David Jason & Monty Python: Part 1

What I'm Reading Wednesday

I purchased the DVD for the TV series "Do Not Adjust Your Set" because it featured several of the actors who would go on to star in "Monty Python."  An added bonus was realizing that David Jason was in the show.  I've been a fan of his ever since watching "Open All Hours," the four seasons of which I saw on PBS over ten years ago.  I had subsequently seen him in the detective series "A Touch of Frost," but that was a dark and serious show, nothing like his character of Granville in "Open All Hours."  So it was fun to watch him hamming it up with Michael Palin, Terry Jones, and Eric Idle, in their late 1960s pre-Python sketch comedy series.  He seemed to interact so naturally with the others, that I just figured he must have been one of the young, rising stars of comedy on English TV.  But in life, things are often more complicated than they appear.

At a mall in Brighton, England, I found My Life, David Jason's autobiography.  In it, he reveals that he was born during World War II, and was too young to be evacuated from the suburbs of London.  Or perhaps I should say the poor housing districts, as his mother worked as a domestic servant, and his father as a fishmonger.  Neither parent seems to have worked hard to inspire David, and perhaps his teachers thought he showed little promise as well.  In either case, he left school at fifteen, and took a series of jobs, eventually learning the electrician's trade.

But before he left school, one person made an impact on his life.  He was the principle, who evidently needed someone to fill the lead role in a school play, and commandeered him for the job.  To his surprise, David Jason found he enjoyed acting, and others, including the leader of an amateur dramatics society, agreed that he had talent.  David wasn't sure about continuing to act beyond that first play, but when he realized that the number of girls in the amateur dramatics group far outnumbered the boys, he decided to give it a go.

The acting bug stuck with him, but his parents refused to subsidize him to attend an acting school, even when he was accepted, and others believed he showed promise.  This wasn't because they didn't love him, as David Jason points out.  It was just that their eldest son, who had served in World War II, had joined the acting profession after his army service, and they thought that one son who was perennially seeking a new job was enough.  Given his less-than-stirling academic career, they wanted something safe and secure for their younger son.  Let him learn a trade, they thought.  Something with security and a future.

So David Jason relied on his training as an electrician to get by while getting bit parts as an actor.  Usually these were roles that demanded a great deal of physical comedy.  As he developed a reputation for this, he was able to wean himself away from doing electrical work, until he acted full time.  One year he was able to buy his first car, a tiny English Mini, for personal use.  He got a job that summer at the Pier Theatre in Bournemouth.  And one night, a TV producer traveled down to see him perform.  He had heard of David Jason's panache for physical comedy, and after watching him that night, offered him a role in his new show "Do Not Adjust Your Set."  That series would take the nation by storm, and become the top-rated children's show in England.  

Unlike his pre-Python costars, David Jason didn't attend Oxford or Cambridge.  He didn't have any connections among the movers-and-shakers in the English TV industry of that time.  Instead, he earned his way onto "Do Not Adjust Your Set" through years of hard work and practice, practice, practice.  Still, he made it there, because he loved acting, and he persevered with what he loved doing.  

That's what matters.

Dragon Dave

Brian Michael Bendis & Spider-Man

The “Castle” Season Three DVD set includes a twenty-minute extra called “Murder They Wrote.”  This roundtable discussion features Andrew Marlowe (who created the TV show), Rob Bowman (who alongside Marlowe, serves as Executive Producer), Michael Connelly (Best-selling mystery writer who has appeared on the show), Nathan Fillion (who plays writer Richard Castle on the show), and Brian Michael Bendis, a comic book writer and artist.  What is Bendis’ connection to “Castle,” you ask?  Well, along with Kelly Sue DeConnick, Lan Medina, and Tom Raney, he created “Richard Castle’s Deadly Storm,” a graphic novel based on the novel written by the fictional Richard Castle.

From Richard Castle's descriptions, I imagined Derek Storm as your typical private investigator.  Bendis envisioned him as a more exciting character, akin to James Bond.  He regarded “Deadly Storm” as a unique challenge: to adapt a novel that doesn’t exist, written by an author who doesn’t exist, and featuring a character that…well, you get the idea. 

"So Michael, tell us about yourself," Nathan asks.

What interested me more was how Bendis became a comic book author and artist.  When he was a child, his mother bought him comic books to read.  By age six, he had decided that he wanted to create his own comic books.  He particularly wanted to write stories about Spider-Man, his favorite superhero.  That dream guided him throughout his life, until he finally ended up at Marvel Comics, where for the past dozen years he’s been creating his own comic books about his favorite characters, including Spider-Man.

"I'm proud to say that I'm a comic book writer,
and I love Spider-Man."

Brian Michael Bendis is a prolific comic book writer and artist.  His numerous awards attest to the quality of his work.  But how did he get there?  He trusted his own judgment, even at the tender age of six.  He never listened to the naysayers who suggested a more reasonable or respectable career.  He never gave in to the fear of failure, or the allure of an easier, more achievable future. He knew what he wanted to do with his life, and worked hard to acquire the skills and abilities to fulfill his dreams.  

He didn't start off as a superhero, but he became one.  Just like his beloved Spider-Man.

Dragon Dave

Related Internet Links

Brian Michael Bendis’ Wikipedia page

Jinxworld: Bendis’ official website

Bren Cameron: The Ultimate Underdog

One of the most popular character types in fiction is that of the underdog.  We feel for Harry Potter, for example, because he is an orphan, and his aunt and uncle treat him so poorly.  Harry, to a certain extent, is a modern, male version of Cinderella, who was mistreated by her stepmother and stepsisters, and like Harry, needs magic to elevate her status in life.  In Science Fiction, the name Ender Wiggin stands out.  In Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card, Ender is a young boy who eventually saves Earth from a powerful alien species through his training, fortitude, and intelligence.  To this list I would add one more: Bren Cameron in C. J. Cherryh’s novel Foreigner.

After writing yesterday’s blog, I realized that I really hadn’t told you much about the novel, aside from that one moment, near the end of the book, in which Bren’s worldview is suddenly transformed, and he must prove his worth.  For those of you who follow my blog, but will not read every book I recommend, that may be enough for you.  But I felt I simply had to tell you more about Bren’s journey, because of all our favorite fictional characters, underdogs are often the ones we identify with the most.  Consequently, their portraits of courage, determination, and endurance help sustain us during the difficult phases of our lives.

Unlike Harry Potter, Cinderella, or Ender Wiggin, Bren Cameron is a grown man.  He has worked hard to achieve his status in life.  He alone, on this world of the Atevi, has been allowed to leave the island where the rest of humanity is consigned to live.  He works as an advisor to an important Atevi player in world politics, and acts as an ambassador for all his fellow humans.  He sees himself as having acted properly in every respect during his years of service, and as having served as a positive force for both races.  So when he awakens one night to find an Atevi breaking into his house, he is shaken out of his comfort zone.  

He debates whether he could call and alert his fellow humans on their island, but his Atevi security force and household staff assure him he has nothing further to fear.  Compounding his dilemma is that he defended himself with a gun that, according to Atevi/human agreements, he is not supposed to possess.  Soon afterward, Bren is summoned to his Atevi boss, the Aiji, who sends him to hide out in his aunt's castle.

As a former political player, the Aiji’s aunt has argued against the current state of Atevi/human relations.  Bren wonders if he can trust her when he shares a cup of tea with her and nearly dies.  After he is nursed back to health, he is nearly assassinated again by another Atevi assassin.  Bren lives from day to day in a constant state of worry, plagued by more questions than answers.  Who among his staff (and the aunt’s) can he trust?  Can he even trust the Aiji anymore?  He is cut off from everything he has formerly depended on, including any source of news.  

Compounding his anxiety is the Atevi psychology.  They view life as a complex web of allegiances, and follow orders out of loyalty to their superiors, seemingly without regard to whether or not they personally like an individual.  In fact, there is no Atevi name for liking a person.  Every time Bren tries to convince someone that he likes them, that he regards them as a friend, the Atevi walks away from the encounter wondering why Bren has just equated them with his taste in salads. 

As much as he has studied them, and as long as he has lived among them, Bren will never truly understand the Atevi.  It doesn’t help that they are taller and stronger than him: even with his skill in martial arts, he is no match for them physically.  And, as the incident with the tea showed, much of the native plant life is hostile to humans, making him utterly reliant upon their good graces for his survival.

When events arouse widespread hostility against humans, not only Bren’s life is threatened, but that of every human on the planet.  I don’t wish to ruin the story for you, but I’ll leave you with this.  Unlike Harry Potter and Cinderella, Bren has no magic to aid him.  Unlike Ender Wiggin, he possesses no superior mental skills.  He alone, through hard work and great effort, may be able to save the current situation and preserve Atevi/human relations.  But to do that, first he must survive overwhelming odds on a hostile planet peopled by giants.  

For me, this makes Bren Cameron the ultimate fictional underdog.  Of all the literary examples mentioned, his profile of courage, determination, and endurance will sustain me through the trials that lay in my future.  If my recommendation of him consequently comes to your aid during your own dark days, I will have considered writing this blog post well worth the time and effort expended.

With warmest regards,

Dragon Dave

P.S.  Who are your favorite fictional underdogs?  I'd love to hear about them, and about how they've helped you through your own times of trial, if you'd like to share your opinions and experiences with me.