Five Friday Favorites – Best Friends Edition

This week’s Five Friday Favorites takes on a different spin…

Today, I would like to introduce you to the five fictional characters I would most like to have as friends.

Tony Stark/Iron Man and/or Bruce Wayne/Batman.  OK, OK, I know that’s two…but I honestly could not choose between them.  Why these two guys?  Well, for starters, everyone should have a Super Hero for a best friend.  I love these guys for a few reasons.  First, they are ridiculously intelligent.  For me, that is a huge factor.  (It’s pretty much the reason why I married my Fab Hub.)  Next, they have really cool stuff: gadgets, gizmos, cutting-edge technology, and incredible transportation options.  And as an added bonus, these dudes always happen to have plenty of spending money on hand so they probably won’t mind picking up the coffee run once in a while.  Coffee with friends is important.

Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter.  Before you click away with a groan about how it was the most torturous required reading you ever suffered in high school, hear me out.  Yes, Hester was a sinner and we all know how extremely popular that was in Puritan New England.  But this woman was strong.  She stood her ground through all of her suffering and she never faltered in her loyalty to her lover, even if he was a simpering coward who could not man up enough to take his share of the blame by her side.  Perhaps ol’ Arthur did not deserve her steadfast love, but that’s just the thing – she never worried about that.  She made her choices for herself, no one else.  In addition, Hester managed to pull off a successful life as a single mother long before that term was even coined.  And perhaps most of all, she took her punishment with strength and courage.  She stayed in the place where terrible hypocrites passed judgment on her and accepted their unreasonable terms.  She could have taken her child and headed for any other place, but she faced the consequences of her actions, learned from them, and grew tremendously as a woman and as a human being.  You go, girl.

Jay Gatsby from The Great Gatsby.  Jay Gatsby is a stinker. His entire life is an absolute fabrication.  From that perspective, one might wonder why on earth he would be my choice for a friend.  What I admire about Jay Gatsby – indeed what makes him “great” – is his vast capacity for dreaming.  Granted, his dreams are based on anything but substance and in the end, he loses everything.  But at no point in the novel does Jay Gatsby lose sight of his dreams, no matter how impossible they may seem.  Someone like him would be great to have around for those times when all seems futile.

Chandler Bing from Friends.  Come on, the guy is just plain old funny.  Everybody needs that one friend who is guaranteed to make you laugh until you either can’t breathe or have to pee your pants, no matter how miserable you feel.  Chandler is also fascinating because no one – including him – has any clue what he does for a living.  An enigmatic friend is very dramatic.

Winnie the Pooh.  I really and truly love Pooh – always have.  Pooh is loyal and loving.  He sees the beauty in the world around him and busts out a happy little “tiddley-pom” whenever the mood strikes him without hesitation or fear.  Pooh appreciates the simplicity of the world around him and allows himself to just be.  And Pooh is simple in every sense of the word.  He is not the brightest of bears, but he is profoundly uncomplicated.  Pooh reminds himself to think.  Not only should we stop to think more often, but perhaps we should also remind ourselves to do so when necessary.  Pooh has this wonderful gift of self-awareness that allows him to recognize when he needs to police himself.  And you have to love a friend who can always be convinced to join you in a snack.

May your life be blessed with such friends as these.

Who would your fictional friend choices be?  Put ‘em in the comments!

Happy weekend, everyone.  And happy autumn!

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