If I was technologically advanced enough to make a Venn diagram, I would.
Posted by robyngiannini on January 30th, 2007
Just imagine two circles, the circles of a Venn diagram. The Samurai from Yojimbo would be one circle, and Ned Beaumont would be the other circle. The overlapping circle, naturally, would be their similarities. In the Samurai’s circle, it would say “Japanese.” In Ned’s circle, it would say “American.” And that would be the only things written there, because besides the fact that Ned is American and the Samurai is Japanese–they are the same person. The overlapping part of the Venn diagram would be completely filled; with the following points:
- both gamblers
- both inherently alone in the world
- caught between two opposing sides of a conflict
- working in a city that is strange to them
- wanted by both sides of the conflict
- offerered money and incentives for their services to each side
- deal with a beautiful woman who is likewise caught between the opposing sides
- always inherently smarter than everyone else–both always know what’s going on
- cocky and confident
- both captured by one side of the conflict and tortured by some big dude for information
And I could go on for awhile. Okay; maybe I’m exaggerating a little–there are a couple other differences between Ned and the Samurai besides their ethnicity. But not many.