Judgmentfish Posted January 16, 2016 Report Share Posted January 16, 2016 Last night, in the middle of said night, for no reason I can no remember, I was thinking about Rydell and it occurred to me he may have a little of the psycho in him. Not pathological, but in the way that his "simply going for it" often involves violence. I want to see if anyone else feels this way. In the course of The Bridge Trilogy, he does the following: -Shoots Turvey in the head after Turvey fires a single-shot weapon. -Kills one of the mercs firing on Fontaine's pawn shop. OK, these are both explicable but.... -He threatens the cable store proto-hipster by sticking a tool up his nose for no better reason than Rydell is just in a shitty mood. -He threatens to feed Lowell to the cops who, he says will grease his sorry ass. So, a death threat. -He goes through firearms training FATSS with a shit-eating grin. Gibson does remark this isn't 'cause Rydell is crazy, though. -He drives Gunhead through the gate and over all the furniture when he "goes for it." Not, I'm guessing, SOP. So, yeah, he's not Molly-level violent, but he does seem to lean toward "violence of action" like Burton and his boys. Thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heavyboots Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 I always thought of Rydell as tragically flawed, in that he actually still cares in a world where being cynical and jaded are survival traits. The majority of the instances mentioned above are situations Rydell ends up in by giving a shit when it's not his turn (to paraphrase from The Wire). Given a chance to protect other people or deal justice on people hurting others, he won't hesitate in the slightest to do it. Even when he knows it will probably get him fired again, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judgmentfish Posted January 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 I agree, but the way he reacts leans toward the violent. He cares and that drives him to get stabby in, as you say, a world where survival traits are selfish. He's probably one of the best, in terms of being a good human, characters that Gibson created. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psychophant Posted January 18, 2016 Report Share Posted January 18, 2016 Maybe it is the view from the other side of the Atlantic, but for me Gibson was painting a portrait of the kind of good but with a violent streak guys that in the past did well in law enforcement, but are not suitable for the image conscious law enforcement of the future. Talking about the present using the future, as usual. And I agree, a more interesting character by his flaws rather than his strengths. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.