“I knew It! I’m surrounded by assholes!” Wise words indeed as Gunner’s Mate, First Class Phillip J. Asshole (Recently promoted by his cousin Major Asshole) confirms Dark Helmet’s deepest fears in that classic piece of modern cinema, Spaceballs. But the asshole isn’t just a comedy device by any means.
Think of any movie -which character really stays with you? The Hero? Nah, too goody-goody. Sure some are memorable, but it’s mainly when they behave like pricks, throwing people off buildings and slapping them around in the name of justice that we really like them. How about the villain? Yeah yeah, Darth was imposing enough, and The Terminator is a stone cold killer, but did they bring anything new to the table? The one thing guaranteed to elevate these two dimensional stereotypes above the pack is the pithy one-liner, the sneering self confidence to do what the other guy won’t, and to hell with what anyone thinks.
In short, being a dick.
In art, as in life, behaving like a real shit rules rules, which is why STS decided to weed out the greatest gits in cinematic history and leave their cheese out in the wind (tm Mr. Rooney -Ferris Bueller’s day off). Yep, it’s Six of The Best: Movie Assholes!
