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Craig White's Literature Courses
Inter-racial Buddy Teams |
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"Buddy Teams" of mismatched but cooperative male protagonists go back in European literature at least as far as Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, who are both Spaniards but are distinguished by class status—Quixote a nobleman and Sancho his squire.
In stories of the New World / Western Hemisphere, the differences b/w the buddies shift to race or ethnicity. Same-sex professional racial mixing avoids conflicts re inter-racial sex and offspring.
Classic Literature:
Adventures of Robinson Crusoe: Crusoe & Friday
The Last of the Mohicans / The Leather-Stocking Tales: Hawkeye & Chingachgook
Moby Dick: Ishmael & Queequeg
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn: Huck and Jim
Pop culture:
Lone Ranger & Tonto
48 Hrs. (1982): Jack & Reggie (Nick Nolte & Eddie Murphy): prototype of Buddy Cop Movies
Lethal Weapon (1987 + sequels): Riggs & Murtaugh (Mel Gibson & Danny Glover)
Rush Hour (1998): Lee & Carter (Jackie Chan & Chris Tucker)
Suggestions?
