A Champion for the Supporting Character
As a child, whenever I would play with my brother, it was unspoken but understood what role I would play in games that mandated famous pairs. If we played Batman, I was Robyn. If we played the Lone Ranger, I was Tonto. I was always Dr. Watson to his Sherlock Homes. Around Halloween, he was Frankenstein's monster and I was the inferior threat, the mummy. And of course, he was Starsky, always at the wheel of the red Torino, and I, the more contemplative Hutch
The only time I ever seemed to have the upper hand was when we played Speed Racer. Despite a lessor role, Racer X was infinitely cooler than the wimpy Speed Racer. Whenever we would be at the height of play and the action was furious, I would coolly state, "wait Speed, it's too dangerous, I'll do it" and without waiting for a response heroically race forward in my number 9 car to duel the bad guys. Racer X was the coolest supporting character ever created.
I was pretty excited when I learned there is going to be a Speed Racer movie. I expect it to be somewhat campy but ultimately very cool. I just hope they don't screw up the Racer X character.
There was a Speed Racer movie display in Shiodome this past weekend. The Mach 5 was on display. This is a cool car for any age.
