Thursday, April 14, 2011

The Hero Rises

As Jay so nicely pointed out, and I hinted at last week, I'm kind of binging on Doctor Who episodes. I started with the Moffat ones, but I've moved on to other episodes, giving me something to watch while the Yankees constantly get rained out.

I still stand by what I said, following Moffat around, but there's something compelling about the Who character. Something I find compelling in a lot of my fiction, be it comics, TV, movies, or novels.

It's the moment where the hero's been beaten down so badly that you don't expect him to get up. He can't possibly win. He's out. The bad guy's won.

And then, the music swells, the camera focuses on something near by, something in the hero's POV and he figures it all out.

And gets back up and wins.

I love that moment. I love seeing people get back up. I think because in life we see people get down so much, we see them face horrible odds and often it's hard to get back up. But our heroes do it.

Jack Reacher always figures it out at the right moment.

Dennis Lehane loves to put Kenzie through the ringer.

That moment when hope it lost, everyone's given up, except the hero.

It's such a neat bit. The audience usually loves it too. The heart gets pumping. A smile crosses their faces. Because you know it's coming. And when it does, the audience applauds.

Evils been vanquished.

The bad things in life are gone.

All is right with the world.

And that's what Doctor Who, even the really bad episodes, do so well. They put Who and the world through the ringer.

But he always figures it out.

And wins.

The best fiction has that moment in it too.

2 comments:

Chris Rhatigan said...

I think that's why I like Harrison Ford--he tends to play a guy who gets his ass kicked for a long time before he kicks ass. See "The Fugitive."

Fiona Johnson said...

I love the episode - The Christmas Star..when you talk of 'that moment' that was the one that I thought of..

I think the music is brilliant in Dr Who. Have you seen any of the Dr Who proms concerts from the Royal albert Hall - they are amazing.