On Saturday I went to see Mirror Mirror, one of the Snow White films that is out this year. As the masquerade ball was about to start, Prince Charming appeared dressed for the ball in an outfit that had bunny ears, prompting a conversation about Tricksters between him and the Wicked Queen. It started me wondering about Tricksters in films and on TV, not just in fairytales but other films too. I’m starting a list for the website if anyone wants to contribute to it.
My first suggestions for the list are:
- White Collar is one of those enjoyable good guy trickster tv series where a consummate con artist teams up with the FBI, sort of a scam baiting role.
- Hustle is another tv series about a group of grifters, con artists pulling off stings against other dishonest people.
Which leads me back to The A-Team which was all about helping the innocent while on the run.
And of course, The Sting for those of us who remember the 70s and that piano music.
These are all pretty much about Good Guys and benign Tricksters who help out the innocent and upstanding or get revenge by hoisting the malignant Trickster with his own petard.
Then there is The Last Seduction, a 1994 Film Noir where the main character is more self-serving sociopath thanTrickster. I am still not sure what the moral lesson is in the narrative.
I will add to this list as suggestions are sent in and I think of more.
The Mask with Jim Carey
‘Catch me if you can’ was fabulous.
A true story about Frank Abagnale Jr. who, before his 19th birthday, successfully conned millions of dollars worth of checks as a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor.
A fine trickster.
‘The yes men fix the world’ a perfect modern day trickster tale…