Your Turn: Mame Dennis

» Hear the 'All Things Considered' essay

"Life is a banquet": Rosalind Russell (in the 1956 Broadway production of Auntie Mame) made an irresistibly puckish boho queen.

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Auntie Mame was one of the first characters you nominated when we launched In Character early this year.

From Auntie Mame. Book by Patrick Dennis
Play adapted by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee
Movie directed by Morton DaCosta
Nominated by Michael Whistler

My mother deemed one movie important enough for repeated family viewing: Auntie Mame, based on the novel by Patrick Dennis and starring the unforgettable Rosalind Russell.

Mame Dennis challenges her young charge Patrick to "Live! Live! Live!," presenting a world which is filled with miracles and not obstacles, hope instead of despair. Amid the chaos she creates, she ensures that he lives in a world filled with warmth, vivacity, charm, culture, adventure and beauty.

Sitting in that living room watching the movie, I could see the world my mother tried to offer me through Mame's - one where wit trumps power, charm overcomes fear, and generosity is the greatest act of human courage. Auntie Mame taught me the simple virtue of human love: the bravest person has the most to give, the most fearful has the least of all.

In short: Auntie Mame taught me to be a man.

Tags: Independent Women | Literature | Movies | Theater

10:01 AM ET | 08- 1-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Elementary 'In Character': Squirrel

Nominated by Mark, Isaac Dickson Elementary School, Asheville, N.C.
From A Dog's Life by Ann M. Martin

Squirrel, a stray dog from A Dog's Life, is an important character because she represents kids like me. I have been a foster child for four years. She and I have been through the same things. We have both moved from house to house, family to family and life to life in hopes of a family. Squirrel and I have been separated from our big brother and mom.

We were hopeful with each family we moved in with but were then disappointed when we had to move again. Squirrel and I kept going because we knew there was a family waiting for us out there, somewhere in the real world.

Both of our stories have happy endings. Two months ago I was adopted into a loving family and at the end of the book, a nice lady adopted Squirrel.

Hear Mark read his essay:

11:28 AM ET | 05-27-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Elementary 'In Character': The Grinch

Nominated by Morgan, Isaac Dickson Elementary School, Asheville, N.C.
From How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss

Have you ever been like the Grinch? If you said no, you're lying.

One big thing in America is greed. It's not like the flu that you catch -- you're born with it. Everyone has a little Grinch in them. Sure, we haven't stolen Christmas, but we've all been greedy -- like kindergarteners fighting over blocks, or the world over money.

Most people act like the Grinch sometimes -- greedy, sad, alone, wanting a friend -- but we always seem to find ourselves. Sure our hearts aren't two sizes too small, and we don't live in a snowflake. But like the Grinch who changed and helped Whoville, we can make a change in our community.

We all must sacrifice to make a difference in our community. The Grinch sacrificed his own happiness for the Whovillens. We might have to sacrifice our happiness for the happiness of others.

Hear Morgan read her essay:

11:02 AM ET | 05-27-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Elementary 'In Character': Cassie Logan

Nominated by Isabelle, Isaac Dickson Elementary School, Asheville, N.C.
From Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry by Mildred D. Taylor

Cassie Logan is a 10-year-old African-American girl living in Mississippi in the 1930s. In her childhood, she has to look past skin color and racist actions to help improve her acceptance in society.

Throughout the book, Cassie experiences many different forms of racism. When she feels discouraged, her father affirms what she already believes: she must accept some things "the way they are" but fight to change those things most important.

Cassie is a great America fictional character because she perseveres and overcomes obstacles in her life. She conquers her doubt and is not afraid to fight for the values she believes in. Americans should do the same. This would make the world a more accepting place.

Hear Isabelle read her essay:

10:35 AM ET | 05-27-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Elementary 'In Character': Bobby Pendragon

Nominated by Jacob, Isaac Dickson Elementary School, Asheville, N.C.
From the Pendragon series by D. J. MacHaler

Bobby Pendragon is a 15-year-old boy. He mysteriously finds out he's a traveler (a person who goes to different places in different galaxies). His home goes from Stony Brook, N.Y., to nowhere.

One of his traits is bravery because he will do anything -- even if it is his worst fear -- to help others. Another trait is brains because he always is strategizing to avoid fights (though half the time they don't work). My favorite trait of his is his humor because it makes me laugh.

I really like Bobby because he has a lot of positive characteristics about him. He will usually take suicidal risks for others, if needed. He is also helpful in saving his friends.

I think it would be good for other students because it shows you what life is like. It also helps you by showing you that things die.

Hear Jacob read his essay:

10:35 AM ET | 05-27-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Elementary 'In Character': Junie B. Jones

Nominated by Jennice, Isaac Dickson Elementary School, Asheville, N.C.
From Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth by Barbara Park

My favorite character is Junie B. Jones because she is a character that expresses herself. Junie B. Jones is secretive -- she does not say out loud what she is thinking.

But the reader knows.

She uses her journal to express her true inner thoughts. Her inner thoughts are so hilarious -- so are mine.

My favorite book is Junie B. Jones and Her Big Fat Mouth because in the book, Junie opens her mouth a lot and keeps on talking (like me). She's not the type of person who cares what people think of her. She has lots of friends, she's a little goofball, and she likes to play around, have fun and do wild things.

Sometimes Junie B. Jones and I are misunderstood, but the best part is I bet she is really nice and a kind person -- like me!

Hear Jennice read her essay:

10:33 AM ET | 05-27-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Harold C. "Rabbit" Angstrom

From the Rabbit novels by John Updike
Nominated by Cory Harris

The psyche of the mid-twenties male seems to be no different now than it was in 1960 when John Updike's Rabbit, Run hit the shelves. At 26, I am the same age as Harry "Rabbit" Angstrom is as that novel opens, and like him I sometimes feel like escaping. The road goes for miles both ways and things just might be easier if I left it all behind.

The fact that Updike's seminal protagonist attempts this, though, is the wondrous thing about the work. When I immerse myself in Rabbit, I hate him and his selfishness, his indecision, and his fixation on past glory and present inconveniences.

But then I close the book, I can't help but feel a little dirty to realize that I have a little Rabbit in me. You can ditch those you're supposed to love, but they're going to get hurt -- and you're certainly not emerging unscathed, either.

Tags: Coming of Age | Literature

11:32 AM ET | 05-14-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Morticia Addams

From Charles Addams' New Yorker cartoons, and later, TV'sThe Addams Family
Nominated by Laura Colwell

Her own person: Carolyn Jones as Morticia Addams.

 

I was a weird little girl and a weird teenager and now I'm a weird woman. I'm perfectly happy with that -- thanks to Morticia Addams.

In one gracefully ghoulish persona, Morticia is at once mysterious, playful and literate - and she is completely at ease with herself, in love her own unusual world.

It's nice to have the acceptance and admiration of others, but I'm with Morticia on this one: it's so much better to be at peace with whatever you are and your own lot in life than to perpetually chase after someone else's ideal. If you can surround yourself with interesting people while you're at it, so much the better.

5:46 PM ET | 04-30-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Matilda Wormwood

From the novel Matilda, by Roald Dahl
and movie of same name
Nominated by Sydney Meader

Dahl's Dauntless Matilda

Puffin Books

Matilda Wormwood didn't have an easy childhood. The daughter of the wicked Harry and Zinnia Wormwood, Matilda was neglected and forced to bring herself up into a cruel world filled with rude big brothers and evil school principals. With no one to turn to in the real world, Matilda turned to books. A brilliant child, Matilda could read by the age of 3 -- and was reading literature by 4.

When I was first introduced to Matilda, I was immediately intrigued by her. As a 7-year-old, I thought she was the most amazing person in the world. Smart, brave, and kind, she was exactly the kind of girl I wanted to be. It didn't hurt that she had magical powers and was triumphant in her fight against the monstrous Miss Trunchbull.

Never in my life have I felt as much admiration towards another character as I did towards Matilda Wormwood.

11:57 AM ET | 04-22-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Zack Morris

From Good Morning, Miss Bliss and Saved by the Bell, created by Sam Bobrick
Nominated by Alejandra O'Leary

Time out: Zack Morris (Mark-Paul Gosselaar) is eternal, even if his pet duck Becky wasn't.

Time Life Pictures/DMI/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images

Zack Morris was both my hero and my heartthrob when I was growing up with television in the early 1990s. Sure, lots of girls wanted to kiss Zack, but I don't think there was any young Saved by the Bell fan of either sex who didn't want to be Zack Morris.

Conniving, blonde, lusty, morally impressionable, and ultimately vulnerable, Zack was the narrator of everyone's life on Saved by the Bell. He could manipulate the universe by calling a "Time out!", invent a "wave meets shave" hairstyle, meet D-list celebrities like Casey Kasem at a Dance Contest, have at least four "best friends" (Jessie, Slater, Screech, and Lisa) and charm the pants off of both his nemesis Principal Belding and the beautiful Kelly Kapowski. (Though he would never literally charm her pants off!)

In Zack's world, a kiss is the apex of all satisfaction. Zack Morris proved that you can be innocent and impressionable, but also intelligent, dynamic, and thrilling, all at the same time. He is the Puck of my generation.

Tags: Comedy | Coming of Age | TV | Teens

10:49 AM ET | 03-18-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Jeffrey Lebowski (aka The Dude)

From The Big Lebowski, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen
Nominated by Mat Cloak

Obviously, he's not a golfer: Jeff Bridges in The Big Lebowski.

Polygram

How can a single, unmotivated and unemployed bum possibly be appealing to the masses?

Because despite having his favorite rug urinated upon ... despite being forced to take a bath with a weasel ... despite having a nut-job friend who cannot stop relating everything to Vietnam, The Dude seems to always keep his cool.

The Dude (Jeff Bridges) is such an idealistic character because he is everything that the workingman is not. His life is stress-free, without restraints such as a job, a woman -- or pretty much any obligations. His time is consumed by "rolling" (spending time at the bowling alley) and drinking white Russians.

The Dude reminds America that if he can stay calm while in the mix of an unbelievably sticky ordeal, we can make it too.

So as the wise Dude likes to say, "Just take it easy man."

Tags: Comedy | Movies | Reluctant Hero | Underdogs

6:06 PM ET | 03- 4-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Francie Nolan

From A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Nominated by Susan Bell

It was my mother who introduced me to Francie Nolan, the main character of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. She read the book to me when I was 11, Francie's age at the start of the novel.

Though I lived in a small town in 1960s California, completely different than pre-World War I Williamsburg, I felt connected to Francie. She was a bookworm, visiting the library for entertainment, vowing to read every book in the collection -- one of my childhood goals. Though our environments diverged dramatically from that point on, I shared many of the same feelings of disappointment and joy that Francie experienced.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Francie Nolan" »

Tags: Literature | Movies

11:00 AM ET | 03- 3-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Jay Gatsby

From The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
Nominated by Denise Abbe

Jay Gatsby epitomizes the American Dream. Here is a man who grew up in poverty, always wanting to be somebody, meeting the love of his life in Louisville before leaving to fight in World War I, having that woman (Daisy) profess her love for him and promising that she would wait for him ... only to find her later married to Tom Buchanan while Gatsby fought overseas.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Jay Gatsby" »

Tags: Literature | Romantic Heroes

1:42 PM ET | 03- 2-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Captain America

From Marvel Comics, created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby
Nominated by Kevin Spooner

 

Marvel Comics

When I think of a fictional role model and hero, I immediately find myself thinking of Captain America, as he has always seemed to be a focal lens for the issues of the day that have preoccupied our nation.

He has maintained his relevance constantly from the 1940s, when he served as a banner behind which our nation could rally to fight the Axis powers, to modern times, when he stood up to (and was subsequently martyred by) his own government for adopting invasive and unconstitutional principles.

He has always served as a symbol of strength and honor for our nation. He's the pinnacle of what an Everyman can achieve, as resilient as his unbreakable shield. Captain America captures what is truly great about us as a people.

Tags: Animation | Comics | Fantasy | Superheroes

6:23 PM ET | 02-27-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Carroll "Toddy" Todd

From Victor/Victoria, directed by Blake Edwards
Nominated by Chris Nelson

Why choose a gay cabaret performer in a Julie Andrews musical set in 1930s Paris? Well, for an 11-year-old boy sitting in the dark next to his mother in 1982, he meant everything!

Toddy was warm, loving, and yes, fabulous, but he was more than that: He was presented as utterly normal. He was the perfect best friend, he enjoyed a good laugh at his own expense, he even got a hunky boyfriend! If you don't think that a role model like that wasn't important to a pre-teen during the Reagan years, you need to get out more.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Carroll "Toddy" Todd" »

Tags: Movies | Musicals

5:30 PM ET | 02-27-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Nan Wu

From A Free Life by Ha Jin
Nominated by Valerie Mendenhall Cohen

Nan is the main character - "hero" would be quite the wrong word - of this brilliant novel about Chinese immigrants in America. Nan is the absolute antithesis of some personae mentioned in the "In Character" series (you know, gun-toting saviors, corporate bad-guys in good suits, well-groomed dogs, and so on).

Nan does not prevail over nasty people, nor does he perform brave deeds in dangerous situations. No, he simply puts his head down, day after day and year after year, with a patience that is in the end far braver than the startling acts of other "heroes."

Continue reading "Your Turn: Nan Wu" »

Tags: Literature

2:25 PM ET | 02-27-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Hank Stamper

From Sometimes A Great Notion. Book by Ken Kesey, movie directed by Paul Newman
Nominated by Wayne Thompson

A woman I once knew said that this novel saved her life -- she read it while in the hospital being treated for cancer.

"What's it about?"

"Its about a family that runs a sawmill."

Hmmm . . . and so it was three years later that I opened its green-lettered white cover, and a wild world of forests, river, men and women opened before my mind's eye.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Hank Stamper" »

Tags: Literature | Movies

9:14 AM ET | 02-26-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Marge Gunderson

From Fargo, directed by the Coen Brothers
Nominated by Laura Toepfer

Driven: Fargo's unflappable Marge Gunderson.

Gramercy Pictures

Marge Gunderson does not fit the mold of movie character cops. She's neither urban nor urbane. She's not hard-boiled or emotionally broken. She eats at the buffet, not at the bar. She's her own woman but doesn't need to demand it, and that's what makes her strong.

It's her strength that remains with me, and she showed me how to be independent while still asking for help. "Prowler needs a jump," is one of my favorite lines in the movie.

But her independence is genuine. She doesn't need to be rescued in the end. Instead, she can sorrowfully and optimistically tell the killer she has captured that it is, in her world, a beautiful day. She helps us to see that it is.

2:45 PM ET | 02-19-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Frasier Crane

From the TV series Cheers, created by James Burrows and Frasier, created by David Angell
Nominated by Kelly Dean Hansen

When Frasier Crane was introduced on Cheers as a recurring romantic rival, the eventual longest-running character in television history was humbly born.

Kelsey Grammer's inimitable portrayal of the pompous, metrosexual shrink who endlessly engages in self-destructive behavior allowed us to deeply adore the man, flawed as he was. We love Frasier because even though he can't manage his own life, the advice he gives to others, particularly his family, is almost always perfect.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Frasier Crane" »

2:33 PM ET | 02-19-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Optimus Prime

From the Transformers franchise, created by the Takara and Hasbro toy companies
Nominated by Jennifer Kuntz

As a child of the 80s I learned that the best things in life were supposed to be big, powerful and manly. When it came to TV characters the biggest, most manly, most powerful robot was, of course, Optimus Prime. Mostly it was that voice. A slightly smoky baritone, strong and clear. He sounded like a hero. And he CARED about people. He would put himself in harm's way to protect others. You can call it hackneyed, but when I was 12 it was glorious.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Optimus Prime" »

Tags: Animation | Fantasy | Superheroes | TV

1:21 PM ET | 02-19-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Tweety Bird

From Warner Bros. Looney Tunes
Nominated by Judy Silva

If I'd been asked if an American fictional character captured in any way who I was, I would've said "no" and chuckled about it. But come to think of it, on a much deeper "inner-child" level, I'd have to say the answer is yes.

Tweety Bird has mesmerized me since I could barely talk on my own. Now I have to wonder if it was something beyond the cuteness of my feathered friend. I believe that subconsciously I could relate. Could it be that my personality was much like Tweety's? Was I conniving, mischievous and an instigator while putting on the premise that I was not any of that? Ask anyone, and they'll tell you I was a sweet, giving, polite and peace-loving child. But was I?

My whole life, I've been like Tweety Bird, conniving and instigating any "Sylvester" unfortunate enough to fall prey to my game. It's true what they say: "Birds of a feather flock together."

Tags: Animation | Comedy

1:02 PM ET | 02-19-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Seymour Glass

From J.D. Salinger's Glass family stories
Nominated by Andrew Schlewitz

I first read the Seymour stories in my mid-twenties, while working in Guatemala as a Peace Corps volunteer. I had been drifting away from my staunch Lutheran roots, feeling a bit spiritually disoriented, and living abroad in a very difficult job added to that feeling.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Seymour Glass" »

Tags: Literature

3:52 PM ET | 02-15-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Julia Sugarbaker

From Designing Women, created by Bill Kenny
Nominated by Consuelo Hummons

Julia Sugarbaker is "everywoman." When my father was absent and my mother was every woman and man, it was reassuring to see this character that was so like my mother on television. She had a sharp tongue and an even temper, she was glamorous and brilliant, and NOBODY messed with Julia. It helped me to recognize these traits in my mother and appreciate what she did for us.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Julia Sugarbaker" »

3:16 PM ET | 02-15-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Chance (Chauncey) the Gardiner

From Being There, written by Jerzy Kosinski
film directed by Hal Ashby
Nominated by Mark Peterson

Nearly 40 years ago Jerzy Kosinski created a character so self absorbed in his media and his own narrowly-defined life that he wavered between the comic and the pathetic. Circumstances thrust Chauncey Gardiner into the larger world that existed beyond his father's estate grounds. Armed only with his TV remote control and his small subset of knowledge gained from television shows and gardening, Gardiner triumphed.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Chance (Chauncey) the Gardiner" »

11:12 AM ET | 02-15-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Charlotte A. Cavatica

From Charlotte's Web, by E.B. White
Nominated by Fran Glick

As an avid reader and a school librarian, I have been fortunate to know many characters in diverse works of fiction written for children and adults. My fourth grade teacher contributed to my development with her daily read-alouds. She chose the best books! It was in her classroom that I met Charlotte A. Cavatica, the heroine of Charlotte's Web by E.B. White.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Charlotte A. Cavatica" »

Tags: Animation | Children's Literature | Movies

3:05 PM ET | 02-14-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Bender Bending Rodriguez

From Futurama, created by Matt Groening
Nominated by Travis Larchuck

The short-lived and then revived animated program Futurama features a futuristic New York populated by aliens and mutants. So it's ironic that the most human character on the show is a robot by the name of Bender Bending Rodriguez.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Bender Bending Rodriguez" »

Tags: Animation | Comedy | Comics | Movies | Science Fiction | TV

2:33 PM ET | 02-14-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Tess McGill

From Working Girl, directed by Mike Nichols
Nominated by J.N. Cody

Working Girl's Tess McGill is film's first corporate heroine, a woman who succeeds on smarts and gumption. She burns to climb the corporate ladder, but no clear path for women exists.

Tess was my first career role model. (My generation was told we could be "anything we wanted." Empowering? How about maddeningly short on specifics!)

Sure, our mothers worked: as teachers, secretaries, nurses. Then came Working Girl, with Wall Street energy, paneled board rooms, mergers & acquisitions.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Tess McGill" »

Tags: Comedy | Independent Women | Movies | Working Women

11:39 AM ET | 02- 7-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Travis McGee

From the Travis McGee mysteries by John D. MacDonald
Nominated by Frank Almade

Variously described as a beach bum, a knight errant and a ladies man, Travis McGee was a counterculture icon before the phrase was invented. To this northern kid, his Florida world, houseboat life and relationships with women were exotic -- and his quirky encounters with violence attractive.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Travis McGee" »

Tags: Detectives | Literature

9:44 AM ET | 02- 7-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: The Little Engine that Could

From The Little Engine That Could, by Watty Piper
Nominated by Robert Pawlikowski

I don't know why The Little Engine That Could bubbled up from my past while listening to this series, but suddenly I heard it chugging up the long hill, with the constant mantra, "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can."

Continue reading "Your Turn: The Little Engine that Could" »

Tags: Children's Literature

10:57 AM ET | 02- 6-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Harriet the Spy

From Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh
Nominated by Amy Cornell

Harriet M Welsch, the savvy word-wise heroine of Harriet the Spy, captured my heart the first time I met her. Harriet, a 5th grader like me, carried a notebook with her everywhere she went as she aspired to be a writer. She took notes on the funny adult world that surrounded her and her frank observations of her friends and classmates at school.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Harriet the Spy" »

Tags: Children's Literature | Girls Next Door

10:25 PM ET | 02- 5-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Indiana Jones

From the Indiana Jones films, created by George Lucas and directed by Steven Spielberg
Nominated by Matt Barnes

Dr. Jones was everything that made for a strong and likable hero. Nothing stopped him. Not spikes, arch-nemeses or even Nazis. What made his whip-slinging, gun-fighting persona the most amazing for me was that he did it all for the history. He used his brain more than this brawn, even though he was undoubtedly tougher than nails. He got hurt, kept going and complained later. He didn't give up when the going got crazy rough.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Indiana Jones" »

Tags: Adventure | Movies

11:57 AM ET | 02- 5-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Ferdinand

From The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, illustrated by Robert Lawson
Ferdinand the Bull, directed by Dick Rickard
Nominated by Alex Sanchez

Diversity on the hoof: Munro Leaf's tender-hearted Ferdinand

Illustration by Robert Lawson, courtesy Viking

My favorite book as a boy went like this: While other bulls loved to fight and dreamed of being chosen for the bullring in Madrid, Ferdinand preferred to smell fields of flowers. When by mistake, he was put into the ring to fight, he wouldn't. He stubbornly sat there, smelling the flowers in the women's hair, until there was nothing to do but send him home.

Since the book's first publication in 1936, people have praised its message about being true to who you are, being an individual, and being at peace with yourself -- whether you conform to others' expectations or not.

At times throughout my life (I'm now 50) when I've doubted myself or struggled with decisions that went contrary to what others said, I've remembered Ferdinand. His gently powerful example of individuality captivated me as a boy and continues to inspire me to this day.

Tags: Animation | Children's Literature | Rebels

4:55 PM ET | 02- 4-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Flem Snopes

From William Faulkner's Snopes Family trilogy
Nominated by William Dykes

Aside from having one of the most revoltingly evocative names in American literature, Flem is himself evocative of the worst side of the American character: The bright side is frugal, Flem is cheap; the bright side socially mobile, Flem a social climber; the bright side chaste, Flem impotent.

He is the American dragon, snatching up virgins and gold but incapable of putting either to use. Amoral, vulgar, smug, he is also the vision of America we so often see reflected back by foreigners who represent us in art.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Flem Snopes" »

Tags: Literature

4:25 PM ET | 02- 4-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Tarzan

From the Tarzan books by Edgar Rice Burroughs
Nominated by Chris Langlois

All I really needed to know, I learned from Tarzan. In the 1950s, Tarzan was my hero. I loved cowboys too, but they relied mostly on guns and horses. What fascinated me about Tarzan was his near nakedness in the face of mortal danger. All he ever fought with were a knife, his muscles, and his wits. Wow!

Continue reading "Your Turn: Tarzan" »

Tags: Adventure | Literature | Movies

4:02 PM ET | 02- 4-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Kinsey Millhone

From the Kinsey Millhone books, by Sue Grafton
Nominated by Brenda Kuhlman

As a kid I was mesmerized by 1960s images of female detectives like Honey West or Agent 99: women who were strong, smart and drop-dead gorgeous in heels. Enter Kinsey Millhone twenty years later, who doesn't own heels. Neither do I. Plus, like me, she cuts her hair with toenail scissors, owns only one all-purpose dress, secretly craves Quarter-Pounders and has a soft spot for octogenarians. Shes not fearless, not always smart. But she does the right thing in the end.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Kinsey Millhone" »

Tags: Detectives | Literature | Working Women

3:58 PM ET | 02- 4-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

The 'In Character' Blog on the Radio

Funny business: Louise (Isabel Sanford) looks dubious, but George's Thomas Jefferson getup is all part of a Bicentennial-themed marketing plan.

Bettman/Corbis

 

The In Character Blog got another shot at drive-time today -- this time on Morning Edition. Host Renee Montagne read excerpts from this essay on George Jefferson for something like 13 million coffee-swilling NPR junkies -- complete with a clip from the beloved TV series.

Congrats to Jeffrey Alexander Brathwaite of Atlanta, Ga., who made the nomination. You could be next -- but only if you've submitted yours.

Tags: Comedy | Rebels | TV | Working Class Heroes

10:57 AM ET | 02- 4-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Spider Jerusalem

From Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis and Darick Robertson
Nominated by Max Gartman

Spider is a journalist. [Note: Strong language, possibly NSFW, at that link.] He is the Warrior of Truth. Nothing will stand in his way: not enemies, friends, loved ones, not his own life. He rushes into war zones and police riots and historical reservations to tell the truth and tell it slant. He will not accept being lied to.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Spider Jerusalem" »

Tags: Comics | Science Fiction

3:39 PM ET | 02- 1-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Carrie Meeber

From Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser
Nominated by Natalie Pappas

Nothing is certain, but I'm about 99.9% sure that Theodore Dreiser didn't create Sister Carrie as a heroine. In the book of the same name, Carrie moves to the big city of Chicago, cohabits with a traveling salesman, runs away with the embezzling manager of a bar, and becomes a chorus girl. She ends up "amid the tinsel and shine" of Broadway, basking in fame but still searching for something, dreaming about "happiness [that she] may never feel."

Continue reading "Your Turn: Carrie Meeber" »

Tags: Independent Women | Literature

4:44 PM ET | 01-31-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Billy Pilgrim

From Slaughterhouse Five, by Kurt Vonnegut
Nominated by Brock Spore

Billy Pilgrim was a quiet and helplessly comic person who maintained his sanity while the world around him experienced wave after wave of madness.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Billy Pilgrim" »

Tags: Literature | Science Fiction

3:15 PM ET | 01-31-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Ennis Del Mar

From Brokeback Mountain by E. Annie Proulx
Movie directed by Ang Lee
Nominated by Truman Adkins

In this classic tragedy, Ennis Del Mar represents the classic American icon, the Cowboy (or in his precise case a sheepherder) who deals with the effects of rural homophobia as best he can. Having been indoctrinated from age 9 that his attraction could get him killed, he struggles in vain to pursue happiness in his life, and sublimate his nature in order to keep safe. The price he pays for this: loneliness and abandonment.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Ennis Del Mar" »

Tags: Literature | Movies | Romantic Heroes

2:54 PM ET | 01-31-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Jenny Fields

From The World According To Garp by John Irving
Movie directed by George Roy Hill
Nominated by Eric Orner

I wrestled with my sexuality throughout college during in the 1980s. As a Jew, I worried about the moral repercussions of my gay orientation---about not doing everything I could to procreate. And, as an American I worried about the material consequences of coming out. Would I be denied happiness? Jobs? Physical security? When I read Irving's book, my eyes were opened wide by his depiction of a character who was uncompromising in her attitude towards sex and sexuality.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Jenny Fields" »

Tags: Independent Women | Literature | Movies

10:15 PM ET | 01-30-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: George Jefferson

From The Jeffersons, created by Don Nichol and Michael Ross
Nominated by Jeffrey Alexander Brathwaite

Considering your question on influential American fictional characters, I think of George Jefferson, of the TV show, The Jeffersons.

As a young Black boy growing up during the 70s in South Bronx, I didn't have many role models. But in George Jefferson I witnessed weekly the fortitude and drive of a successful Black businessman.

Continue reading "Your Turn: George Jefferson" »

Tags: Comedy | TV

9:56 PM ET | 01-30-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Lisa Simpson

From The Simpsons cartoon, created by Matt Groening
Nominated by Katherine Duke

Lisa Simpson is the epitome of the gifted kid, almost too smart and too "good" for her own good. She's converted to vegetarianism, taken on corrupt politicians and polluters, and invented a perpetual-motion machine, all while acing the second grade some 20 years in a row.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Lisa Simpson" »

Tags: Animation | Comedy | Comics | Nerds

9:54 PM ET | 01-30-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Dr. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce

From MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors by Richard Hooker
Movie directed by Robert Altman
M*A*S*H television series created by H. Richard Hornberger
Nominated by Maureen Cruz

Brilliant and irreverent, Dr. Benjamin Franklin 'Hawkeye' Pierce was the voice of a generation at war -- a generation and a war I was too young to understand when I was introduced to M*A*S*H at the age of about 10.

A womanizing, insufferably arrogant, borderline alcoholic, Hawkeye was a sight to behold. He had no patience for bureaucracy, no respect for authority and no capacity for commitment to any one woman. He was the Army's (and every father's) worst nightmare.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Dr. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce" »

Tags: Movies | TV

6:05 PM ET | 01-30-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Christy Huddleston

From Christy by Catherine Marshall
Nominated by Rebecca Briley

Growing up in a literary family, I read everything I could find, drawn especially to female characters who were teachers: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Anne of Green Gables, Jane Eyre--the list is long. But the deepest impression was made by Catherine Marshall's Christy, a teacher in a one-room schoolhouse in the Smokey Mountains at the turn of the century. Overcoming squeamish distaste for native customs with unadulterated love for Fairlight Spencer and Little Burl, Christy Huddleston, c'est moi.

I longed to teach in a one-room schoolhouse, nourishing some impoverished Appalachian child with the love of reading. Never having that opportunity, I have managed to teach elsewhere: Kentucky, Europe, the Marshall Islands, and finally even Turkish students in North Cyprus. My students always remark they have never had a teacher like me: one who loves her subject and students so equally and overtly. I have Christy to thank for that. As they say, if you can read this, thank a teacher. I do--all of them who taught me to love literature and to share that love with others.

Tags: Independent Women | Romantic Heroes | TV | Working Women

3:11 PM ET | 01-30-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Nancy Drew

From the Nancy Drew mystery series, created by Edward Stratemeyer
Nominated by Kelli Donley

My mom gave me her childhood collection of Nancy Drew novels when I was in elementary school. I inhaled them -- all 40 mystery stories about the girl who could solve crime, and do so with great fashion and manners.

Nancy had a boyfriend and a father who she relied on only in direst of cases. Instead, she taught young girls that they could be successful, smart, individualistic -- and drive a fun convertible.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Nancy Drew" »

Tags: Children's Literature | Working Women

11:37 PM ET | 01-29-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Owen Meany

From A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving
Nominated by Lydia Casman

On faith: Owen Meany (Matthew Detmer in a 2006 stage adaptation at Maryland's Round House Theatre) unites reason and belief.

Stan Barouh/Round House Theatre

Today, the world seems to have deemed faith and rationality incompatible. Perhaps the world has not met Owen Meany.

Owen is the son of a New Hampshire granite quarrier in John Irving's novel A Prayer for Owen Meany. He is abnormally small for his age, has an indescribable yet unforgettable voice, and firmly believes he is God's instrument.

Yet Owen is not a fool. He is the top of his class at a prestigious high school and understands the world in ways his peers do not. He is an avid critic of everything from school policy to American policy and the Vietnam War. Owen is intelligent, yet he maintains the belief that God has a special plan for him. And God does.

Owen Meany showed me that one can be a rational human being and at the same time have faith that there is a bigger force at work in our lives.

Tags: Coming of Age

6:21 PM ET | 01-29-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Marjorie "Maude" Chardin

From Harold and Maude, directed by Hal Ashby
Nominated by Jane Bratton

When I grow up, I want to be like Maude.

I was a teenager the first time I saw Harold and Maude. I understood the moviegoers who were turned off by the main plot -- which finds the 79-year-old Maude engaged in a romantic relationship with 20-year-old Harold.

Years later, however, I've come to not only appreciate Maude's propensity for mischief and merriment, but her views on life as well. "Play as well as you can," she reminds us.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Marjorie "Maude" Chardin" »

Tags: Independent Women | Movies | Romantic Heroes

6:18 PM ET | 01-29-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Tommy Pickles

From Rugrats, created by Gabor Csupo, Paul Germain, and
Arlene Klasky
Nominated by Billy Skrobacz

Bravery, courtesy, and honor are all traits of a hero. Tommy Pickles, from the Nickelodeon series Rugrats, embodies all of these values.

Scoring touchdowns with chocolate-milk bottles, dealing with bullies, and trying to follow in the footsteps of Reptar, Tommy Pickles should be recognized as one of the most important people in television.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Tommy Pickles" »

Tags: Animation | Comedy | TV

5:39 PM ET | 01-29-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Wonder Woman

From the Wonder Woman comic books, created by William Moulton Marston
Nominated by Rosalie Rippey

The stars in my eyes were the reflection from Linda Carter's dance pants.

As a little girl of the 1970s, I aspired to be Wonder Woman. With bullet-deflecting bracelets and a golden lasso of truth she fought crime, defused bombs, and rescued imperiled civilians. With a graceful spin, she transformed from a prim secretary in glasses and tight bun into an Amazon queen, champion of humanity.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Wonder Woman" »

Tags: Comics | Independent Women | Superheroes | TV

5:45 PM ET | 01-28-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Shane

From Shane by Jack Shaefer, movie directed by George Stevens
Nominated by James Deutsch

Shane appears in the West from the mountains of the gods. He has no family, no past, no last name. Self-reliant and independent, he is clad in buckskin, having only a horse and gun.

Shane enters a deadly conflict pitting the Holy Family (Joe/Joseph, Marian/Mary, and their son Joey/Jesus) against the evil Rykers (i.e., Third Reichers or Nazis). In the end, after defeating the Nazis and their sadistic black-clad S.S. antagonist (Jack Wilson), Shane returns to the mountains from whence he came--alone.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Shane" »

Tags: Literature | Movies | Reluctant Hero

3:27 PM ET | 01-28-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Eloise

From the Eloise books by Kay Thompson
Nominated by Elaine Wrubel

The indomitable spirit of Eloise is as relevant and recognizable today as it was in 1955 when first published. Reading about her when I was a young girl in the Midwest made me yearn to see The Plaza up close, to experience the same rooms and staff that she knew so well.

Eloise was charming, bold, endearing and oh so lucky! She had no restrictive parents and had so much time to explore that grand hotel. I loved her rambling thoughts, her freedom to explore, and her companionship with Nanny.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Eloise" »

Tags: Children's Literature | Independent Women

1:29 PM ET | 01-25-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Gilligan

From Gilligan's Island, created by Sherwood Schwartz
Nominated by Thomas Siegman

Sorry, Skipper: Was Gilligan (Bob Denver) the devil in disguise?

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Poor castaways. Each week they would devise a way off the island. Each week Gilligan would thwart their escape — usually with the best of intentions.

Years after the show ended, its creator, Sherwood Schwartz, admitted that each of the characters represented one of the seven deadly sins — Pride (the Professor), Anger (Skipper), Lust, (Ginger), and the rest. Gilligan was supposed to be Sloth.

But a closer viewing indicates that the island may well have been Hell -- and the red-clad Gilligan the devil who kept them on his island.

The greatest part of the metaphor, though, is that if the others ever wanted to get off the island, what they needed to do was kill Gilligan -- and that each of us has our own inner Gilligan, that sweet-natured, well-meaning part of us that always sabotages us from getting what we really want.

Maybe if we truly want to succeed in life, we need to kill our own inner Gilligan.

Tags: Comedy | TV

12:29 PM ET | 01-25-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Lt. Columbo

From the Columbo TV series, created by Richard Levinson and William Link
Nominated by Audrey Glickman

Columbo broke with tradition, showing the crime first, then expecting us to watch for another hour to see the detective's thought processes as he psyched out the criminals. Columbo showed an individualist, intelligent and humble, being himself regardless of the establishment.

Awkward yet smooth, he reveled in his dishevelment, using it to advantage. With an eclectic car, one suit, beloved wife, dog, and no gun, Columbo on the job was in control, an eye on the suspect and a clear goal.

Three-dimensional characters are collaborations between writers and actors. I suspect Peter Falk, a consummate actor, is as fond of Columbo as we are.

Columbo is highly intelligent, lovable, moral but nonjudgmental, and expert at what he loves. He was portrayed by a brilliant actor with wit, humor, and a deep knowledge of a character he apparently enjoyed.

Tags: Detectives | TV

5:21 PM ET | 01-24-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Leia Organa

From the Star Wars films, created by George Lucas
Nominated by Amy Hale-Janeke

I first encountered Princess Leia Organa when I was five years old and sitting in the front row of a theater watching Star Wars. Leia was everything that I wanted to be when I grew up: a smart (and smart-mouthed) leader who refused to be condescended to even by someone as good-looking as Han Solo. She didn't have kids. Instead, she had a career and a cause.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Leia Organa" »

Tags: Adventure | Movies | Science Fiction

5:15 PM ET | 01-24-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Scrooge McDuck

Originally appeared in Donald Duck Four Color Comics #178, created by Carl Barks
Nominated by Dana Gabbard

Scrooge McDuck is a most unlikely pop-culture icon. Unlike most media stars, he's elderly. His personality is also rather prickly. The ultimate self-made man, he exults in his wealth and has little interest in conventional enjoyments.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Scrooge McDuck" »

Tags: Animation | Comics | TV

5:09 PM ET | 01-24-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Ignatius J. Reilly

From A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole
Nominated by Craig Tower

We don't advertise that our son is named after Ignatius J. Reilly. Even for those who have read A Confederacy of Dunces, Ignatius is far from heroic. He's a reactionary neo-Luddite; an onanistic mama's boy, a failed academic and a relentless highbrow critic of pop culture, which he consumes with as much lowbrow abandon as he devours donuts and soda. But he's also erratically brilliant, generally tolerant and wholly iconic of his natal New Orleans.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Ignatius J. Reilly" »

Tags: Antiheroes | Comedy | Literature

9:28 AM ET | 01-23-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Susie Salmon

From The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Nominated by Caleigh Tansey

The liveliness of a character from a novel can grasp you in the most profound ways and leave you with a good feeling about the piece you have just read. So, what about those characters that are not so alive?

Susie Salmon of The Lovely Bones is a 14-year old girl who watches her family, friends, and murderer from her heaven above. She not only has to watch her family struggle without her, but think of what she would be doing if she were alive at that very moment.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Susie Salmon" »

Tags: Literature

11:13 AM ET | 01-18-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Idgie Threadgoode

From Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, by Fannie Flagg
Fried Green Tomatoes directed by Jon Avnet
Nominated by Tyisha Turner

Idgie Threadgoode is one of the main characters in this film based on the novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg. Idgie is a fierce, free-spirited, resourceful young woman. She proves herself a true heroine as she overcomes death, violence, racism, and sexism throughout her life.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Idgie Threadgoode" »

Tags: Independent Women | Movies | Rebels

1:23 PM ET | 01-17-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: John Bender

From The Breakfast Club, written and directed by John Hughes
Nominated by Morgan Urquia

John Bender speaks to a generation of '80s rebels whose job is to tick people off. Society needs one thing to progress: a catalyst, a person who isn't afraid to push people over the edge into a quarry of realization. Bender inspired a generation to get over their predetermined position in the social chain and open their eyes to problems everyone experiences.

Continue reading "Your Turn: John Bender" »

Tags: Coming of Age | Movies | Rebels | Teens

9:39 AM ET | 01-17-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Ed Kennedy

From I Am the Messenger, by Markus Zusak
Nominated by Ben Buhrman

Literary heroes come in many forms. Most of those forms take shape in above and beyond characterizations of the superman (or woman) we all want to be. But a select few writers create characters that, instead of being abnormally heroic, are heroically normal. Ed Kennedy of I Am the Messenger is a perfect example of this.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Ed Kennedy" »

Tags: Children's Literature | Reluctant Hero

7:01 PM ET | 01-16-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Scout Finch

From To Kill A Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee
Nominated by Patrice Lattrell

Ever since I heard the introduction for the In Character blog on NPR I have pondered the character I would choose. As a high school English teacher and avid reader from childhood, I have a pantheon of favorite characters, all of them best friends to whom I turn when feeling lonely. However, I have finally settled on Scout Finch.

As a little girl growing up in the early 70s, I saw Scout as a role model in a world with very few strong girl characters.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Scout Finch" »

Tags: Girls Next Door | Literature | Movies

6:32 PM ET | 01-16-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Betty Boop

From the Talkartoon and Betty Boop cartoon film series, produced by Max Fleischer
Nominated by Samantha Melendez

First appearing on television in the 1930s, the "Boop-Oop-A-Doop" girl won the hearts of many Americans with her overt sexual appeal. Betty Boop, the first character to represent the new "sexual" woman showed her skin in a short dress that showed her garter belt and her cleavage. Little did I know that she represented an era where women felt "awakened" by their sexuality.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Betty Boop" »

Tags: Comics | Femmes Fatales

5:30 PM ET | 01-16-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Cameron Frye

From Ferris Bueller's Day Off, directed by John Hughes
Nominated by Sara King

Ferris Bueller is who every teenager wants to be. He is the cool, slick, lovable wise guy. But what about the other guy — Cameron? Though Ferris is one righteous dude, it is Cameron that I relate to.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Cameron Frye" »

Tags: Comedy | Movies | Sidekicks | Teens

11:35 AM ET | 01-16-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Wishbone

From Wishbone, created by Rick Duffield
Nominated by Ellie Milano

Who better to represent a classic American fictional character than man's best friend? In PBS's late 1990s TV series, Wishbone was a spunky terrier who mixed events from his everyday life with his owners, the Talbots, with stories from classic literature. Creating storylines based on works such as Romeo and Juliet, Joan of Arc, Rip van Winkle, and Treasure Island, Wishbone opened many children's eyes to famous literature, without their even knowing it.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Wishbone" »

Tags: TV

11:07 AM ET | 01-16-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Charlie Brown

From the Peanuts comic strip, created by Charles M. Schulz
Nominated by Jennifer Harrell

Good sport: Charlie Brown, eternally in pursuit of that football.

Stephen Chernin, Getty Images

Charlie Brown is appealing to all people because you cannot help but feel bad for him. In "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown," Charlie Brown works on his costume diligently, but it turns out to be a debacle. As he trick-or-treats with his friends, he only gets rocks, while others get candy.

He demonstrates the feelings we have on those days when everything seems to go wrong. It breaks your heart to watch Charlie Brown struggle to kick the football, knowing Lucy will inevitably pull it away, but his perseverance is inspiring.

At the end of the day, Charlie Brown is surrounded by friends like Snoopy and Linus who, although they get fed-up with him, care about him. In the Christmas special, the others were frustrated when he bought the dilapidated Christmas tree, but they rallied together to make the tree -- and Charlie Brown's Christmas -- beautiful.

Tags: Comics

6:35 PM ET | 01-15-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Ann Marie

From That Girl, created by Sam Denoff and Bill Persky
Nominated by Joan Winslow

That Girl skipped into my life, throwing her hat into my four-year-old soul. She was a good girl who happily lived alone, talked back to her father, palled around with a nice guy -- the ideal liberated woman from the viewpoint of a small girl.

Especially one whose own father spat out the words "women's lib" and "independent" with the venom of profanity. As many did: the Women's Liberation Movement was deeply contentious inside many a home.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Ann Marie" »

Tags: Comedy | TV | Working Women

6:33 PM ET | 01-15-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Tony Montana

From Scarface, directed by Brian De Palma
Nominated by John Brann.

Tony Montana has become an American icon to guys everywhere after appearing in Scarface. He holds the characteristics that every man desires. Montana is tough, fearless, courageous, power hungry and doesn't care what anyone else thinks.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Tony Montana" »

Tags: Antiheroes | Movies | Villains

6:15 PM ET | 01-15-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Jessica Darling

From the Sloppy Firsts book series by Megan McCafferty
Nominated by Izumi Suzuki

Jessica Darling might not be the most famous American icon. In fact, her name may only resonate with teenage girls like me, who enjoy this series and its relatable, imperfect heroine. Jessica is your average 17-year-old, dealing with awkward growing pains and everyday struggles with as much dry humor as possible.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Jessica Darling" »

Tags: Children's Literature | Rebels | Teens

11:10 AM ET | 01-15-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Rocky Balboa

From the Rocky film series, created by Sylvester Stallone.
Nominated by Chris Sowers

During the 1970s and 1980s and the struggles of the Cold War, one character defined America: Rocky Balboa. Rocky IV shows the struggle between Russia and America as Balboa clashes with Ivan Drago, Russia's premier fighter.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Rocky Balboa" »

Tags: Underdogs | Working Class Heroes

10:44 AM ET | 01-15-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Nick and Nora Charles

From The Thin Man
Book by Dashiell Hammett
Films 1-4 directed by W.S. Van Dyke, later Richard Thorpe (The Thin Man Goes Home), and followed by Edward Buzzell (Song of the Thin Man)
Nominated by Petar Lazic

I have never loved a pair of alcoholics more than I love Nick and Nora. There is something about them, their charm, their wit, their playful but thorough love for each other, that, to my mind, puts them among the great couples in literary history: Helen and Paris, Antony and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliette, Catherine and Heathcliff, Rhett and Scarlett. And of all of these, they are the only couple I'd actually like to spend time with.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Nick and Nora Charles" »

Tags: Comedy | Detectives | Movies

8:10 AM ET | 01-15-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Elle Woods

From Legally Blonde, directed by Robert Luketic
Nominated by Tiffany Luu

Elle Woods defies the stereotype of the "dumb blonde" and promotes the ideals of the "American Dream." When she is faced with an arduous task, she is driven to do her best, no matter how ridiculous it may be. Woods gives hope for women every where to emulate her persevering character by believing in what may seem like the impossible.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Elle Woods" »

Tags: Comedy | Movies

6:20 PM ET | 01-14-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Jack Bauer

From 24, created by Joel Surnow and Robert Cochran
Nominated by Mike McCabe

Jack Bauer, played by Kiefer Sutherland, is the protagonist of 24, the hit Fox television show. If someone were to ask me what I think of when someone says America, I would say, with firm delivery, "Red meat, power tools, and Jack Bauer."

Continue reading "Your Turn: Jack Bauer" »

Tags: Adventure | Superheroes | TV

12:47 PM ET | 01-14-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Scarlett O'Hara

From Gone With The Wind.
Book by Margaret Mitchell
movie directed by Victor Fleming
Nominated by Sabrina Stevens

If ever there was a character who has made an impression on American society, it is Scarlett O'Hara of Gone with the Wind. From the time the book was written, to the first airing of the movie based on the book, and subsequent showings of the movie, Scarlett O'Hara is a heroine that all Americans, male and female, can look up.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Scarlett O'Hara" »

Tags: Literature | Movies

12:40 PM ET | 01-14-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Superman

From the Superman comic books, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
Nominated by Chris and Paul Boldt

No discussion of iconic American characters is complete without mention of the Man of Steel. We dream of having his strength, flight, speed and power to rival any of the Olympians.

Beyond wish fulfillment, however, what does it really mean that we embody "truth, justice, and the American way" in a godlike figure who, although an alien, was raised in the American heartland?

Continue reading "Your Turn: Superman" »

Tags: Comics | Superheroes

12:15 PM ET | 01-14-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: HAL 9000

From the Space Odyssey saga
Books by Arthur C. Clarke
2001:A Space Odyssey directed by Stanley Kubrick
2010: The Year We Make Contact directed by Peter Hyams
Nominated by Chris and Paul Boldt

We would like to nominate HAL as a character of great influence in popular American culture. For a people awed by technology, and terrified by our minimal understanding of it, he is the perfect icon.

He's sorry, Dave: HAL 9000, embodiment of our brightest tech dreams and our darkest fears, too.

Photo: MGM

He is coolly reasonable, yet hides dark secrets. He acts on principle, yet his principles are not those of the people whom he is intended to serve. His knowledge is only what his human creators have provided, but since he has been informed by many people, he can outwit any one of them.

The spaceship's crew are dependent on him, but their interests are not his first concern. They can only interrupt his forward progression by disrupting their own goals and bringing themselves to harm. He encapsulates all our bipolar reverence for human ingenuity, and his fatal flaw is that he, too, is conflicted.

Completely consonant with the zeitgeist of the decade in which he was invented, HAL's relevance increases with each new invention, and each compromise that invention forces us to make.

Tags: Movies | Science Fiction

6:33 PM ET | 01-11-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: The Little Tramp

From the Tramp films, created by and starring Charlie Chaplin
Nominated by Mark Levine

Well, obviously Chaplin was English, but his Little Tramp character was an incredibly endearing figure that, to me at least, has become one of the icons of an American era.

Continue reading "Your Turn: The Little Tramp" »

Tags: Comedy | Movies | Working Class Heroes

2:57 PM ET | 01-11-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Tyler Durden

From Fight Club. Book by Chuck Palahniuk, movie directed by David Fincher
Nominated by Marissa Gonzalez

In contemplating the post-modern American villain, the model that immediately comes to mind is Chuck Palahniuk's Tyler Durden from Fight Club. More than a straightforward moustache-twirler, his charisma and free-spirited attitude makes his villainy as sympathetic as it is (ultimately) terrible. And while mistrust and xenophobia are easy answers when looking for a villain to fear, the fact that Tyler lives in the unnamed narrator's head makes him all the more terrifying. He is human discontent. What keeps you up at night.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Tyler Durden" »

Tags: Literature | Movies | Villains

2:29 PM ET | 01-11-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Andy Dufresne

From the novella Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, by Stephen King.
The Shawshank Redemption directed by Frank Darabont
Nominated by Christina Rivera

One of my favorite American fiction characters is Andy Dufresne from Stephen King's Shawshank Redemption. An innocent man falsely accused of and imprisoned for the murders of his wife and her lover, instead of allowing himself to be crushed by his circumstances he holds firm to who he is as well as what he knows to be true.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Andy Dufresne" »

Tags: Movies | Redemption

2:16 PM ET | 01-11-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Maggie May

From the song "Maggie May," from the album Every Picture Tells A Story. Written by Rod Stewart and Martin Quittenton
Nominated by Steven Wynn

I was only 15 years old when this song came out, but I always found it a little strange. After 37 years I realize what Maggie represents: the end of youth. Every generation has its Maggie May. She's the person who mocks you, no matter how young and cool you may think you are. "Middle age is coming, bro," she seems to say. And though with time we learn to live with it, we lament with Rod Stewart: "Maggie, I wish I'd never seen your face."

She was mortality, warning us, at 15, of the changes ahead.

That's my interpretation, anyway.

Tags: Femmes Fatales

11:06 AM ET | 01-11-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Yakko, Wakko and Dot

From Animaniacs, created by Tom Ruegger
Nominated by Graham Murtaugh

When my friends and I — children of the early '90s — complain about "cartoons these days" (believe me, we do), the show I most lament losing is Animaniacs.

Brilliantly cast and irreverently written, the trio of Yakko, Wakko and Dot Warner not only entertained us with their puns, parodies and hijinks, they educated us as well. They were my generation's version of Schoolhouse Rock!, albeit with more burping and bathroom jokes.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Yakko, Wakko and Dot" »

Tags: Animation | Comedy | TV

10:18 AM ET | 01-10-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Mary Richards

From The Mary Tyler Moore Show, created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns
Nominated by Kathryn Macek

A few years ago I clipped out an ad from the TV section of The Los Angeles Times. It was a picture of "our Mary" sitting at her desk at WJM, with that look on her face. The caption read: "You may seem like a goody-two-shoes now, but you were on birth control before Ally McBeal was born."

Continue reading "Your Turn: Mary Richards" »

Tags: Comedy | TV | Working Women

9:09 AM ET | 01-10-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Laura Ingalls

From the Little House book series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Nominated by Callie Kimball

Hard work and rock candy: Callie Kimball says Laura Ingalls — portrayed here by Melissa Gilbert in TV's long-running Little House on the Prairie — illustrated the value of bootstrapping in a world that doesn't always take perfect care of its kids.

Photo: NBC/Getty Images

Laura Ingalls — the character, not the author — was a complex girl in a hostile world. That she was based on someone real gave a force to her stories that was absent from the male-driven literature at school. She wasn't pretty, she wasn't plucky, she wasn't particularly clever. Not your typical heroine, and for that I loved her all the more.

She was an example of humor, compassion, and industry I could relate to. She did farm chores that made her strong, she was smart (but only from making the occasional poor choice), and she knew the value of a dollar thanks to her hand-me-down calico dresses.

She showed that living in America involved hard work — but also that there would be square dances and rock candy once in a while. With romanticism and reality, she reinforced the Emersonian virtue of self-reliance in my latchkey adolescence.

Tags: Children's Literature | Girls Next Door

5:27 PM ET | 01- 9-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Carrie Bradshaw

From Sex and the City, created by Darren Star
Nominated by Susan Ticker

What was it about Carrie Bradshaw that so captured our attention? A huge segment of TV-watchers hung on each of Sex and the City's 94 episodes as if their own lives were playing out on HBO — or maybe it was the lives they wondered why they weren't living.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Carrie Bradshaw" »

Tags: Comedy | TV | Working Women

5:20 PM ET | 01- 9-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Buffy Summers

From Buffy the Vampire Slayer, created by Joss Whedon
Nominated by Michael Allen

She knowingly went to her death (twice) to save the world. She returned to ultimately give her power to girls and young women around the world. She was a reluctant hero, but always rose to the occasion — even when called upon to send the love of her life to hell to save the world. Through it all, she kept her friends with her.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Buffy Summers" »

Tags: Fantasy | Movies | Superheroes | TV

5:09 PM ET | 01- 9-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Dorothy Gale

From The Wizard of Oz. Book by L. Frank Baum, movie directed by Victor Fleming
Nominated by Marta Pelrine-Bacon

At eight, I took a cassette recorder, placed it next to the television and recorded The Wizard of Oz — all so I could hear Dorothy Gale's adventures. I dressed as Dorothy for Halloween, and I shoved favorite toys in my sleeping bag so that if a hurricane hit our house, I'd be ready to stay in the Emerald City.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Dorothy Gale" »

Tags: Children's Literature | Girls Next Door | Literature | Movies

1:10 PM ET | 01- 9-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Blackie DuQuesne

From the Skylark books by E.E. "Doc" Smith
Nominated by Nathan Okun

Dr. Marc C. "Blackie" DuQuesne is one of the best villains ever. Absolutely ruthless and ambitious, but also very capable and absolutely honest.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Blackie DuQuesne" »

Tags: Literature | Villains

10:22 AM ET | 01- 9-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Mr. Spock

From Star Trek, created by Gene Roddenberry
Nominated by Hazelyn Patterson

Ah, the pointy-eared one: More than one of you nominated him. And you'll be glad to know we're on your frequency. Stay tuned to In Character in the coming weeks for a radio profile by NPR's Neda Ulaby.

"Fascinating" creature: Hazelyn Patterson says Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) was smart, sexy and sometimes psychic.

Photo: Paramount Pictures/Getty Images

He is the perfect icon of nerds (and the not-so-nerdy) across earth and the final frontier. When I was 5, I would sneak out of bed and hide behind the couch at night just to hear him intone "fascinating," a word he made into an icon itself.

Mr. Spock was the '60s representation of what mankind was and what it strove to be. He merged the ethereal, elfin — some say devilish — appearance of a mythological character and the brains of a supercomputer with the human ideals of diversity, loyalty, truth and logic.

And hey, he was just plain sexy, without even trying. Sex symbol, savant and occasional psychic: Spock is an icon for all times.

Like we said: More than one of you thought so. And to help keep things organized, we thought we'd set a new guideline: From now on, we'll post new essays about characters who've already been nominated in the comments on that initial nomination. That way it'll be easy to scroll through and get a sense of just how many different lenses one character can be seen through.

Tags: Sidekicks | Superheroes | TV

5:04 PM ET | 01- 8-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail

Your Turn: Lloyd Dobler

From Say Anything, written and directed by Cameron Crowe
Nominated by Clifton Tipon in San Jose, Calif.

Lloyd Dobler is not noticeably handsome and not impeccably dressed. He's neither a scholar nor a man of high social stature. Lloyd has one ambition: Win the heart of class valedictorian Diane Court.

The odds look impossible, foolish even. His friends warn of heartaches. "I wanna get hurt," he says.

Continue reading "Your Turn: Lloyd Dobler" »

Tags: Movies | Romantic Heroes

3:57 PM ET | 01- 8-2008 | permalink

comments () | | e-mail