Shall I Compare Thee to a Renegade Computer Expert?
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| Title: | Shall I Compare Thee to a Renegade Computer Expert? |
| Creator: | Pat Nussman |
| Date(s): | May 1997 |
| Medium: | |
| Fandom: | Blake's 7 |
| Topic: | |
| External Links: | |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Shall I Compare Thee to a Renegade Computer Expert? is a 1997 Blake's 7 essay by Pat Nussman.
It was printed in Avon Club Newsletter #67.
The topic is the similarities between Kerr Avon and the character Curt Holland in Barbara Paul's mystery novels.
For more on this topic, see Blake's 7 Avatars in Pro Books.
Nine Topics
Nussman studies compares nine topics from the show and the books.
1. Looks 2. Voice 3. Attitudes 4. Names 5. Skills 6. Mysterious Pasts 7. Unwanted Companions 8. Reactions/Reflexes 9. "The shoot-out at Gauda Prime... er, Bleeker Street"
From the Essay
A year or so back, a friend of mine and fellow Blake's 7/Avon fanatic sent me a copy of a book called "You Have the Right to Remain Silent" by mystery writer Barbara Paul and told me, "I think there's a character in here with certain similarities to Avon, but the author denies it. Tell me what you think."
Since I'd seen Barbara's name on Genie (an American online service) -- and knew she subscribed to one of the Blake's 7 Internet lists I also followed - but hadn't yet read any of her books, this seemed like a good time to check one out and form an opinion about this intriguing possibility. After reading it, I told Sarah, rather dryly, "yes, there are certain...parallels between the characters." To put it mildly! Following up YHTRTRS with "The Apostrophe Thief" didn't change my mind, and when "Fare Play" came out a few months after I'd read the first two, one reference literally had me rolling around laughing, it seemed so directly connected to Avon.
About this time, I started the "Curt Holland a.k.a. Kerr Avon" topic on Genie to discuss the similarities, and Barbara challenged me to detail the parallels, to convince her that the two men were related. So I put together a little list to allow us to count the ways....
Looks. This is an obvious one, but perhaps one of the hardest to pin down, since it's difficult to be specific enough using the written word to fit just one person. Our first description of Holland is on page 69 of the paperback version of YHTRTRS, saying he has black hair and eyes and strong features, with deep shadows under his eyes and scowl lines around his mouth. "Even in repose his expression was one of...arrogance? Resentment? Arrogant resentment?"
Okay, in Blake's 7, Avon has brown hair and eyes, but practically everyone, including myself, "sees" them as black. Amateur fiction dealing with Avon (known as fan fiction or just fanfic) generally describes him that way. Shadows under the eyes? Yes, I'm looking at quite a nice piece of art of Avon as I type. Definitely shadows there. Arrogant resentment? Avon has cornered the market.
The page 115 description is even more suggestive. "Black hair, black eyes that bored into you like drills, downturned mouth, condescending air. He was all dressed in black, as he'd been the first time she’d seen him..." Avon's intense eyes drilling into his uncomfortable crewmates are a staple of fan fiction, for good reason. Actor Paul Darrow is exceedingly good at using his expressive eyes for effect. The condescending air? One episode of B7 would be sufficient to convince you of that similarity. Black? Avon wears practically nothing else in the third and fourth seasons of B7... it's his trademark outfit.
In a way, though, a casual physical reference in TAT is even more striking to Avon-fans who are putting the eye on Holland. On page 32, Kelly says, "No, some years back he'd have been pretty. Now he's good-looking." Avon, in the first and second seasons of B7, is almost pretty, but by fourth season the character has had a hard life and is good-looking in a rougher, more "used" way. One B7 fan has referred to this as "his slightly shop-worn charms." This obviously puts Holland in fourth season or post-series B7 at the time of this reference and (as we'll see later), post-series is the correct time period for yet another reason.
Names. Kerr Avon's first name (seldom used in the series) has two pronunciations, "Cur" and e", and the former pronunciation, gee, looks and sounds a lot like Curt, doesn't it? The last name has bits of interest, too. Like Avon, Holland is a two-syllable name with a hard, somewhat sharp sound to it, both last names are place names. Barbara has insisted that the first name, at least, is pure coincidence has produced the original first name to prove it, and naturally I take her word for it! But it makes an interesting parallel now.
Skills. Identical, as far as I can see. Both are computer experts, both have hacking experience more on that in the next category). The interesting thing to me is that Barbara put Holland's computer s to much better use in the very first book than the B7 writers managed for Avon in four years worth of
interesting secondary skill of Holland's is the ability to get past security systems and pick locks, both of :h Avon does on occasion. Though, of course, in B7, the thief character of Vila Restal gets most of that (n. I'm wondering if there was a "Vila" in Holland's past who taught him the ropes.
Mysterious pasts. Holland's crime (page 127, YHTRTRS), which forced him to join the FBI resulted in him being stuck with Page, was hacking into banking accounts. Avon's crime, which got him transported aboard a prison ship and resulted in him being stuck with Blake, was to try to hack the Fedration Banking System. You know, this just seems really similar to me! I can only speak for myself, of course, but when I hit page 127, I started laughing uncontrollably. I thought Holland sounded like Avon [unclear word] that point, but page 127....well, let's just say I had a very vivid mental picture of Holland after that point. There was just no doubt left in my mind.
The shoot-out at Gauda Prime er, Bleeker Street. In the last episode of B7, called "Blake", Avon believes his former friend and leader, Blake, had betrayed him and gut-shoots him in a dramatic final scene. In the climatic scene of YHTRTRS, Holland knows Page has not only betrayed him, but plans to kill him, and blows his head off. The drama has a very similar feel.
Holland, of course, does not stand over Page's body and he's surrounded by the FBI, though you might say that a version of that happens when Starbuck threatens him. Holland gets away from his version of the Feds because Marian is there to take the rap. Lucky Holland.
That just about wraps up the case for Holland a.k.a. Avon. The verdict? Well, if they’re not precisely the same person. I'd say they're first cousins, at the very least. And, when you see things this way, it makes for some very amusing reading. The section of Fare Play, for example, that had me laughing was on page 85 of the hardcover version, where Holland tells Marian," You betrayed me." The questions of trust and betrayal loom large in B7 and the final shoot-out is precipitated by Avon asking Blake, "Is it true? Have you betrayed me?" So "betrayal" is a word any B7 fan will connect with the series and particularly Avon.
Fortunately, Marian essentially said, "don't be ridiculous" on the same page of FP as the question, so both of them will, hopefully, be around for some time to come.