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 The
American Film Institute's (AFI) sixth polling, 100
Heroes and Villains, again celebrated American cinema, and revealed
America’s 100 greatest good and bad guys/gals (50 of each), as chosen
by voters - a jury of 1,500 directors, actors, screenwriters, critics,
historians and others. The list of 400
nominated films was made available before the final voting.
The results (see below) were unveiled in a three-hour
television special broadcast by CBS in June 2003. [Compare to the list
of The Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) that had previously
polled their own membership of Internet-based cinema journalists for
the
top 100 greatest screen villains of all time.] The AFI left
the judgment calls to jurors about the categorization of virtuous heroes
and wicked villains, advising them only to not vote for a character
as both.
The basis for AFI's selected heroes/villains, either
fact-based or fantastically-fictional, was according to the following
criteria:
- Hero - Sometimes mythic figures, sometimes
ordinary people who prevail in extreme circumstances, heroes dramatize
a sense of morality, courage and purpose often lacking in our everyday
world. Heroes do what is good, just and right; and even though they
may be ambiguous or flawed characters, they often sacrifice themselves
to show humanity at its best and most humane. For voting purposes,
AFI defined a "hero" as a single character, a duo or a team
of characters.
- Villain - Characters that movie goers love
to hate - and hate to love. Villains are characters whose wickedness
of mind, selfishness of character and will to power are sometimes
masked by beauty and nobility. Others rage unmasked. Daring the worst
to gain the most, the movie villains we remember best can be horrifically
evil, merely sleazy or grandiosely funny, but are usually complex,
moving and tragic. For voting purposes, AFI defined a "villain"
as a single character, a duo or a team of characters.
- Cultural Impact - Characters that have made
a mark on American society in matters of style and substance.
- Legacy - Characters that elicit strong reactions
across time, enriching America's film heritage and inspiring artists
and audiences today.
- Feature Length Feature Films - Only feature-length
American films released before January 1, 2002 were considered. AFI
defined a feature-length film as a motion picture of narrative format
that is typically over 60 minutes in length. AFI defined an American
film as an English language film with significant creative and/or
financial production elements from the United States.
A Few Facts About the Selections:
- Both #1 choices for 'Hero and Villain', Gregory Peck
for
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962),
and Anthony Hopkins for The Silence of the
Lambs (1991), won the Best Actor Academy Award for their roles.
- Except for #10 hero T.E. Lawrence in
Lawrence of Arabia (1962),
all the other heroes in the top 10 were fictional. All of the top
10 villains were fictional (some were even storybook characters).
[Also, 'Satan' in Regan MacNeil (#9) in The
Exorcist (1973) was something of a 'no-show' character.]
- Among the top 10 heroes, there were three that appeared
in the first installment of a franchised series: #2 Indiana
Jones (Harrison Ford) in Raiders of the Lost
Ark (1981), #3 James Bond (Sean Connery) in Dr.
No (1962), and #7 Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) in Rocky
(1976). Another who appeared in the 2nd installment
of a series was top 10 hero: #8 Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) in
Aliens (1986).
- Among the top 10 villains, #2 Norman Bates in
Psycho (1960)
appeared in three films in the Psycho series, and #3 Darth
Vader (David Prowse/James Earl Jones) appeared in the 2nd installment
of the trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back (1980).
- Only 7/8 out of the top 50 heroes were women: #6
Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs
(1991), #8 Ellen Ripley in Aliens (1986), #15 Norma
Rae in Norma Rae (1979), #24 Thelma & Louise in Thelma
& Louise (1991), #31 Erin Brockovich in Erin Brockovich
(2000), #33 Marge Gunderson in Fargo (1996),
and #47 Karen Silkwood in Silkwood (1983). In contrast, 15
of the top 50 villains were females.
- There were only three non-white, male heroes or villains
in the top 50 lists: #19 Hero Virgil Tibbs (Sidney Poitier) in In
the Heat of the Night (1967), #21 Hero Mahatma Gandhi (Ben
Kingsley) in Gandhi (1982), and #50 Villain Alonzo Harris (Denzel
Washington) in Training Day (2001). There were no non-white
females in either top 50 list.
- Animals, special effects creations,
and inanimate objects also made the top 50 lists:
Heroes: #39 Lassie in Lassie (1943)
Villains: #13 HAL 9000 Computer in
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968),
#14 Alien in Alien (1979), #18 the
Shark in
Jaws (1975),
#20 "Man" in Bambi (1942), #22 T-1000
(Robert Patrick) in Terminator
2: Judgment Day (1991), and #27
Martians in The War of the Worlds (1953)
Note: The films that are marked with a yellow
star
are the films that "The Greatest Films" site has selected as the 100
Greatest Films.
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