What does it mean to be “woke?” Being woke involves a number of things. Firstly, to be woke, one has to acknowledge what is wrong with the world, no matter what people say. Face the facts sheeple, there is a lot wrong with the world and not everyone has the guts to stand up for what is right. To be woke is to have a certain level of intelligence to surround yourself with uplifting art, like J. Cole’s music and the movie “Fight Club.” Here are the top seven most woke characters in film.
- Tom Hansen (“500 Days of Summer”)
The friendzone. Everyone knows it. When your feelings of attraction are unreciprocated and your heart shatters into a million and one pieces. In “500 Days of Summer,” Tom (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) goes through an emotional rollercoaster of a relationship that leaves him heartbroken as the girl of his dreams (the ever-so-quirky Zooey Deschanel as Summer) turns out to be a normal human being with thoughts and feelings of her own.
- Pat (“Green Room”)
The late Anton Yelchin starred in one of the greatest horror-thrillers to come out in 2016, “Green Room,” and in the movie he kicks Nazi ass. Kind of. To some extent. At least he fights them. In any case, if that’s not woke, I don’t know what is. Actions speak louder than words and Pat definitely showcases his anti-racist feelings toward the white supremacist baddies that want him dead.
- Morpheus (“The Matrix”)
Morpheus practically invented wokeness in 1999 when he offered Neo the chance to take the red pill or the blue pill. Reality sucks and Morpheus was brave and woke enough to escape the Matrix and fight the robot army. Kudos to Morpheus for he also introduced to the world the concept that the truth is often hard to swallow but it sure beats the heck out of living a lie.
- Tyler Durden (“Fight Club”)
Anyone who has seen “Fight Club” knows the first rule, but we’re breaking that to talk about this incredibly woke character played by Brad Pitt. Corporate America is analyzed and ripped to shreds in David Fincher’s underrated masterpiece and Durden is perfect for those messages.
- Rod (“Birdemic: Shock and Terror”)
Hitchcock would be proud of director James Nguyen and actor Alan Bagh because the character Bagh portrays in “Birdemic: Shock and Terror” is woke. His observations on the effects humans have on the environment are profound as fuck. Critics bag on his performance but they are missing the point that he is bad on purpose to illustrate that human beings are bad for polluting the earth.
- The Joker (“The Dark Knight”)
Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures
Why so serious? That’s something The Jokester says in “The Dark Knight,” and although it doesn’t sound that deep or woke, it really is. Joker is the perfect villain because he is so crazy and represents pure chaos. But the thing is, he knows that. He poses a threat to the status quo by merely existing and committing the crimes he commits. The late Heath Ledger gave the performance of his career as this evil clown whose villainy was calculated and symbolic.
- Veronica Sawyer (“Heathers”)
Courtesy of New Word Pictures
Winona Ryder’s portrayal of a troubled high schooler excels on multiple fronts. Navigating her way from the top to the bottom of Westerberg High School’s hierarchy, Veronica Sawyer’s meditations on hegemonic structures, paired with her understated boy problems, earn her a spot as one of the most socially conscious characters in film.
