruction, and we silently hope to see it done. At every stage, we both fear and hope for his success.

In Episodes 1-3, Vader became a more complex character for viewers. We gained a greater understanding of how a promising Jedi could fall so far from the light. And yet, watching Anakin Skywalker start down the path to becoming Darth Vader by killing a village of Sand People, I still feel a satisfying rush. They did kill his mother, after all. It was retribution — justified evil; in the words of the aspiring emperor Senator Palpatine (a.k.a., Darth Sidious), I always think to myself when watching, "Do it! Kill them!" Am I a bad person because part of me wants to see Vader thrive on the Dark Side of the Force? I think not.

Continue reading "Meet the Other Intern: Justin Hienz" »

Tags: Adventure | Rebels | Science Fiction | Villains

3:05 PM ET | 01-18-2008 | permalink | comments (9) | e-mail post

 

On Air: The Lone Ranger (Plus Web Extras!)

» Hear the 'All Things Considered' radio commentary

Hiya. So many submissions today -- you guys are outta control. Sorry I haven't been more vocal, but I was a little distracted today, publishing your comments and building the Web version of Robert Siegel's piece on the Lone Ranger.

If you missed it on the radio, be sure you give it a listen over here. The on-air piece weaves in a lot of great sound -- including some terrific musical segues that help illustrate just how widespread TLR's influence has been.

Plus: Bonus audio from comics artist John Cassaday. And the entire Lone Ranger Creed, right there on the Web page. Can't get that on the radio...

-- Trey Graham

Tags: Comics | Movies | TV

7:57 PM ET | 01-14-2008 | permalink | comments (24) | e-mail post

 

Meet the Intern: Lindsay Totty

I'm Lindsay Totty, and I'm an NPR intern this season. With Trey Graham and Elizabeth Blair I've been getting the first look at most of the essays you've been sending in, and fetching some of the links that add that extra bit of style to the substance you've been so eagerly giving us (when I'm not getting distracted with YouTube clips of the TV shows your submissions bring up).

There have been so many great nominations coming from NPR listeners, and I've been having a lot of fun reading them. I even took the time to make a character nomination of my own, and, being privy to all the characters that are popular with you, I'm able to introduce you to one that you may not have heard of, but I'm sure you'll grow to love. So without further ado:

Roast Beef Kazenzakis
From the critically acclaimed webcomic Achewood
Written and drawn by Chris Onstad

Roast Beef is a cat who stands on his hind legs, speaks an idiosyncratic form of Ebonics, and designs web pages. He is one of the most beloved characters of a serialized web cartoon called Achewood. In a recent strip, he explained that hypothetically, it should be easy to hack into and sabotage a Stephen Hawking lecture because the renowned physicist "is basically a laptop."

What makes Roast Beef so appealing is the dark comedy produced by his intensely self-deprecating demeanor combined with the rare instances of pride and hard-won self-love that he exhibits over the course of the comic strip.

Roast Beef once threatened violence against someone who talked disparagingly of his closest friend -- an AIBO robotic dog. At the urging of his girlfriend, Molly, he moved out of his callous grandmother's house. Earlier this year, he successfully (and accidentally) proposed marriage to Molly. We love Beef because he tries and often fails to love himself.

-- Lindsay Totty

Tags: Comics | Nerds | Sidekicks

7:32 PM ET | 01-14-2008 | permalink | comments (67) | e-mail post

 

Ask and Ye Shall Receive: 'In Character' on the Web

Writes commenter Je Mo:

"Please add a link from the In Character blog to a page about the actual show. Or make the link more obvious, if it's there — I can't find the show."

And Mike echoes that plaintive cry:

I give up! What time of day is the "In Character" segment being broadcast. I cannot find any time listed on my local NPR station nor on the NPR web site. Can you help us out? I am particularly interested in the Lone Ranger segment, when it comes day & time for it to be broadcast.

I answered Mike in the comments the other day; basically the way NPR and NPR member stations work together means that there's not one answer to that question:

Over the next six months, In Character segments will be airing on almost all of the NPR News shows. ... Because those shows are broadcast (and re-broadcast) at different times in different [cities], it's impossible for us to tell you with any certainty when you might hear a segment. And the fact is that we don't know for certain: We've got a rough schedule, but these things are subject to fine-tuning.

The good news is that if you're reading this, you're now just one click away from every last radio story in the In Character series. As of today, there's a brand-spankin'-new page where all four of the stories that have already aired are collected for your listening pleasure.

And as our hosts and reporters serve up new on-air installments, they'll pop up on that page as well. Coming up next: Andrea Seabrook on Holden Caulfield and Robert Siegel on the Lone Ranger.

-- Trey Graham

p.s.: I've added a permanent link to that series page in the blog header, on the words 'In Character.' And there's another permalink, on the same two words, in the "What is 'In Character'?" box over there in the right-hand sidebar.

8:20 PM ET | 01- 9-2008 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post

 

Things We Like (Or: The More Personal, the Better)

As we cull the best essays to post on this here blog, we've noticed that the strongest ones are those that are highly personal. A prime example is Evy from Minnesota's reflection on Pecola Breedlove from The Bluest Eye.

Another example is Clifton Tipon's essay on Lloyd Dobler, the John Cusack character from the film Say Anything. Lloyd's not an especially famous character, but Tipon's description evokes his own personal connection. And that's what makes his essay a good read.

You'll notice, as the series goes on, that some of our radio choices will work that way, too. We'll profile characters you may not have heard of. They're characters who aren't so much iconic as indelible, for one reason or another, to some of us.

We hope you'll enjoy being introduced to them. If not: This here blog is your invitation to disagree.

-- Elizabeth Blair

5:27 PM ET | 01- 9-2008 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post

 

Why Bugs? Simple ...

» Hear the 'Weekend Edition' radio commentary

When word spread about In Character a while back, I knew instantly which character I wanted to do, and I ran down the hall to Elizabeth Blair's office. I was afraid someone else might get there first and steal the best character going: Bugs Bunny.

Because one of the things that makes working for NPR the best job ever is that I've just gotten paid — paid real money, mind you — to watch Bugs Bunny cartoons.

Bugs has always been my favorite character in the Looney Tunes pantheon. He's so clever, so quick, so smart. I've always wished that I could be more like him — that when faced with a raging bull, I'd have the quick-wittedness to slap him across the nose and tell him to stop steaming up my tail.

Continue reading "Why Bugs? Simple ..." »

5:48 PM ET | 01- 7-2008 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post

 

What Do Cookies Have to Do With Character?

We're in the very early stages of the series, and I'm already inspired by this exchange about Cookie Monster.

Is he a stand-in for an American glutton, or simply one of those beloved Sesame Street characters who have endured for generations, with no sign of going stale?

You could apply Christina R.'s comment about Jim Henson's creations — "as much as they change, the cores of the characters remain the same" — to our nonfiction selves. Seems to me there's a famous quote about how the lines on our faces might change but we're pretty much stuck with our characters for life.

But Steve P. may have a point, too. The (non-American) writer Stendhal could've been commenting on Cookie Monster when he wrote in his essay "de l'Amour" that "Strong characters need strong nourishment." And as the folks at Sesame Street have clearly realized, cookies alone won't do the trick.

-- Elizabeth Blair

Tags: TV

4:43 PM ET | 01- 4-2008 | permalink | comments (0) | e-mail post

 

Of Cookie Monster and Other Bad Guys

Well that didn't take long. What are we, three days into this, and we've already got a little backlash? Commenter Steve Petersen writes:

"Cookie Monster unfortunately represents too many Americans, both the obese and [the] deeply indebted ... "

Now, I'm not sure I know how the C-Monster got himself in hock, or what evidence there is to suggest that he's living beyond his means. (Come to think of it, how many Muppets have a visible source of income? I seem to recall Kermit anchoring a newscast, but aside from that ...)

Still, Steve's comment raises a question: Need an intriguing character be a good role model?

Continue reading "Of Cookie Monster and Other Bad Guys" »

2:17 PM ET | 01- 3-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post