Childhood Dreams

This is, I suppose, a bit of a companion piece to my previous post - Role Models. With a little dash of Historical Hotcakes. Recently I've been on a whole go-back-to-the-beginning kick by revisiting all my old favorite books and movies (I'll try to skirt around going back to my old nerd-child habits), and on the way I've been able to revisit all my old cinematic (and literary) childhood crushes. Was there anything more fun than pining after a fictional character when you were wee? My adolescent self didn't think so, and while it may have affected my current standards (fictional men make for very unsatisfying boyfriends - but we'll delve into that psychological quagmire...never), it is providing us now with an exhaustive list of boys I once imagined holding hands with, or exploring gloomy moors with, or fighting off evil royal henchmen with! Well, here goes:

Dickon Sowerby - The Secret Garden

Don't worry girl, I'm just calling some birds.
[source]

Oh, Dickon. Sweet, gentle, nature-loving Dickon. Giggle-inducing name aside, I loved Dickon ever so. He appealed to the romantic in me by being British and nice, and to the shallow brat in me by having an awesome white pony. I would have done anything for a boy with a pony in my youth, just like some women my age now would do anything for a man with a nice car (I still prefer ponies to cars, by the by). I was even blissfully unaware of the bird flu, so I wouldn't have even minded his little crow companion - in fact I would have welcomed it. But no, that skank Mary Lennox had to get my man in the end. Some girls have all the luck. Post Script: I also just realized that the same actor that played Dickon in the 1993 movie (aka a masterpiece of cinema and that's not sarcasm) was also Joe Green in the 1994 Black Beauty. Do I need to reassert my love of ponies or will that do?

Theodore "Laurie" Laurence - Little Women

Inspired by the power of reading, Laurie turned into Batman
[source]

The second literary character to make this list (what a shock.), Laurie was the wealthy yet affable neighbor of the March girls. He had the outstanding good taste to fall in love with Jo (my girl), and I have to say - Jo, you might have missed the boat on this one. He was smart, and fun and the only reason you didn't want to marry him was because you saw him as your brother? Ok, valid reason. But, the fact that Laurie eventually ended up with Amy might be the source of my bitterness towards blondes...

Benny "The Jet" Rodriguez - The Sandlot

Look at that form. No wonder he [SPOILER ALERT] made it to the majors
[source]

Not sure I really need to back this one up. Benny The Jet might be perceived as "the jock" of the group, but in reality he was just a kid who loved his friends. And baseball. And PF Flyers. Benny had the gorgeous eyes of a sensitive poet-type, the patience and kindness of a saint, the sprinting ability of a young Jesse Owens, and the leadership of Winston Churchill. That totally makes for a heartthrob in my book.

Westley / The Dread Pirate Roberts - The Princess Bride

Men of unusual attractiveness? I don't think they exist.
[source]

Westley had steel enough to beat a Spaniard in a fair swordfight, brawn enough to beat a Giant in a bare knuckle brawl, and brains enough to outwit a Sicilian (when death was on the line!). He traversed the world for love and literally came back from the dead to be with his Buttercup -who, by the way, treated him like poo for the better portion of their relationship (self-esteem issues much, young farmboy?). So, even at the tender, impressionable age of however-old-I-was-when-I-first-saw-this-movie, I knew that any guy who always answered with "as you wish" was a keeper, even if he did dabble in piracy now and again.

Any incarnation of Harrison Ford

What do you think would happen if they fought each other... other than the universe imploding, I mean.
[source]

Ok, ok, ok. I know. "Harrison Ford" doesn't really constitute a character (doesn't he, though?) and he also was and is wildly age inappropriate for me, but c'mon! Indiana Jones and Han Solo? It was almost more than my young mind could handle. On the one hand we have Indy - the somehow always covered in dust, bookish yet adventurous and morally upright Nazi-puncher. On the other hand we have Han - the sharp tongued, stuck up, scruffy-looking nerf herder who, while mercenary and dashing, was also an adventurous and morally upright...space-Nazi-puncher. Dream man.



Who were the characters you used to swoon over?