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Post by StarOpal on Jun 12, 2008 9:26:32 GMT -5
So last night my mind was wandering, as is its wont, and I ended up with this:
Why is the only pet a hero can have is a dog?
A heroine or child heroes can have all kinds of pets, sidekicks and secondaries can have all kinds of pets, but men can't. No rabbits, reptiles, cats, etc.
Wait that's not right, only villainous men can have something other than a dog (though they can have those too, don't seem fair). James Bond villains alone could fill a zoo AND an aquarium.
So, thoughts? Is it the whole 'A man's best friend is his dog' thing? Is there a hero I'm totally blanking out on?
(And Vito Corleone's cat don't count 1: secondary character 2: he orders a hit on a horse!)
EDIT: Horses! Okay, and they can have horses.
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Post by Hucklebubba on Jun 12, 2008 15:24:32 GMT -5
It's because only dogs can transform into hoverboards and jetpacks and the like.
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Post by TheLuckyOne on Jun 12, 2008 15:41:52 GMT -5
I think it's because dogs have a reputation (deserved or otherwise, I'm not getting into that battle) as true and loyal companions who will brave any danger to help their masters. Whereas cats have a reputation for being haughty, disdainful, and not giving a crap whether you live or die as long as the food keeps coming.
As Principal Skinner rightly observed to Milhouse, we are judged by the company we keep. More specifically, in movies a pet is an unspoken clue to audiences about what kind of person the owner is. Ergo, if you want your hero (male or female) to seem like a strong, powerful, capable individual who can lead others, you give him or her a dog to back their plays. If your main character is kind of nerdy, socially awkward, and lets people walk all over them - or is evil, haughty, and disdainful - they get a cat. QED.
-D
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Post by Hucklebubba on Jun 12, 2008 16:52:11 GMT -5
I believe it was Dave Barry who said, "Cats make ideal pets, in that they hate all human beings." I think it's because dogs have a reputation (deserved or otherwise, I'm not getting into that battle) as true and loyal companions who will brave any danger to help their masters. No. . .I'm pretty sure it's the hoverboards and jetpacks thing. |
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Post by drew on Jun 12, 2008 17:32:43 GMT -5
Rocky Balboa had turtles... though I suppose Butkus the Dog was his "main" pet.
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Post by StarOpal on Jun 12, 2008 19:44:19 GMT -5
Ernest had turtles in Ernest Goes to Camp. ("I'm scared, Sarge!" "We're all scared, son.")
Oh, and this isn't a cat vs. dogs thing. Why not a tarantula? Or iguana?
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Post by Hucklebubba on Jun 13, 2008 14:22:02 GMT -5
Shipwreck had a parrot.
Now, you could argue that he's a secondary character, and therefore irrelevant to the discussion, but he was part of the elite inner circle of Joes you were likely to see in almost every episode.
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Post by BlackCatWhiteCat on Jun 14, 2008 0:49:40 GMT -5
I think it's because dogs have a reputation (deserved or otherwise, I'm not getting into that battle) as true and loyal companions who will brave any danger to help their masters. Whereas cats have a reputation for being haughty, disdainful, and not giving a crap whether you live or die as long as the food keeps coming. As Principal Skinner rightly observed to Milhouse, we are judged by the company we keep. More specifically, in movies a pet is an unspoken clue to audiences about what kind of person the owner is. Ergo, if you want your hero (male or female) to seem like a strong, powerful, capable individual who can lead others, you give him or her a dog to back their plays. If your main character is kind of nerdy, socially awkward, and lets people walk all over them - or is evil, haughty, and disdainful - they get a cat. QED. -D *raises her hand as the nerdy, socially awkward one who lets people walk all over her* Soft kitty, warm kitty, little ball of fur....... |
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Post by DocD83 on Jun 14, 2008 17:07:29 GMT -5
If you want to count TV and be a tad flexible on "hero," Picard had a fish (or at least the interior designer put a fish there--Picard never seemed to pay any attention to it, did he?), and both Data and that guy from Sliders had a cat.
Personally I'd think a hero is more of a "strong, powerful, capable individual who can lead others" if he had the stones to get a cat even in the face of the ribbing he'd get from other fictional heroes.
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Post by TheLuckyOne on Jun 14, 2008 17:51:15 GMT -5
Depends on the type of hero you want, though. I don't know Star Trek, but from what I hear, Picard was more of the quiet, intellectual, thinking man's captain... hence, fish. Bombastic, man of action, violate-the-Prime-Directive-again?!? Captain Kirk? Total dog person. Han Solo, Indiana Jones, Jack Bauer, James Bond, Hellboy- they all had dogs, whether you ever saw them on screen or not. Auguste Dupin, the Sandman, Hermione? Definite cat people.
-D
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Post by Head Mutant on Jun 15, 2008 7:51:14 GMT -5
As Ken Davis said:
"Dogs, you feed them, you pet them, you take care of them... they look at you and say, 'You must be God!' Cats? You feed them, you pet them, you take care of them... they look at you and say, 'I must be God!"
You can't have a pet that overshadows the hero. Although there have been heroes with pets other than just cats/dogs -- snakes, owls, wolves, etc.
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Post by sarahbot on Jun 16, 2008 17:50:38 GMT -5
My cynical, keeper-of-two-cats answer: dogs do a lot more than cats. They trot alongside their master through the wreckage of Manhattan, drag small children out of burning buildings, catch rabies, defend and growl convincingly, carry small kegs around their necks through the Alps, are reincarnated versions of the dead protagonist in a weird fad of terrible 90s movies, etc.
Horses can be ridden or led, or they might spook and dump the rider, or trample Mufasa (those were sort of horses, right?).
When was the last time a cat did something important plot-wise? (Don't say Meet the Parents. I'm just about manage to erase that film from my memory.)
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Post by StarOpal on Jun 16, 2008 18:31:07 GMT -5
The Mummy and Cat's Eye.
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Post by TheOogieBoogieMan on Jun 16, 2008 18:37:31 GMT -5
Men in Black.  EDIT: Originally I was going to mention the classic Bette Midler movie Hocus Pocus, but the cat is actually a cursed dude in that one. Alas, it looks like I'm mentioning it anyway... |
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Post by PoolMan on Jun 17, 2008 10:41:21 GMT -5
classic Bette Midler movie What a... curious phrase. |
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"If I'm going to be desensitized into a mindless stock animal, I may as well do it with a cushy ergonomic seat and magnificent THX-certified sound. -Kevin Murphy
