Mt. Rushmore of Morgan Freeman Characters

Morgan Freeman Week Continues With a Blogathon!

M. Brown at Two Dollar Cinema came up with a cool idea for a blogathon, come up with your own Mt. Rushmore. Sounds simple enough, but I'll let him explain in his own words.

To participate, simply choose the top 4 of anything cinematic and explain why it should be carved into the side of a mountain forever. Remember these are real people carved into imaginary rock - so choose wisely! - m. brown

Choose wisely, hmmm...

I wracked my brain trying to figure out what to do. Finally, I remembered I'm in the middle of Morgan Freeman Week. Who deserves to be on Mt. Rushmore more than Morgan Freeman? The man has played dozens of characters. Below are the four that I carve into the side of a mountain in heartbeat. And you know what? I'd even go so far as to carve an inscription beneath each one.

Ellis Boyd "Red" Redding

(The Shawshank Redemption)

Simply put, this is the most iconic role Freeman has ever played. Twenty years since its release, it's still the one most associated with him. And we're definitely carving the hat.

Red's Inscribed Quote: I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up DOES rejoice.

Det. William Somerset

(Se7en)

Has there ever been a more brilliant detective in cinematic history? Maybe...MAYBE two. Sherlock Holmes being one, the other is one will actually be on the mountain with Somerset. How smart is he? Be honest with yourself. If you had never seen Se7en and were assigned to investigate the same murders he did, how long would it be before you went and read Dante's Inferno in search of clues?

Somerset's Inscribed Quote: Ernest Hemingway once wrote, "The world is a fine place and worth fighting for." I agree with the second part.

Alex Cross

(Kiss the Girls/Along Came a Spider)

This is that other brilliant detective. My biggest reason for including him is that he is something Freeman rarely gets to be, the protagonist. Why there weren't a whole slew of Alex Cross movies with him in the lead, I'll never know. Another reason for his inclusion? He played the role far better than Tyler Perry. Zing!

Cross' Inscribed Quote: You're born with a gift. If not that, then you get good at something along the way. And what you're good at, you don't take for granted. You don't betray it.

Sgt. Maj. John Rawlins

(Glory)

For the last spot, I actually wanted one of his more recent roles and was leaning heavily toward Lucius Fox. As much as I love Batman flicks, I had to go with the more "important" role. For me, there's really no more important character on Freeman's resume than John Rawlins, a black man who joined the Union Army to fight for his own emancipation during the Civil War. Yup, this hat goes on the mountain, too.

Rawlins' Inscribed Quote: So that if tomorrow is the great getting-up morning, if that tomorrow we have to meet the Judgement Day, O Heavenly Father, we want you to let our folks know that we died facing the enemy! We want 'em to know that we went down standing up! Amongst those that are fighting against our oppression, we want 'em to know, Heavenly Father, that we died for freedom!


There you have it. Feel free to do your own Mt. Rushmore, or criticize mine. If you decide to participate, head over to Two Dollar Cinema and leave link to your post. Then again, even if you don't head over there anyway, it's a very funny blog.

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