One-hit wonder author Harper Lee last week dropped her biggest bombshell since she revealed that "To Kill a Mockingbird" wasn't a hunting book. In her sequel to her only novel, Lee presents "TKAM" (in the publishing industry, we love acronyms) hero Atticus Finch as a racist.
Yes, the character that Gregory Peck portrayed in the iconic movie turned into an angry geezer who railed against African-Americans two decades after he defended an innocent man in "TKAM." While many readers and fans of the movie were shocked, I suspect that the family of the man he defended, Tom Robinson, wasn't. After all, did you see the all-white jury that Finch got seated to hear Robinson's case? And his stunning lack of effort to get DNA evidence admitted?
I'm not saying he threw the case, but . . .
The hubbub over the change in Finch's character got me thinking about the other fictional characters who are stuck in time by readers or moviegoers. Many of them changed, but their new personas were ignored by readers.
For instance, did you know that E.T.'s life dramatically changed after the little alien disappeared into the spaceship at the end of the eponymous movie? Sadly, upon returning to their home planet, E.T.'s fellow travelers denied that they visited Earth and E.T. was locked up and deprived of Reece's Pieces. The others claimed the "Earth visit" was a stunt filmed on a sound stage in their version of Hollywood. E.T. finished his life in disgrace.
E.T. is not alone in his shocking change of fate. Here are some other famous fictional characters whose post-story life took surprising turns.
Cat in the Hat: Famed for bringing his sidekicks (Thing One and Thing Two) to wreck the home of Sally and her brother, the Cat is widely viewed as an irritating interloper. But in "Catnip: My Story of Fame, Blame and Shame," the Cat revealed that his infamous visit on that rainy day was fueled by drugs and ended up with him eating the fish that objected to his presence. Cat later cleaned up and started the nonprofit foundation Panthers Urging Recovery for Relatives (PURR), which lobbied against Big Catnip.
Samantha Stevens: The main character in "Bewitched," the popular 1960s television show, met a surprising and shocking end: She was burned at the stake in 1972.
The Little Engine that Could: Famous for his catchphrase "I think I can . . . I know I can," the LETC became a favorite speaker on the motivational circuit, making more than 200 appearances a year during the 1990s. As rumors of performance-enhancing drug use surfaced, he challenged reporters to "kiss my caboose." The New York Times investigated LETC and discovered that he profited from electrical power in his famous ride over the mountain. LETC is currently petitioning to be able to return to the rails, but has been denied.
Bambi: The star of the beloved Disney children's story married on-screen flame (no pun intended) Faline after filming and moved north to escape attention. Way north. A few years later, their first child was born, a red-nosed deer named Rudolph, who followed Bambi into show business. Bambi died in 1979 and was served as the main dish at a midwinter banquet at a Moose lodge.
Dorothy: The protagonist in "The Wizard of Oz" saw a dramatic change in her life after she returned to Kansas. She became an Academy Award-winning actress who struggled in her personal life, marrying five times and ultimately dying of a drug overdose at age 47. She is survived by her daughter, Liza.
Brad Stanhope is a former Daily Republic editor. Reach him at bradstanhope@hotmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment