Heroes and villains

[twister!]

Anyone see this - the winners were unveiled last night on a CBS TV special in the US, entitled AFI's 100 Years ... 100 Heroes and Villains.

Here are the top 10s

Top 10 heroes:

1. Atticus Finch - played by Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird
2. Indiana Jones - Harrison Ford in Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. James Bond - as interpreted by Sean Connery in Dr No
4. Rick Blaine - Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca
5. Will Kane - Gary Cooper in High Noon
6. Clarice Starling - Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs
7. Rocky Balboa - Sylvester Stallone in the Rocky movies
8. Ellen Ripley - Sigourney Weaver in the Alien movies
9. George Bailey - James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life
10. TE Lawrence - Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia


Top 10 villains:

1. Hannibal Lecter - Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs
2. Norman Bates - Anthony Perkins in Psycho
3. Darth Vader - James Earl Jones in Star Wars
4. The Wicked Witch of the West - Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard of Oz
5. Nurse Ratched - Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
6. Mr. Potter - Lionel Barrymore in It's a Wonderful Life
7. Alex Forrest - Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction
8. Phyllis Dietrichson - Barbara Stanwyck in Double Indemnity
9. Regan MacNeil - Linda Blair in The Exorcist
10. The Queen - cartoon character in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

[belovedmonster]

was that picked by a bunch of stuffy old critics or another method of selection?

[twister!]

I know what you're saying - Atticus Finch as the number one hero is definitely not an obvious choice. Han Solo didn't even make the top ten (he was number 14).

Very interesting too that the heroes are mainly made up of males and the villains are mainly made up of women...

[redlum]

The Beach Boys - Heroes And Villains
(written by: Brian Wilson/Van **** Parks)

I've been in this town so long that back in the city
I've been taken for lost and gone
And unknown for a long long time

Fell in love years ago
With an innocent girl
From the Spanish and Indian home
Home of the heroes and villains

Once at night Catillian squared the fight
And she was right in the rain of the bullets that eventually
brought her down
But she's still dancing in the night
Unafraid of what a dude'll do in a town full of heroes and
villains

Heroes and villains
Just see what you've done

Heroes and villains
Just see what you've done

Stand or fall I know there
Shall be peace in the valley
And it's all an affair
Of my life with the heroes and villains

My children were raised
You know they suddenly rise
They started slow long ago
Head to toe healthy weathy and wise

I've been in this town so long
So long to the city
I'm fit with the stuff
To ride in the rough
And sunny down snuff I'm alright
By the heroes and

Heroes and villains
Just see what you've done

Heroes and villains
Just see what you've done

[SoulJacker]

Jack Burton... Legend.

Best. Hero. Ever.

[titaniumdoughnut]

come on! wheres Gandalf???

[Brainmuncher]

Or Ash?

[Actor]

David Prowse should get credit for Darth Vader. I mean he sweated for weeks in that black suit under those hot lights, then Jones comes in for a day or two and dubs the voice in an air conditioned studio.

Regan MacNeil in the Exorcist was the victim, not the villain. The villain was the demon that possessed her, voiced by Mercedes McCambridge.

As for how the selections were made: a committee selected 400 nominees and the AFI membership voted from that list.

[GREATwarEAGLE]

Why even do this? What's the point of celebrating these heroes and villains? It reminds me of the scene in STAND BY ME when they argue over who would win in a fight - Superman or Mighty Mouse? It's ridiculous.

Perhaps if they chose actual villains. Harvey Kietel's BAD LIEUTENANT. The father character in Tim Roth's THE WAR ZONE. That's a villain. That's a bad guy. It doesn't get much worse than that. Characters that commit sex crimes. Rape. Pedophiles. Those are villains. Those are the evil in any society. Darth Vader? The Wicked Witch?

Same with the heroes. I'm not familiar with the entire list, but I think Gene Hackman's Preacher in THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE is much more heroic than most. Or what about Gandhi? I'm serious. It might seem obvious. Maybe a little cliched. But hey - he was an absolute hero. James Bond? Why? 'Cause 007 is so cool and slick with the ladies. That has nothing to do with heroism.

And interesting how pretty much all the films were mainstream. If it didn't play at the 28-screen multiplex, with advertisements on every network television station - it doesn't make the cut. Wouldn't that at least make more sense? Bring attention the heroes and villains of lesser known films.

Not only that, but just about every film was one that received critical acclaim. Surely there are bad films, with bad scripts, directed poorly, that still contain horrible villains and/or amazing heroes. But not in this list.

What was the criteria? What were the standards? And in the end, why even bother?
Why did I even post my complaint?

I guess to make the point that the more you buy into AFI's 100 anything, or the Academy Awards, the more you subscribe to what they stand for, the more you let them influence you, the more you contribute to what they produce.

Self-important, glamorized cr?p.

[twister!]

Good and valid points. But maybe you're taking it a little too seriously - after all isn't it just a bit of fun...

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ June 06, 2003 05:55 AM: Message edited by: Justin (formerly Twister) ]</font>