2013 Calvin Awards: Best Character
By David Mumpower
February 19, 2013
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Katniss Everdeen, champion of The Hunger Games, is our choice as the Best Character of the year. Katniss memes have been ubiquitous over the past 12 months as Hunger Games fanatics volunteer as tribute whenever they can. Katniss is a long overdue female actual heroine anchoring a Tentpole title, but that aspect is secondary to the appeal of the character. Equal parts brave and vulnerable, this teen girl refuses to lose her sister in the competition. She volunteers, fully expecting to die. After all, she only has a one in 24 chance of survival.
The evolution of Katniss Everdeen is what differentiates the character from other selections on our list. She starts as an accomplished hunter who eschews the laws of her District in order to provide food for her family. After volunteering for The Hunger Games, Katniss understands that she is probably not going to survive the week. Rather than relegate herself to pity, the District 12 huntress listens to her drunken mentor, at least when he’s sober enough to make sense. Then, she combines his teachings with her own philosophies on hunting. In combination with her survival instincts, Katniss adapts enough to increase the odds of victory ever in her favor.
Still, Katniss never loses her humanity during The Hunger Games. She befriends a girl named Rue, and stays with the girl as she takes her last breath. In the process, Katniss gains the respect of citizens in other Districts, all of whom resent this competition as much as her people do. She is noble, defiant and battle-tested as well as a natural born leader. In the end, Katniss refuses to bow to authority, because those monsters demand that 23 children die each year to keep the Districts subservient. By staying true herself in the face of such powerful opponents, Katniss Everdeen demonstrates why she is the easy choice for Best Character of the year.
Our second place entrant would have been a huge surprise at this time 12 months ago. Dr. Bruce Banner has appeared in two other movies in the 2000s. The better of them was only okay. The challenge of creating a believable Hulk character is that a “huge green rage monster” is not relatable. Somehow, Joss Whedon and Mark Ruffalo accomplished more with a few minutes of character development than Ang Lee and Louis Leterrier had managed in 250 minutes of screen time. The key is the focus on Dr. Jekyll, not Mr. Hyde.
Dr. Bruce Banner is one of the smartest men in the Marvel Universe. His one failure during a research project doomed him to a bizarre life. When he is conscious, he laments the worst scientific mistake anyone has ever made. When he is…away, his other half is mad, bad and dangerous to know. The incongruity is sublime.
Rather than run away from the duality of Banner’s nature, The Avengers embraces it. When we first meet Banner, he bitterly rocks a cradle. The subtext is that while losing his humanity, he also lost the ability to have children. The sequence takes only a second yet it bleeds into the climactic moments of the movie where the truth of Banner is revealed. “I’m always angry.” How could he not be?
One punch later, a skyscraper sized monster is slain. Later, The Hulk delivers THE line of 2012. “Puny God!” In a shocking display of Looney Tunes physics, a demi-god is ragdolled for several seconds. The moment is enhanced by the knowledge that somewhere within The Hulk, a scientist is crying over his ignoble failure. Due to the paradoxical, conflicted nature of Banner’s existence, he is our choice for the second Best Character of the year.
Many of the greatest characters in the history of cinema are non-fictional. George C. Scott anchored his career around his performance in Patton. “Houston, we have a problem” was an all-too-real quote by astronaut Jim Lovell. And drunken womanizer Charlie Wilson really did end the Cold War via economic manipulations against Russia. Dramatic reenactments of historical figures represent some of the finest roles in cinema. In future years, the performance of Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln will be mentioned in the same breath as these.
Lincoln the “character” was a man who would sit and talk shoulder to shoulder with his troops before they went to battle. He would negotiate with the members of his own party while cajoling members of the opposition to do his bidding as well. And he would argue with his lonely, bitter wife about the failings of their marriage. The humanizing of the man who ended slavery in this country is arguably Steven Spielberg’s greatest accomplishment in the 21st century. Well, it’s either that or the refrigerator scene in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. What cannot be denied is that Lincoln as a character is refreshingly modern in his humility, his charisma and his political divisiveness. In many years, he would have been our choice as Best Character. In 2013, he will have to settle for third.
An abolitionist dentist and a master’s apprentice comprise the rest of our top five. Christoph Waltz dazzles our staff once again with his portrayal of Dr. King Schultz, a bounty hunter with an unerring sense of right and wrong. When Schultz befriends a temporarily enslaved freeman named Django, they bond by learning how to hunt bad guys together. As was the case with Waltz’s role in Inglourious Basterds, his character gets all the best lines in Django Unchained. Similarly violent in nature is The Master's Freddie Quell, a drunken horndog who wakes up on a boat one morning and finds himself joining The Cause. Quell is a World War II veteran struggling to overcome his personal demons. Suffice to say that he delivers a few beatings before coming to terms with his issues. Our staff loves damaged characters, and Freddie Quell is as broken as they come.
A widow and a teddy bear are our sixth and seventh place entrants. Jennifer Lawrence claims her second spot in the top six with the role of Tiffany Maxwell. Tiffany is a self-proclaimed bisexual slut who has struggled at life in the months since her husband died. She believes that dancing will provide the means to enrich her daily experience with some happiness. She also dazzles with an argument about what a good luck she is. This is Lawrence’s most sexual role, and it really suits her vibrant, larger than life personality. Ted is just as sexual, which is creepy since he is a stuffed animal. Somehow imbued with life and sentience, Ted wanders around getting stoned and hanging out with Mark Wahlberg. He is also close personal friends with the dude who played Flash Gordon. Ted is so foul-mouthed and disturbing that his existence retroactively creates discomfort for all of us as children who had teddy bears. He is, however, undeniably hilarious.
A goon, a buffoon and a homicidal loon are our final selections. The homicidal loon is Bane, the villain who at least temporarily breaks the Bat. The buffoon is Fat Amy, the boisterous (some would say obnoxious) singer/gal pal in Pitch Perfect. And the goon is Doug Glatt, the kindred spirit of the Hanson Brothers in the movie appropriately entitled Goon. So, we are enthralled by a singer, a fighter, and a non-mouth breather.
Just missing the cut are several great characters. They include Vanellope Von Schweetz (Wreck-It Ralph), Captain Whip Whitaker (Flight), Tony Stark (The Avengers), Selina Kyle (The Dark Knight Rises), Raoul Silva (Skyfall), Django (Django Unchained) and Stacee Jaxx (Rock of Ages). Based on this year's vote, our staff decidedly prefers heroes, villains and comic relief.
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