I’d like to direct your attention today to a number of fictional characters. For your convenience to make this easier I’ve compiled said characters into what’s commonly known as a ‘list’. Here is said list:
Sherlock Holmes
Hamlet
Dr Gregory House
Hank Moody
A short list, but an intriguing and most well-constructed one nevertheless.
My subject today is that of self-destructive characters, of which the four aforementioned are indeed. Very much so.
Take the first. Dr Holmes, a character – indeed, the titular character – of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s series of stories containing and detailing his exploits. Holmes is a brilliant and unequalled detective. His friend and colleague, Dr Watson, as well as the authorities, are generally at a loss to explain his spectacular expertise and knack for deducing the undeducible. Holmes is amazing, there can be no doubt whatsoever. But he is also terribly flawed. He is messy, neurotic, has fits of rage and snappiness. He is also addicted to heroin and cocaine. Perhaps the greatest screen adaptation of the character I’ve seen was that of Rupert Everett, who, despite being part of a terrible contemporarily-written Holmes tale, played the character perfectly.
The second self-destructive personality I’ve included is perhaps the greatest known in the entire canon of British literature – Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, from Shakespeare’s thus-titled play. ‘Hamlet’ is arguably Shakespeare’s greatest work, and as a character study is a piece unrivalled. This is bemusing and surprising considering Shakespeare was not unlike any other screenwriter today – writing for the masses, trying to make a buck here and there. However, his creation of the character Hamlet was nothing short of genius. Hamlet, a Danish high-flyer, and heir apparent to the throne when his father, the king, dies, his dreams are shattered when, no sooner has the King hit the deck than his mother is in bed with his uncle, Claudius, who therefore assumes the monarchy. Hamlet is naturally quite perturbed by all of this, and his perturberance is intensified when his ex-king father appears to him as an apparition and tells him that he was topped by Claudius. Oh dear. But anyway. The story is told with such depth, and Hamlet’s transformation – from normal everyday human being to lunatic (faux or for real is one of the biggest questions in literary discussion) to the greatest procrasinator the world has ever known – is amazing to behold.
Third on the list is a modern Sherlock Holmes. A brilliant doctor who is, like Holmes, drug-addled and a general pain in the ass to be around. I speak of the incomparable Dr Gregory House. Played with a comedic timing only the British can achieve, Hugh Laurie’s misanthropic medical detective cracks the cases no one else can, in a way only he could. Bedside manner is cast aside, an obstacle to brilliance, and Dr House is a thorn in the side of his team and his superiors. But the fact of the matter is that he saves lives. In early season three, which I’m just consuming as we speak, House regains the functions of his leg, and is able to run and gym and skateboard and do things he hasn’t done for years. His misanthropy is also affected, and, much to the shock of his colleagues, he’s nice to people. He also drops the painkillers. This is an interesting twist to the plot, as the people around him have no idea how to react. Used to being ribbed, jibed, poked, prodded and insulted by a dry-witted genius, they’re not quite sure how to take the new and improved House. Makes one wonder how people would have interpreted Hamlet had he refrained from killing his uncle and led a life of decency and honour – accepting his place on the throne when it was rightfully his.
The final character I wish to analyse is that of Hank Moody, from the TV series Californication. Hank is a loose cannon, a wild duck, and any other metaphor for destructive personality you can muster. He’s a pain in the ass to everyone around him. He’s drunk 20 of 24 hours in the day, he uses drugs semi-regularly, and his sexual misadventures are the stuff of myth. His partner Karen took their daughter away and is now with another man, whom Hank generally despises. Therefore you could say he has all the perfect material to write his next bestseller. But because of his lifestyle, he has chronic writers’ block. And the one good thing he does finish is stolen by the daughter of his partner’s new fiance, who is about to release it in her own name. But despite all this, Hank, somewhere deep down, is a decent human being. He loves his daughter more than anything else in the world, and wants another chance with Karen. I think all Hank wants is acceptance. He finds it in a glass of scotch or in the arms of a willing woman – something or someone that can’t argue with, despise or despair of him.
So with the exception of Hamlet, we have three self-destructive personalities who do what they do for the right reasons. Sherlock Holmes seeks to bring justice to evildoers and closure to the families they’ve harmed; Dr House wants to save lives; Moody wants to get back on his feet so he can win back his family.
I guess there’s a correlation between having noble intentions and having completely antithetical lifestyles; i.e. lifestyles that are the complete opposite to the ideal for your goals in life. I’ve got an idea festering for just such a character, hence I felt the need for this rumination.
Best get going on it then.
Until next time…
