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Date Posted: 00:59:39 10/01/01 Mon
Author: Cece
Subject: Hey Bud people. I posted this at Maeve's a week or so ago after many of you replied to my questions about Bud. I know you didn't all get to see my reversal of my Bud position and thought it might be appropriate to repost it here.

Do you mind another thread about Bud? He makes a change from our hapless lovers, Cutie and Doofus and their SOs Miffed and Hollydolly. -- Cece (almost, but not quite a closet member of the BLA), 08:53:27 09/21/01 Fri (NoHost/24.69.255.202)
Yesterday, in the throws of a number 5 migraine, I asked you all to explain what made Bud interesting enough to excite particular fervour. I said I just didn't get it, and I was genuinely puzzled. After reading all your responses, and inserting my own thoughts into the mix, I realised that what I had wrong was the question itself.

Almost without exception, you each said that you liked Bud because he was an admirable man, a "normal" human being with a kind heart and an endearing manner. And that is where I was entirely wrong. It doesn't matter one bit if a character is not over the top fascinating. The fact that the character (in this case Bud) gives so much pleasure, and adds to the warmth of human interaction, makes him crucial to the balance of the show. He is the sidekick but also the mirror of conscience, the yardstick by which to measure the life that other characters ultimately aspire to. The general contententment of the mature and responsible adult.

I was wrong to try to separate Bud the character from PL the actor. The actors, all of them, lend their bodies to their characters, and through their protean abilities, make the characters individuals who can not be played by just any other good actor. (Yes Michelle, you were right again.) The fact that so many of us confuse Mic and Renee with the actors who play them is a mark of their good acting. They deliberately use the gestures and expressions that make Mic and Renee much less appealing than TG and CA actually are in RL. They lend their bodies to be used for slicked down hair, or overly made up faces. We aren't supposed to like them that much, and the actors use these subtle (and not so subtle) signs to indicate that.

So too with PL and Bud. Without PL there is no Bud, just as with DJE there is no gorgeous doofus. As the Irish poet, W.B. Yeats says:
O chestnut-tree, great-rooted blossomer, / Are you the leaf, the blossom or the bole? / O body swayed to music, O brightening glance, / How can we know the dancer from the dance?

I said this below but you may have missed it. I was insensitive when I mentioned Bud being upset over the death of his baby. The scene was searingly painful and PL played the emotion very well. I always thought so, but my point about it making him an interesting character was lost, as it should have been.

So thank you for your answers. I have always liked Bud, but now I will look at him in an entirely different light.

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Replies:

Gosh I wish I could organize my thoughts enough to write like this. Sigh. Great post, Cece. They always are. (NT) -- Luoodles has the distinct feeling she is the firefly in a room full of lightbulbs. Oh well. Hmmm... let me pull out my smart word... CeCe, this was very "perspicacious" of you. I DID IT LIVIA!!!!!! Ummmmm... did I spell it right? LOL!, 09:08:36 09/21/01 Fri
firefly in a room full of lightbulbs???? Hmmm...how come YOU get to be a living organism...and WE end up being inanimate objects???? Besides...I think the following analogy is MUCH more colourful...you're the lava-lamp in a room full of "normal" (though we have reason to believe that several are cracked) lightbulbs...LOL! (NT) -- Canrane -- btw, nice post Cece...welcome to the BLA! (if you want to join, that is!), 15:29:14 09/21/01 Fri
Or maybe a night light in a room full of floods? Something like that. As for Cece's post, don't you just love it? All that great writing skill bestowed upon us and applied to Mr. Everyman, Bud Roberts! But just so you know, Our Cece is working on her Doctorate in Theater, so she has to practice somewhere! Doesn't she sound like a Doctor? Too bad it's not the kind that can help Harm with his hypothermia! LOL! (NT) -- Heather (luv ya CC!), 19:05:40 09/22/01 Sat
That's a great post, why is not this post the 10000th? And Cece, just feel free to tell Katherine - when she comes back - you want to join the BLA. Come over to the white side of the Forse (NT) -- Brigitte, proud member of the BLA, 10:26:27 09/21/01 Fri
Cece-You forgot those incredible blue eyes! And yes, Lu, I wish i could be as coherent as many on this borad, or as warm & funny & inventive as you are! You guys are amazing! (NT) -- Frances, the shy and retiring one(in the corner w/ either AJ or Bud or Gunny, depending on the time of month!LOL, 21:37:59 09/21/01 Fri
CORRECTION! Throes not throws! And "without DJE" not "with DJE." (NT) -- Cece...constantly having to follow myself around making corrections. Sheesh., 10:59:07 09/23/01 Sun

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Replies:

[> Did YOU make all of those replies part of the post or did someone misuse HTML? -- JAGfan1, 18:42:56 10/04/01 Thu


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[> [> JAGfan, I just cut and pasted the whole post, with the replies. The first post where I asked what people saw interesting in Bud, had many responses mostly from Bud lovers. They were so good, they prompted me to reverse my position as you can see. That is what I love about discussion. You can always learn something if you keep an open mind. -- Cece, 15:50:07 10/09/01 Tue


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[> [> [> Oh I see. -- JAGfan1, 15:27:32 10/19/01 Fri


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