Character

So I'm wondering...is anyone's filmic experience really that limited that they can pick and choose their Top 5 Movie Characters of all time? I mean, to be able to choose 5 is damn near impossible, more so to do it in one sitting...

This comes from a hurried little facebook exercise I partook (is that a word?) in last week, one that I probably had many regrets about a split-second after I clicked the submit button. Regrets and frustration confirmed moments later when a friend managed to pull up a character that would've been one of my favs had I bothered to take more than 20 mins to think about who I adore on the big screen.

Also what criteria do you use to determin such a list? I thought about endearing characters, interesting characters, memorable characters... but many of these people had numerous flaws and faults, ones that made me wonder if they are the "best" characters after all. To say best would imply someone that you might look up to or want to emulate right? Surely I wouldn't want to be Lux Lisbon from Virgin Suicides then, would I? Much as I adore her.

I spent an evening on and off mulling over what I like best in some of my favourite film personalities, and while there's still much that is uncovered, I think I've narrowed it down to three main dominant categories: femme fatales, unlikely heros, and those that endear me to them. Of course femme fatales are often heroic figures to me, but there are so many it's like they are a category of heros, my brand of superhero (er, super villain?) That being said, heroes are naturally endearing, and so once again what I really have is still, just a very long list of characters that I like. Same as films themselves, I believe that one should not have to produce a list of less that 50 when it comes to "All time favourites"

Below is a loosely categorized list of some of my most beloved movie characters:

FEMME FATALES

1) Suzy Toller - portrayed by Neve Campbell - in Wild Things

2) Juliete Hardy - portrayed by Brigitte Bardot - in God Created Women

3) Kathryn Merteuil - portrayed by Sarah Michelle Gellar - in Cruel Intentions

4) O-Ren Ishii - protrayed by Lucy Liu - in Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2


UNLIKELY HEROES

1) Mark Renton - portrayed by Ewan McGreggor - in Trainspotting*

*Also interesting to note is that in all three films that Danny Boyle and Ewan made, Ewan's character always wound up with the money (in 2 of the 3 he betrayed his mates to get it)

2) Enid - portrayed by Thora Birch - in Ghost World

3) Marie "Slim" Browning - portrayed by Lauren Bacall - in To Have and Have Not

4) Alyssa Jones - portrayed by Joey Lauren Adams - in Chasing Amy

5) "Woman" - portrayed by Helena Bonham Carter - in Conversations with Other Women

6) Monty Brogan - portrayed by Ed Norton - in 25th Hour


PLAIN LOVE EM

1) Bonnie Parker - portrayed by Faye Dunaway - in Bonnie & Clyde

2) Penny Lane - portrayed by Kate Hudson - in Almost Famous

3) Woman in blonde wig - portrayed by Brigitte Lin - in Chungking Express


And those don't even really scratch the surface of great characters out there...