In my previous life as an ineffectual middle-management suckup, I often said that I modeled my management style on an agglomeration of Darth Vader, Dr. Percival Cox and Optimus Prime: Believe everyone has good in them, drive them to be better with the power of snark and force-choke the occasional person, for emphasis. It was relatively successful (though to be honest, I never followed through on the force-choking part) and reminded me that the examples of a pop-culture idol can be a valuable part of our lives. Han Solo taught me to play it cool, even if your ride is irretrievably janky; Chuck Taine taught me you don’t have to be the most valuable player in the game to matter; Jennifer Walters taught me that a positive attitude can turn even being a giant green rage monster into a win. Perhaps the most important lesson, though, came from Willy Wonka as interpreted by Gene Wilder, who embodied the lesson that you can be successful even if you’re utterly weird, which leads us to today’s inspirational query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) would probably have issues with all the chocolate, but there are worse burdens to bear, asking: What fictional character would you deem your pop-culture idol and why?
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Otto from Repo Man. Living in a world that seems increasingly generic but finding his place in a gang of misfits and blowing off in a cool car. And stuff.