In
every single book, movie, or play I have ever seen or read, there is always a
sidekick to the main character. Always. And usually the sidekick is the one
that takes the fall for the main character. I can think of countless examples
where this is true. For example, in The
Lizzie McGuire Movie (based on the popular Disney Channel series), Lizzie
and her best friend Gordo go to Italy on a school trip. In short, Lizzie befriends
an Italian pop star and has to sneak out to see him, but Gordo takes the blame
and tells their teacher that he's been the one sneaking out instead of Lizzie
and gets sent home early. He actually winds up not going home but the whole
point of the story is that sometimes the sidekick best friend should actually
be considered the hero instead of the protagonist.
Another
example: in the movie Sky High,
teenagers with super powers go to a special high school and on the first day
they are put into two classifications. And of course, those classifications are
"Hero" and "Sidekick" Towards the end of the movie when the
bad guys take over, the Sidekicks (technically known as "Hero
Support"), not the Heroes, are the ones that defeat the bad guys.
What
a surprise. The sidekicks saved the day. Again. Am I wrong to assume that there
is a pattern that is happening? I don't think so. If you think about it, this
pattern occurs in real life, too. In chapter ten of How To Read Literature
Like A Professor, Thomas C. Foster writes that the sidekick is usually the
one to put him/herself on the line to help their friend/leader/etc. I believe
that they do this due to an assumed foundation of mutual loyalty, trust, and
respect.
This
is true in the friendship setting as well. In almost every friend group, there
is the leader, the second in command, and the followers. In the group, there is
usually a follower (probably towards the bottom of the food chain) that will do
anything for their leader. After they do something they think the leader will
appreciate but get no reward for it, they discover that it wasn't actually a
mutual friendship. Then, after the inevitable consequences that are sure to
come up, the follower realizes that they don't actually need a leader and
decide to go off on their own and be independent.
The
fictional version is probably worse than the real life situation since in the
made-up one, the sidekick often dies (which I guess could also happen in real
life...) or is seriously injured, like Rue and Peeta in The Hunger Games,
for example. But why does it have to be like that? I would love to see a plot
like Sky High where the sidekicks
save the day. I'm sure that people who have actually experienced being the one
in the shadow would like it too because it would give everyone else the chance
to see what they go through. Either way, it would be nice to see a little more
equality in storylines or at least a little more appreciation for the best
friend/sidekick characters.
