Gr8at: Back to School Blogathon

There really are some fantastically original blogathons out there. One that really caught my attention was by the awesome blogger Dell on Movies. He runs a great site and regularly comes up with some really fantastic ideas. His latest one is the challenge of picking eight distinctive film characters to match specific roles within a school setting. I couldn’t say no.

PRINCIPAL

Ed Rooney – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. 

Anyone who believes in Saturday detentions would definitely be a strong entry to control such an erratic class. But tempting as it is to include Dick Vernon from The Breakfast Club, it would be funnier to watch the bitterly officious Ed Rooney struggle within the ensuing chaos.

TEACHER

Shuya Nanahara – Battle Royale

Wow, things would certainly be interesting if Shuya Nanahara were in charge. Creating a game that ensures all students must kill each until only one contestant is left alive would certainly be something you wouldn’t find on the curriculum.

STAR STUDENT

Stanley Spector – Magnolia

The youngest on here, but by some distance the smartest. There may be no TV quiz show for him to dazzle on, but there’s nothing education-related he wouldn’t know. Just make sure you give the poor lad a break every now and then.

 SCHOOL BULLY

Biff Tannen – Back to the Future I and II

Plenty of sinister options for this one, but the unintentionally hilarious catchphrases of Biff would allow plenty of wisecracks for anyone brave enough to take him on.

POPULAR GIRL

Ashley Grant – Whatever it Takes

Well we need someone who the male students would all obsess over and girls are desperate to emulate. Ashley certainly fits that description. She’s so vain and in demand that the only real hope an admirer has is to invent insults over her appearance.

INVISIBLE GIRL

Ally Sheedy – The Breakfast Club

She may be known as the “basket case”, but really she keeps such a low profile she could be known as the girl no one notices. If she felt lonely, the quietly-spoken and low-key Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite could keep her company. Maybe even bake her a cake too.

CLASS CLOWN

Fred and George Weasley – The Harry Potter series

Okay, so technically Fred and George count as two, but as they’re identical and keen on a practical joke, they’d naturally use it for comic effect.

TROUBLED YOUTH

Donnie Darko – Donnie Darko

The tortured Jim Stark from Rebel without a Cause and investigative loner Brendan Frye from Brick were tempting, but the brooding and withdrawn Donnie Darko wins this category. Anyone who sees visions of a monstrous rabbit predicting the end of the world definitely counts as “troubled”.

If you like the idea, you’ll find other examples here.