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As I was saying on the second page,
the character Christopher Robin was more than just a childhood interest; he
was my childhood alter ego (more so in his Disney incarnation than in the original Milne/Shepard
incarnation on the left). I sensed that he and I were very much alike, and that the original boy behind the original Christopher
Robin and I were also very much alike. (In fact, I often felt that I
was Christopher
Robin in a sense -- Christopher Robin as he should have been.) As an adult, I encountered the
original autobiographical
trilogy of A.A. Milne's son, Christopher Milne, and learned just how accurate my perception was. (It was interesting
to learn -- for example -- that Christopher Milne, like myself, was largely Scottish by descent. There are many
more parallels between us, however.)
But more than that, Christopher Robin as a character was the inspiration for much of my own childhood role-playing.
That role-playing was rarely if ever in A.A. Milne's original
setting. Let me tell you where that led, if I may... |
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As a boy, I had one of the largest collections of plastic
play figurines I have ever seen in the hands of a child. Among them were several Poohs, Owl, Eeyore and my favorite,
Christopher Robin. My best friend Tim Meyers had Kanga, one or two more Poohs, and I think Rabbit as well. All
of these were obtained as "prizes" in a cereal that Nabisco used to make (with Pooh himself as its inspiration),
Nabisco Winnie-the-Pooh Great Honey Crunchers. Our role-playing was incredibly syncretic, mixing these characters and many others in a
complex science fiction/fantasy universe of our own creation. My adaptation of Christopher Robin played a major
role in this universe, proving to be a considerably tougher character than either A.A. Milne's or Disney's version
of the original (if no less helpful, sensitive and intelligent).
I imagine that many of you genuine Pooh fans are rolling your
eyes already. What A.A. and Christopher Milne, both pacifists to the core, would
think of the above (let alone of the following) is perhaps best left unimagined.
But bear with me (no pun intended)... |
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As I grew and changed, so did my fictional universe,
and my adaptation of Christopher Robin grew and changed with it. In fact, Christopher Robin opened the door in
high school to a creative collaboration. After telling a new friend, David Cunningham (you may
find him
professionally at DMC
Training), about my love of the character,
he told me, "Well, you look
like Christopher Robin." (At the moment, I did: blond hair, brown
eyes, skinny frame, shorts and all.) I then shyly told him about the
science-fiction universe that Tim and I had created. David, in
delighted astonishment (or was it astonished delight?), told me of
his own efforts in science fiction and fantasy -- and we spent the
rest of the night and many days and nights thereafter sharing ideas.
Without that feedback, I doubt if my ideas would have grown as far
as they did.
In due time, "Christopher Robin" was replaced
with "Chris Alan Ralston" (I always liked the name "Ralston", thanks to the company
Ralston Purina). Finally, after several mutations of
his name (and countless mutations of his speculative-fictional universe), I
ended up calling him "Chris Alan Starbright". He eventually inspired
one of my very best original songs -- the very song you could be listening to
right now as a
MIDI file (see the player at the bottom of the page).
British actor
Alex Pettyfer (above left,
playing the character Alex Rider) is a very good (though not perfect) model for Chris
Alan in his mid-teens. A better model is Alex Rider as he's drawn
(quasi-manga style) in the
graphic novel version of
Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker. (See also the
original novel.) In the graphic novel version, Alex is a more
sensitive-looking character, with softer facial lines -- very much like a more
grown-up version of Christopher Robin as conceived by Milne and Shepherd. (N.B.:
Chris Alan as I've conceived him has shorter hair than Alex Pettyfer, Alex Rider or even
Christopher Robin.) |
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Indeed, the graphic novel's vision of Alex Rider (left -- there are
even more telling renditions inside the book) is simply uncanny it its
physical and temperamental resemblance to my vision of Chris Alan.
(There had to be someone like Chris Alan out
there somewhere...even if he proved to be some things that
neither Christopher Robin Milne nor myself ever were.) Obviously,
author Anthony Horowitz and I (and the two manga artists who drew him in
the various graphic novels) are drawing upon the same Anglo-Saxon-Celtic and
British-schoolboy archetypes and reworking them in not-too-dissimilar ways. (The
fact that Mr. Horowitz came up with a character named Jack Starbright
first is pure coincidence...I get pre-empted by so many professional authors
that way.) But best of all are the renditions of Chris
Alan Starbright himself (in "apotheosis" as the all-powerful Hooded Man) by
graphic artist and medieval fantasy writer Veronica Medina. Two of her
renditions of the character are
here and
here (see also below). |
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If Chris Alan (by whatever last name)
has shared many traits with
Christopher Robin, it's partly because I deliberately
made him "Christopher Robin grown up", yet also
"Christopher Robin as he should have been". You may have noticed that
Chris Alan is named after Christopher
Robin Milne and his father Alan Alexander Milne,
intending to evoke some of the strengths and sensitivities of both. And in that
light, it's interesting that only now (in February 2010) do I understand why I
did this. While A.A. Milne was a probable
INTP (the inference
here that he was an
INFP
notwithstanding), his son Christopher Milne was a
probable INFP.
A.A. Milne's role as a "good parent" was expressed through his ability to
explore a multitude of possibilities and to make interconnections between ideas
and concepts. On the other hand, by his own admission A.A. lacked the
sentimentality about children (or anything else) that characterizes the
INFP, one
of the indicators that he was actually
INTP.
Here A.A.'s observations about childhood and adult life apparently have been mistaken for his
actual experiences of childhood and adult life. (It is most revealing that in adult life, A.A.
and Christopher Milne were both dedicated pacifists - but for completely
different reasons: A.A. because war is irrationally cruel, Christopher because war is
heartlessly cruel.) Whereas Christopher, though an INFP, role-played
with his toy animals in loco parentis (in the role of a parent) rather
like an ENFJ
- effectively drawing upon his subconscious mind, as I often drew upon my
own when role-playing as Chris Alan.
By contrast, both Chris Alan and I are of the
ENFP
personality type, which
(according to Dr. David Kiersey) is a "Tribesman" to INTPs, a "Pal" to INFPs,
a "Complement" to ENFJs and a "Contrast"
to INFJs. So while I have much in common with both Milnes and with Christopher
Robin as well, I'm different from any of them - and so is Chris Alan. But Chris
Alan did not always draw upon my conscious mind (ENFP),
but often upon my unconscious mind (quasi-INFJ) - and
for much of my life. I confused the
characteristics of the two. (To make matters worse, due to my suppression of
values-based decisions and their associated emotions, I consistently "tested
out" as an
INTJ.) I owe my present ability to distinguish such niceties thanks very heavily to personality type counseling by Vicky Jo
Varner (see also here)
and to workbooks by her fellow teachers at Dr. Linda Berens'
Interstrength Associates.
Beginning in the summer of 2008, I began exploring Chris Alan's
personality, character and background in earnest on my page on
Triond.com,
and very recently on my blogs
The Portal of
Light and The Portal
of Light: Potential Realities. Many of the original stories have been taken down from Triond, and
what is found on all of these sites is not intended for young children, but neither does it
glorify evil for its own sake - no more than did A.A. Milne's writings for any
audience whatever. This is meant not just to honor the Milnes, but to honor the
God they did not honor.
Inevitably, Chris Alan changes as I change in my real-life
aspirations and concerns. At the moment he's quite the striking immortal
warrior, as based on a combination of an
Alex Rider action figure and a sword
and scabbard from a
Vandal Savage action figure (see also
here and
here). Like the Milnes, he is a true
pacifist: he seeks either to avoid war, or to end war as soon
as possible if war is unavoidable. And in that above all else, Chris Alan is
truly "Christopher Robin grown up".
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"HEY, CHRISTOPHER ALAN" BY JOHN WHEELER
(יוחנן רכב) |
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Updated July 23, 2010
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