User blog:SpaceProtagonist/Pure Good Preposal: Homer Parrish (The Best Years of Our Lives)



Okay, this is my first true Prue Good Proposal, and I wanted to recommend a page that that I personally created:

Homer Parrish from The Best Years of Our Lives.

What's the work?
You guys probably have no idea who or what I'm talking about. Well I'll tell you. The Best Years of Our Lives is a film created during the aftermath of World War II. It's meant to cover certain real life issues that war veterans ended up suffering after the war. The film's centered around three war veterans. One of them was an Air Force pilot, one of them was a sergeant, and the other one was a sailor. (Homer's the sailor, by the way.) All three of the veterans ended up finding their lives permanently altered for the worst.

What's he done?
I figured I should propose Homer, because he was the nicest and most innocent of the trio. He used to be football champion during his time in high school, and ended up getting a crush on a girl named Wilma. However, during some unknown point in time, WWII ended up breaking out, and Homer was a sailor during that war. He got both his hands burnt off in a torpedo explosion, and was received a pair of hooks, for Homer to use in place of his hands.

Oh, and one thing I forgot to mention: Homer's very friendly and optimistic. Even when he lost his hands, he didn't freak out about it, and managed to look on the bright side. I've seen the film, and Homer very rarely loses his temper, and one the rare occasions when he does, he either has a good reason to do so, or he instantly regrets his actions.

When Homer officially got home from the war, he tried not to interact with his family and Wilma very much since he was nervous they wouldn't react very well to his disability. Although he still deeply loves Wilma and wants what's best for her. There was one scene involved Homer's younger sister Luella telling her friends about Homer's hands, and the group making fun of him. Homer got angry, and tried to break up their group. As soon as he did that however, he immediately realized he scared his younger sister and felt bad for doing so, so that doesn't really count as jerk moment, just self-defense and regret.

Plus there's another scene where a random customer sympathizes with the Nazis and ignores everything the Americans had lost during the war. Homer was not happy about the customer's attitude and stated that he would've done something bad to him if he had his hands. Again, this is self-defense and Homer had a very good reason to lose his temper there. He was present during the war, so he knows that the soldiers in the war where anything but worthless. His actions there were justified.

Also, during the final scene with him and Wilma. Homer heard about Wilma getting ready to leave, and as Wilma was helping Homer get ready for bed, he stated that he respected Wilma's feelings and that she could go away with her parents if she wanted to. Let me repeat that, Homer was willing to give up the girl of his dreams just like that, and didn't even care about being able to slip into and out of his clothing. If that does say pure-hearted, I don't know what does. Then there's also Wilma vowing to stay with Homer and help him overcome the obstacles and the two of them officially getting married afterwards. And I'm not talking about an unhealthy or abusive relationship; I mean a real, sincere and loving relationship.

Final Verdict
After watching the movie and talking about everything Homer as done, I personally think Homer is indeed Pure Good material.

Oh and one more thing... let's stop and give a moment to honor Harold Russell, Homer's actor and a real life WWII instructor who actually lost both his hand in real time. RIP Russell, you will be deeply missed.