When I first started watching Miami Vice - over six months ago now - it was with Starsky and Hutch in mind. See, I'm a huge fan of Starsky and Hutch, and so I thought, "Miami Vice, a show about a pair of cops in the 80's? It's basically 80's Starsky and Hutch, right? That's right up my alley!"
So here's the thing: I was totally wrong about it being 80's S&H, for multiple reasons, but I was right that it was up my alley. Of course, I had no idea what I was dipping my toes into at the time, but that's exactly why I've written this post. Going into Miami Vice and watching it through the lens of S&H gave me some interesting insights, and I want to share one with y'all now.
Now on tvtropes.org there's a trope for when one character of a pair is more passionate or hot-headed, and the other character is calmer and cool-headed. The trope is flexible, and is referred to as Red Oni and Blue Oni. The trope can be more nuanced than that (or less) but that's the general idea.
It's usually pretty easy to tell which is which, and if you're struggling to tell them apart, then the trope probably doesn't apply.
For example: in Starsky and Hutch, Starsky is Red (easily excited and usually full of energy - also not as book-smart as his partner, and less likely to stop and think things through)
and Hutch is Blue (more reclusive, book-smart, overthinks things).
In Miami Vice, Sonny is Red (very inclined to react emotionally, and based on a lot of his habits is pretty impulsive)
and Rico is Blue (also impulsive, but more often with forethought)
Now here's where it gets interesting - at least to me. When I saw that Sonny was Red, my mind grouped him together with Starsky automatically. Same with Rico and Hutch. I thought I understood the characters.
Boy was I wrong.
Right at the beginning of MV, it really feels like the show wants me to believe that Sonny is a good ol', live 'n let live boy. It wants me to think that Rico is some kind of high-strung city slicker with a short fuse. I was totally fooled, too. That's not dissimilar to the vibe of S&H's relationship, and so I wasn't thinking all that much about it.
So for a little bit I really did think that Sonny was laid back and that Tubbs was pretty uptight, and wow, that is not true at freaking all. Yo, Tubbs is chill af (unless you’ve messed with someone he loves/his car), and Sonny is … so high-strung. Dude, I think he gives Hutch a run for his money.
And that’s the thing. When I first watched it, I was like Sonny is like the Starsky, and Tubbs is like the Hutch of the duo. Nope. Veerrry nope. Tubbs is the blue half of his duo - for sure - but he is definitely the Starsky. Just like Sonny is the red boi, hands down, but he is definitely the Hutch.
Sonny, like Hutch, feels too much, and they both struggle to bounce back from those feelings. They struggle to move on/move forward, and they tend to wallow in their emotions. You can see the way that their circumstances and mistakes weigh them down, and that even though they keep getting up to fight, they do so with less and less enthusiasm each time.
Starsky and Tubbs – on the other hand – are both street-raised New Yorkers that tend to be optimists. They look on the bright side of things, more willing to find silver-linings and more willing to move forward/move on. They still obviously care, but they are just ... I guess they're literally just more emotionally healthy?
Anyway, I realize that this is long, and now that I'm reaching my conclusion, it sounds sort of lame, but I found this so interesting, since I had to change the categorization in my head. I was only putting them on a scale of Red to Blue, and completely neglected what was essentially the y axis in my little mental graph: which I guess was optimism vs pessimism?
So Sonny and Rico are on the opposite extremes. Sonny is a moody red boi, and Rico is a cool blue boi. Meanwhile Starsky and Hutch are in the middle, Starsky being a cool red boi and Hutch being a moody blue boi.
This sounds really underwhelming now, but I'd love to hear anyone else's thoughts on this. Do you guys think that the y axis should be optimism vs pessimism? Are there any other things that stood out to you?
80's Fest Duet of the day: Surrender To Me by Ann Wilson & Robin Zander (1988) from the motion picture Tequila Sunrise #AnnWilson #robinzander #heart #cheaptrick #surrendertome #tequilasunrise #80s #80sfest #durandurantulsas6thannual80sfest
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