Comments on: 100 Beloved Characters and 100 Other People

100 Beloved Characters and 100 Other People

wendell — Sun, 18 Apr 2004 17:45:15 -0800

What do you mean Matt Haughey isn't on this list?
Time Magazine does a sequel to the 100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century with a list of the current Hot 100... Have fun raging at the inevitable bad choices and obvious omissions. For a more entertaining list, here's Parade Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters.
Preemptive strike: Yeah, all "Top 100" Lists are lame, but critiquing them can be an entertaining way to finish off a boring weekend

By: wendell

wendell — Sun, 18 Apr 2004 17:48:05 -0800

For starters, Simon Cowell belongs on the second list as much as he belongs on the first (which he IS on)...

By: Smart Dalek

Smart Dalek — Sun, 18 Apr 2004 17:57:21 -0800

Why wasn't Mike the Dog included?

By: MiguelCardoso

MiguelCardoso — Sun, 18 Apr 2004 17:58:57 -0800

How have I survived this far without ever having heard of Simon Cowell? Boy, is my life vacant! ;)

By: amberglow

amberglow — Sun, 18 Apr 2004 17:59:54 -0800

Katie Couric?!? why? and no Soros?

By: Smart Dalek

Smart Dalek — Sun, 18 Apr 2004 18:02:55 -0800

I just remembered something else - none of my relatives made that damn list either!

By: boltman

boltman — Sun, 18 Apr 2004 21:50:57 -0800

HAL from 2001 should be on the second list. In fact, he should be in the top 10.

By: iamck

iamck — Sun, 18 Apr 2004 21:56:40 -0800

Posted: 4/19/2004 12:57:17 AM Name: Shano Message: man, u said it, whoever made this list is a shitfaced cockmaster and he needs to watch more damn movies, damn

By: jb

jb — Sun, 18 Apr 2004 22:47:47 -0800

While I am very glad she was included (twice even), I didn't agree with the analysis of the Katherine Hepburn characters. Rose Sayer from The African Queen is far more memorable than Susan Vance from Bringing up Baby, which was a great character, but not yet as memorable. It would be a hard choice between Rose and Eleanor of Aquitaine, of course. Generally a good list - I think it is much easier to rate characters than actors or films. Definately some stuff I want to watch in the future (I really have to see Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly - I feel ashamed that I haven't).

By: interrobang

interrobang — Sun, 18 Apr 2004 23:17:04 -0800

jb. don't feel ashamed. Holly Golightly is a shallow, hollow character. And if you haven't seen "Breakfast at Tiffany's", you've been spared the horrible, racist performance by Mickey Rooney as an Asian man. It's really not worth seeing, and I wish I'd never seen it.

By: The God Complex

The God Complex — Sun, 18 Apr 2004 23:52:36 -0800

you've been spared the horrible, racist performance by Mickey Rooney as an Asian man. It's really not worth seeing, and I wish I'd never seen it. It's stereotypical, not racist, a distinction so many seem incapable of making.

By: ChasFile

ChasFile — Mon, 19 Apr 2004 01:17:23 -0800

It's stereotypical, not racist, a distinction so many seem incapable of making. It is a racist stereotype, so making the distinction was redundant.

By: jkilg

jkilg — Mon, 19 Apr 2004 02:30:03 -0800

From the article: Mr Elliott said there was a contrast to be made between power and influence within the 100. "The distinction is a clear one," he said. "George Bush, Kim Jong Il and Jerry Bruckheimer all have power, whereas people like John Galliano and Simon Cowell have influence." Elliott's second sentence would have made 517% more sense without the name Jerry Bruckheimer in it, at least in juxtaposition with Bush and Kim. And I suppose Galliano and Cowell aren't meant to influence people like me, except indirectly, because I have no idea whatsoever who they are.

By: Witty

Witty — Mon, 19 Apr 2004 06:10:06 -0800

Names that don't belong on the Parade Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters list... in my opinion: * John McClane of Die Hard - C'mon. And at #46 even. I'd rather have the bad guy that said, "Now I have a machine gun. Ho Ho Ho." * Lloyd Dobler of Say Anything - Are they serious? I'll take Ferris Bueller, loooong before anything Cusack has ever played. * Oda Mae Brown of Ghost - I'm tempted to let this one go. But it's still hard to believe that she's a top 100 character of all-time. Gimme the little short creepy woman from Poltergeist.

By: dagnyscott

dagnyscott — Mon, 19 Apr 2004 06:48:51 -0800

To Kill a Mockingbird is the most overrated book/movie EVER. Can anyone actually say there's any real character in Atticus Finch, fer chrissakes? The man is made to be *perfect* and that's really all there is to it. And the plot really failed to hold together for me.

By: cyclopz

cyclopz — Mon, 19 Apr 2004 06:52:43 -0800

John Cleese deserves a spot on the Premiere list...probably for "A Fish Called Wanda"...but my favorite would be the french taunter in "The Holy Grail." Ferris Bueller absolutely deserves to be there...inane but hilarious. Josey Wales and William Munny from "Unforgiven" were way better characters than Clint's character from "The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly." From the "you gotta be kidding me" category... -Sandy Olsson -Judy Benjamin -George Bailey -Oda Mae Brown -Ace Ventura

By: jonmc

jonmc — Mon, 19 Apr 2004 07:14:37 -0800

What, no Johnny Wadd?

By: Mayor Curley

Mayor Curley — Mon, 19 Apr 2004 09:11:29 -0800

John Cleese deserves a spot on the Premiere list... Don't start that shit. It only encourages the evil, whoreing, unfunny alien replicant that kidnapped John Cleese and took over for him in the very late 80's.

By: corpse

corpse — Mon, 19 Apr 2004 09:13:25 -0800

The character list is waaaaaaaaaaaaay to american-centric. I wouldn't even put an american character in my top 20.

By: vito90

vito90 — Mon, 19 Apr 2004 09:52:41 -0800

I like the list, the only absence I see is Alec Baldwin's Blake in Glengarry Glen Ross.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Mon, 19 Apr 2004 10:06:03 -0800

Actually, looking at this list, it's interesting to note that all the best ones (Vito Corleone, Randle McMurphy, Travis Bickle, Ratso Rizzo, Dirty Harry, Rocky Balboa, Norma Rae [but where the hell is John Shaft]) were all from '70's movies. I read somewhere, that because of the time and expense involved in making them, films are always the last popular art form to absorb the cultural changes of the time. The great flicks of the seventies were finally reflecting the turmoil of the 60's in cinematic form, I guess.

By: The God Complex

The God Complex — Mon, 19 Apr 2004 13:03:42 -0800

It is a racist stereotype, so making the distinction was redundant. Yeah, see, not so much. For something to be racist it has to intimate that one race is superior to another based on the colour of their skin, not overblown stereotypes of ethnic characterizations. I make this point only because racism is a word that gets bandied about on Metafilter with almost frightening ease, even when it's hardly called for.

By: mcsweetie

mcsweetie — Mon, 19 Apr 2004 21:43:56 -0800

screw it, here's my top 100: 100.) Leggy McLegs 99.) Donald The Don 98.) bedtime 97.) "Hey, wha' happened?" 96.) Terry Everywhere 95.) hip hop 94.) KRS ONE 93.) Sven Esteban 92.) Alicia Ringgold 91.) USB ports 90.) digital photography 89.) "Phony" Tony McNotreal 88.) the internet (AGAIN) 87.) Edwin Dulcimer 86.) acne remedies that don't work 85.) Rose Hurley 84.) Tiffany Lamp 83.) Georgio Derferberder 82.) sleeveless t-shirt 81.) The Cramps 80.) sticky notes 79.) Elven Vertigo 78.) sweet iced tea 77.) Donald Cellphone 76.) Larry Larabie 75.) chatroom shorthand 74.) George Forgey 73.) Robert Parker 72.) Sony 71.) toilet paper 70.) vacuum tubes more later.

By: SisterHavana

SisterHavana — Mon, 19 Apr 2004 22:06:54 -0800

I'm not on the list either. Damn. : )