Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel Character Review: Charles Gunn

*Warning: This post contains spoilers about the characters from the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. Read at your own risk if you have not watched one or both television series. In this series of character reviews, I will strictly be writing about the characters from the television series, not the 1992 film.

There is something to be said about a well written, human character. They leap off the page and speak to us as if they were right in front us, as flesh and blood human beings, instead of fictional creations.

In this series of weekly blog posts, I will examine character using the characters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel to explore how writers can create fully dimensional, human characters that audiences and readers can relate to.

Sometimes, a warrior does not come from a traditional background where they receive formal fight training. A warrior may learn to fight because he has to. On Angel, Charles Gunn (J. August Richards) fought because he had to. Born and raised in inner city Los Angeles, Gunn learned from an early age that it was up to him and those around him to protect the residents of his neighborhood. Especially when the vampires invaded.

Gunn meets Angel (David Boreanaz) when he tries to dust Angel, not knowing that Angel is not a baddie. It takes Gunn a little bit of time, but he soon joins Angel’s crew as a fully fledged member. When Cordelia (Charisma Carpenter) is sucked into the alternative world of Pylea, Gunn joins the boys in finding her and bringing her home.

When they return home, Gunn must face his past when his former gang is slaughtering demons for no reason. Knowing that he cannot go back, he finds the family he did not have before. He also finds love with Winifred “Fred” Burkle (Amy Acker). But that love is tested when Gunn kills the man that sent Fred to Pylea, where the Angel Investigations crew first met Fred.

The guilt of the murder leads Gunn to Wolfram and Heart, where he become a lawyer by the power of magic and takes over the L.A. office. Though Gunn has good intentions, you know what they say about those who have good intentions. In the end, Gunn dies fighting for what he believes in.

To sum it up: A warrior is someone who does what they need to do to protect their home and their loved ones. Though Gunn does not have the traditional background of a warrior, he is still a warrior in every sense of the word. He may not always make the wisest choices, but his heroism comes through in the end.

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RIP Peter Mayhew

I’ve stopped counting the number of movies that I’ve seen over the years. Most movies come and go, but there are only a small handful that I will go back to again and again.

The Star Wars films are among the films that I go back to. Tuesday, we lost Peter Mayhew, who brought Chewbacca to life.

Chewbacca was more than Han’s (Harrison Ford) co-pilot. He was the smart ass to Han’s arrogance and the muscle when brute strength was needed. He also had a heart of gold.

In recent years, Mayhew was experiencing health problems and had passed his iconic role to Joonas Suotamo.

May his memory be a blessing not just to the millions of Star Wars fans around the world, but to those who knew and loved him as a person.

RIP and may the force always be with him.

The War on Normal People: The Truth about America’s Disappearing Jobs and Why Universal Basic Income Is Our Future Book Review

Income inequality is a real and very problematic issue in our world. While some live in McMansions and spend their money like no one’s businesses, others can barely get by financially.

2020 Presidential candidate and businessman Andrew Yang wants to correct this issue. Using income inequality as the basis of his potential Presidential platform, he is proposing the idea of the UBI (Universal Basic Income) to the American voters.

In his 2018 book, The War on Normal People: The Truth about America’s Disappearing Jobs and Why Universal Basic Income Is Our Future, Mr. Yang explores how economic instability and income inequality is having a detrimental effect on this country. He describes how computers and automation have taken over certain industries and forced many into unemployment or underemployment. It was only a couple of generations ago that a job in a factory or a mine was all a family needed to land themselves in the middle class. Today, those jobs are gone, leading those communities down to a rabbit hole of addiction, crime, destruction and economic depression.

The UBI, as Mr. Yang describes it in the book, would alleviate many of those problems and correct the problems that are associated with income inequality.

I think that all Americans, regardless of where they stand on the political spectrum, need to read this book. This book, if nothing else, is an eye-opener to the reality of the America that we live in today and what needs to be done to fix it.

I recommend it.

 

Throwback Thursday-Parental Control (2006-2010)

There was a point in history when your parents had a say in whom you would marry. But times have changed. However, that does not mean that our parents don’t have an opinion about our love lives.

This is the premise of the MTV series, Parental Control (2006-2010). The parents of the subject of each episode are unhappy with their child’s current romantic partner. After going through a series of interviews, the parents select two of the interviewees to go on a date with their child. At the end of the episode, the subject of the episode chooses between their current partner or one of the dates that their parents selected.

Looking back, Parental Control was an interesting show. The concept of bringing the parents into the process of choosing their child’s romantic partner was certainly different among the reality dating shows that were part of MTV’s schedule at the time. But at the end of the day, it was just another reality dating show.

Do I recommend it? Maybe.