InsaneJournal

IBARW: Grab Your CoC meme - C. Fillmore
I've thought and thought about what CoC I'd write about, if I wrote about one. And at first I couldn't come up with any specific name. I love Teyla in SGA, and the chance to explore Athosian culture and the strength of her character and how she gets to be strong, warm and capable at the same time - but I don't faithfully and regularly watch SGA.

I thought about Worf from TNG and DS9. Sure he's a noble savage. But more than that to me, he was someone with his feet trapped in two different worlds, trying to find a balance. It appealed to me.

And his history - orphaned by war, to be found by loving humans, and to enter into Starfleet because Starfleet found and saved him when as a child he lay by the body of his dead mother under rubble. His is a wonderful journey of conflict and confusion and divided loyalties to becoming a Chancellor and adviser to the leader of his people.

The journey of 'the noble savage' where he only becomes more noble.

Maybe I will write about him one day. My Trek roots and love aren't as hidden or numb as I thought they were.

I'd thought also to write about Eureka's Allison Blake. Strong woman, strong single mother, intellectual and to the point without being a ball buster, motherly and caring without being locked into that role. Best of all she's central to the plot. You can't go a whole episode without seeing her somewhere and having her say something important or be important somehow.

But in the end, I decided on Fillmore.



Fillmore! was a Disney animated series. The concept was 70's cop show but at a school setting. The cops on the show were actually Safety Patrol students.

And Fillmore, the title character was, is, amazing. I really wish Disney would put this series out on DVD. Though maybe once I figure out torrents, I'll find it.

Cornelius Fillmore's the classic bad egg gone good. He was a bit of a ruffian before seventh grade. He stole (lunch money, scooters etc), he bullied, he did graffiti, he was on his way down a path to a possible bad end - and then the kid who'd become his first Safety Patrol partner gave him a chance; help him solve a case or spend the rest of his educational life at X Middle School in detention.

Cop shows are all over television. But they're usually not something children would be allowed to watch. Fillmore, the show, took care of all of that with setting and types of crime. No blood, minor violence and a chance to see students of colour do the right thing.

Best of all when it starts Fillmore's a good guy, one of the best the Safety Patrol has to offer - he uses his brain, he's determined and he's fair. The bits and pieces of his past come out slowly and end up showing how he developed his code of ethics which are a huge part of his character.

It's because he's fair and understanding that when another smart kid looks to be getting into mess - on her first day even - he gives her the same offer. It'd because he's fair he can sympathise with some of the kids he has to turn in and suggest things for them to do when they get out of detention.

Young black kid solving crime. Young black kid turned from a life on the wrong side to standing for justice and fairness and effort. Young black kid having to deal with his delinquent past making people not trust him, or having them ridicule him - but dealing with it smartly. A bunch of somewhat racist golfing club students who think 'once a bad kid always a bad kid' ? He beat them at golf - he beat them where it hurt. No violence, no thwarted frustrations.

His fingerprints found at a crime scene? He tells the truth and tries to help his partner clear his name.

And he wasn't just a caricature of a mini cop. There was more to Fillmore than just being on the safety patrol. He was a kid, he held the hoagie eating championship, liked crawfish and could out eat his family, got along with his mom and dad and did fairly well in school.

A cop's show with a black title character, who despite the laughs, is an intelligent hero.

How could he not be one of my absolute favourite Characters of Colour.

PS: And now I need to write a Fillmore/CSI crossover where Cornelius and Ingrid are all grown up and go visiting once budding forensic scientists Tehama.