Sandy Supposes....

AM I 'RELATED' TO MR. BEAN?

         PROMPT: Has a character in a movie you've seen ever been related to a character in a story or any other kind of writing you've done?

         The simple answer to this is no. I've never thought to include a known movie character in any of my writing. That would be an intrusion. The movie characters are not mine to manipulate, micro-manage, mutilate, minimize, or magnify. There are no Harry Potters, Batmen, Spidermen, X-Men, Minions, dinosaurs, or sundry others in my writing.

         My characters are usually actual friends and family. If I create a character 'it' is based upon the quirks and actions of many; it's a composite. Sometimes, I view a movie and think, hey, I know someone similar to him/her. This doesn't seem to happen when I'm enjoying an action movie; hmm, I wonder why?

         Much of my musings have originated from very real events in my life; accidents, weddings, funerals, vacations, and holidays. I suppose there are comedies that feature these same minutiae of life. The movie, Mr. Bean's Holiday chronicles the silly things that can go sideways during a travelling vacation. Early in his adventure, Mr. Bean loses his passport and money. Much of the ensuing humour is derived from his efforts to find transportation and food. At one point, he is desperate enough to try and steal an electric bike/scooter from a man who'd been courteous enough to stop and give Mr. Bean a lift. With two men on it, the scooter barely wobbled down the road. It's quite funny when Mr. Bean attempts to speed off in this sputtering contraption alone, and its owner stalks him on foot, easily keeping abreast of the would-be thief. In another scene, the stranded Mr. Bean is attempting to hitch hike, and for what appears to be hours, there is absolutely no traffic. In time he is uncomfortable, and torn between taking the time to relieve himself or ignoring his distress and soldiering on. Finally, his bladder is insistent, and he ducks into a roadside outhouse. While he's answering his call of nature, he hears several vehicles drive by. Does this not happen to all of us? We delay something until it cannot be ignored because we don't want to chance missing something else, and when we finally relent and let our guard down, bam, the thing we thought we needed passes us by.

         I've detailed vacation woes in my writing. I've written about challenging choices I've made and their unfortunate consequences. Am I 'related' to Mr. Bean?