Sidekicks
By:
Nicolette Karter
So, I was
watching Singin’ in the Rain, and my mom (obviously watching it
with me) said that a Cosmo was essential to the plot, yet he wasn’t the main
character. In fact, the actor (Donald O’Connor) only got 3rd billing
in the credits, yet he deserved higher. (Both because of the importance of his
character & the things he had to do to play him). This got me (someone who
roots for underdogs) to thinking about other sidekicks, right hand men, best
friends and so on that don’t get the recognition they deserve.
So, obviously, Singin’
in the Rain is my first example. The premise is a silent movie star
dealing with talkies becoming the next big thing, and needing his perpetual
leading lady to sound as good as she looks (*Spoiler: she doesn’t, she sounds
like a dog whistle mixed with nails on a chalkboard). So when this problem
rears its inaudible head, Cosmo saves the day. Lonely ol’ Cosmo, whose job is
as a pianist for the movie, & is the star’s long time best friend. He
doesn’t get any credit in the movie, other than a “thank you”, yet the movie
within the movie wouldn’t have gone on without him (so hence the movie itself
wouldn’t work out either). He seems happy enough, but I think he was more
outshined than he should have been, not to mention the actor was amazing in it.
Here’s a clip of his song “Make ‘Em Laugh”:
The next
isn’t from a movie, though there have been movie adaptions about it. The novel The
Iliad has a hero/diva named Achilles, who is played by Brad Pit in
the movie Troy, which I haven’t seen in all honesty. But I’ve read
the book, & in it Achilles feels slighted, so he refuses to fight. He knows
he’s the best warrior the Greeks have, yet he’s all “Nope, not going to fight
unless I get more gold & girls. Even if you guys lose without me, I’m being
a stuck up little girl about this.” So his friend Patroclus fights in his
place, & ends up dying; this is what gets Achilles to fight again, which
helps the Greeks win. What if Patroclus hadn’t been brave enough to fight? The
Trojans easily could’ve won instead, changing the whole story; no one seems to
remember how important Patroclus is to not only this story, but all the other
movies where the hero needs a reason to keep fighting, so their best friend has
to die/get almost fatally injured. Look at Reign of Fire, The
Avengers (although he wasn’t a best friend of the hero’s but the
principle is still there), or another RDJ movie like the first Sherlock
Holmes? When Watson got seriously hurt?
About Sherlock
Holmes, both movies are built around the dynamic of Sherlock &
his right hand man Dr. Watson. Sherlock is more of the intuition, born with it,
go with your gut, be impulsive & eccentric type, whereas Watson is the kind
of person who thinks things through first, goes with intellect and things he
learned, spent years perfecting and considers consequences. Both types have
pros & cons to solving crimes, but together they work perfectly and are
seen in a lot of buddy cop TV shows. Like Psych, with Shawn as the
Sherlock type, and his best friend Gus as Watson. Shawn & Sherlock wouldn’t
be nearly as successful without their respective think-it-through-first
buddies. That said, the straight-laced characters wouldn’t get the same results
if working on their own, but seeing as they are the sidekicks, and just as
important as the attention-getting main characters, they should get more
recognition, they deserve it.
Ok, this isn’t my best article
and I apologize. Sometimes I go off on tangents and lose my train of thought
& original point; but I think I made enough sense (especially given the
tangents). Tell me if you thought of another movie or TV shows where the helper
deserves more credit than they’re given. Or more then the main character, even.
Once again sorry about this just kinda falling apart and let me know any other
things you want me to write about.
