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fannish5: Top Five Canonical Friendships
Aug. 26th, 2007 06:45 amThis one was tough, as I have considerable more than five friendships I love in the various fandoms I've fallen for. But here's a selection:
1) Londo Mollari and Vir Cotto in Babylon 5. Oh, let me count the ways in which I adore this relationship. It makes me laugh, it makes me cry, it grows over the course from the series (as do the characters), and it illustrates beautifully one of the trickiest things about friendship, fictional o otherwise: loyalty doesn't have to be blind. Vir's unlimited affection for Londo never blinds him to what is glaringly wrong about the things Londo does, and during the period of Londo's fall, he never stops doing something about this. Conversely, Vir goes from being the assistant Londo gets stuck with at the start of the show to Londo's reason to live (as evidenced in The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari in season 5).
2) Sydney Bristow and Marcus Dixon in Alias. It's that rarity, a strong m/f friendship without the slightest bit of UST, and thankfully the writers never were tempted to change that. (*glares in the direction of Joss & Co. for the disaster that was Angel/Cordelia which ruined another of my favourite friendships.*) Dixon and Sydney trust and respect each other; the plot-caused lie between them during the first one and a half seasons makes for a terrific resolution once Sydney decides to risk all on her knowledge of Dixon and tells him the truth. I always loved their scenes together, and frankly preferred Dixon as Sydney's partner during her missions to any other. (Well, okay, save Marshall, because that was made of win.)
3) Thelma and Louise in Thelma and Louise. There have been (not nearly enough) takes on f/f buddy movies and shows since, but none touched me as deeply. Everything comes together here; I love that Thelma and Louise are two adult women, not teenagers or in their early 20s but both well over 30, that while Thelma starts out as the vulnerable "girly" one and Louise as the calm sensible one they keep changing caretaker positions and are true equals in the end; I love that they're played by Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis at their best, that their friendship was written by a female scriptwriter, and oh, I love all the gorgeous images in this film. (Scott at his best.) Of all the many entries in the road movie genre, this is my favourite, and it is so because of the friendship between Thelma and Louise.
4) Mal and Zoe in Firefly. Nobody uses the word "Sir" as inventively as Zoe does. Whether she wants to point out to Mal he's being a crazy ass again or just tell him she has his back, the way she says "Sir" shows us and him exactly what she means. Mal and Zoe went to hell and came back together; they're comrades (and, like Sydney and Dixon, without the slightest sexual interest in each other), friends, and the way they're able to use emotional shorthands is never more heartbreakingly conveyed than near the end of the Big Damm Movie, when they talk about Serenity the ship; but what Mal is really asking about is Zoe, and she replies for both.
5) a) Hiro and Ando in Heroes. Their storyline through the first season is a road movie on its own, and an adorable one; and by the time the season ends, they have both become heroes in every sense of the word. There so many Hiro 'n Ando moments to choose from, but my favourite illustraton of this fact is perhaps Ando saving the day in Parasite and what it enables Hiro to do.
b) Hiro and Nathan in Heroes Four on screen encounters do probably not a friendship make, which is why I had to relegate this to an addendum, but in my heart of hearts, I must confess that the... whatever you want to call it... between Hiro Nakamura and Nathan Petrelli makes me even mushier than the one between Hiro and Ando. Because it was so unexpected, because they're such complete opposites in every sense and yet hit it off, because most people in the Heroes-verse bond via shared danger, but Nathan and Hiro after Hiro's initial approach due to the flying just do so because they like each other. Which is why this moment caused me more angst than most other things in the final eps and makes me hope fervently Hiro will find out that ( spoiler for end of s1 ) in s2.
1) Londo Mollari and Vir Cotto in Babylon 5. Oh, let me count the ways in which I adore this relationship. It makes me laugh, it makes me cry, it grows over the course from the series (as do the characters), and it illustrates beautifully one of the trickiest things about friendship, fictional o otherwise: loyalty doesn't have to be blind. Vir's unlimited affection for Londo never blinds him to what is glaringly wrong about the things Londo does, and during the period of Londo's fall, he never stops doing something about this. Conversely, Vir goes from being the assistant Londo gets stuck with at the start of the show to Londo's reason to live (as evidenced in The Very Long Night of Londo Mollari in season 5).
2) Sydney Bristow and Marcus Dixon in Alias. It's that rarity, a strong m/f friendship without the slightest bit of UST, and thankfully the writers never were tempted to change that. (*glares in the direction of Joss & Co. for the disaster that was Angel/Cordelia which ruined another of my favourite friendships.*) Dixon and Sydney trust and respect each other; the plot-caused lie between them during the first one and a half seasons makes for a terrific resolution once Sydney decides to risk all on her knowledge of Dixon and tells him the truth. I always loved their scenes together, and frankly preferred Dixon as Sydney's partner during her missions to any other. (Well, okay, save Marshall, because that was made of win.)
3) Thelma and Louise in Thelma and Louise. There have been (not nearly enough) takes on f/f buddy movies and shows since, but none touched me as deeply. Everything comes together here; I love that Thelma and Louise are two adult women, not teenagers or in their early 20s but both well over 30, that while Thelma starts out as the vulnerable "girly" one and Louise as the calm sensible one they keep changing caretaker positions and are true equals in the end; I love that they're played by Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis at their best, that their friendship was written by a female scriptwriter, and oh, I love all the gorgeous images in this film. (Scott at his best.) Of all the many entries in the road movie genre, this is my favourite, and it is so because of the friendship between Thelma and Louise.
4) Mal and Zoe in Firefly. Nobody uses the word "Sir" as inventively as Zoe does. Whether she wants to point out to Mal he's being a crazy ass again or just tell him she has his back, the way she says "Sir" shows us and him exactly what she means. Mal and Zoe went to hell and came back together; they're comrades (and, like Sydney and Dixon, without the slightest sexual interest in each other), friends, and the way they're able to use emotional shorthands is never more heartbreakingly conveyed than near the end of the Big Damm Movie, when they talk about Serenity the ship; but what Mal is really asking about is Zoe, and she replies for both.
5) a) Hiro and Ando in Heroes. Their storyline through the first season is a road movie on its own, and an adorable one; and by the time the season ends, they have both become heroes in every sense of the word. There so many Hiro 'n Ando moments to choose from, but my favourite illustraton of this fact is perhaps Ando saving the day in Parasite and what it enables Hiro to do.
b) Hiro and Nathan in Heroes Four on screen encounters do probably not a friendship make, which is why I had to relegate this to an addendum, but in my heart of hearts, I must confess that the... whatever you want to call it... between Hiro Nakamura and Nathan Petrelli makes me even mushier than the one between Hiro and Ando. Because it was so unexpected, because they're such complete opposites in every sense and yet hit it off, because most people in the Heroes-verse bond via shared danger, but Nathan and Hiro after Hiro's initial approach due to the flying just do so because they like each other. Which is why this moment caused me more angst than most other things in the final eps and makes me hope fervently Hiro will find out that ( spoiler for end of s1 ) in s2.
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