If you could be a character from a book or film, who would you be? Why?

This a challenging question. Would I want to be male or female? A hero or a villain? A monster or a victim?

I love Jodie Foster and her character in “The Brave One” was both tough and vulnerable; a little crazy, but understandably so. Erica Bain has to confront her fear after her fiancé is killed. In facing her fears she becomes a vigilante, intent on revenge. While her actions make her as lawless as the thugs who changed her life in an unprovoked attack, it’s difficult not to cheer for her.

Another character played by Jodie Foster is Clarice Starling in “The Silence of the Lambs”. Starling is also one of the primary characters in the book of the same name. While Starling had the strength displayed by ‘the brave one’, she applies the strength in tracking down killers. She confronts serial killer Hannibal Lecter with an underlying fear, but the determination to get inside his head. She needs Lecter’s unique insight to find murderer Buffalo Bill.

While there are many characters I admire or identify with, Sherlock Holmes, Mr. Spock, Scarlett O’Hara, and Atticus Finch, they all carry the capacity to step above the fray and succeed at whatever goal they set for themselves.