Great Character: Herman Blume (“Rushmore”)
The Great Character theme for the month: Bill Murray. Today: Herman Blume in Rushmore, written by Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson. Here is Jason Cuthbert’s weekly Great Character post:
Director, screenwriter and design maven Wes Anderson is known for colorful wardrobes, complicated role models and helping to reinvent Bill Murray as an indie film icon. The Anderson/Murray collaborative filmography has continued onward with
The Grand Budapest Hotel, Moonrise Kingdom, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Darjeeling Limited, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, but began in 1998 with the release of the coming-of-age dramedy Rushmore. Bill Murray took on his first Wes Anderson project, co-written by Owen Wilson, and hammered it home with a Golden Globe nomination for his Rushmore role as Herman Blume, the married millionaire competing for the affection of widowed Rushmore Academy school teacher Rosemary Cross (Olivia Williams) with the way too young precocious teenager Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman).
Rushmore from IMDB:
The extracurricular king of Rushmore preparatory school is put on academic probation.
From the initial moment that the wealthy, yet emotionally solemn Herman Blume begins his speech in front of the private school students at prestigious educational institution Rushmore Academy, he has the blue-collar extracurricular overachiever Max Fischer completely fascinated. In Blume, Max gains proof that you don’t have to come from money to come into money — or be valuable.
HERMAN BLUME: Take dead aim on the rich boys. Get them in the crosshairs and take them down. Just remember, they can buy anything but they can’t buy backbone. Don’t let them forget it.
Herman Blume reciprocates Max’s admiration, sizing the little bespectacled inquisitor up as being a prime candidate for pubescent protégé. Max’s wide-eyed enthusiasm gives Herman a temporary respite from the spoiled rotten entitlement that other Rushmore students, like his twin sons, wield around like an impenetrable force field protecting them from hard work and struggle. Herman picks his rowdy rabble-rousing sons up from school in his premium luxury Bentley automobile, feeling no real connection to them other than a shared last name. Parenthood is problematic when one of his sons feels comfortable enough to tell daddy Blume “Get your head out of your ass.”
HERMAN BLUME: Never in my wildest imagination did I ever dream I would have sons like these.
Whether Herman blames himself for the insolent behavior that his son’s willingly wear like a badge of dishonor, or he merely feels cursed by their natural inclinations, Max gives him a second chance to get it right. Unfortunately, Max is not the core nucleus of the social stratosphere at Rushmore, causing the Blume kids to treat him like contagious girl-repellent. Herman’s confidant corner is virtually vacant, with the “virtually” consisting of Max and the subject of Max’s age-inappropriate crush — Rosemary Cross. But it isn’t just Herman Blume’s offspring dilemmas; Mrs. Blume is getting primed for a divorce. Like the overwhelmed Ben Braddock seeking swimming pool sanctuary under water from his family’s expectations in The Graduate, Herman does a similar dive, feeling disenfranchised from those that are closest to him.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BNMl44tw48
With Herman’s internal loneliness widening and his social outlets shrinking, the unexpected love connection that the rebounding widow Rosemary has with Herman develops a bleeding heart wedge between Max and these two pals that he has attached himself to. Max refused to believe that the elder Rosemary was never a real romantic option. But he totally believes Herman crossed the “guy code” line by creeping towards the next man’s desirables. When Max wages one-man war, Herman takes out his frustrations by sinking to the troubled teen’s level.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DWzJJASQRc
What makes Herman Blume such a compelling Bill Murray character is just how self-aware he is of the dissolving quick sand that he is standing in. His family life seems to be squeezing him completely out of the picture, and no amount of millions can buy his way out of it. Just as Herman Blume advised Rushmore students earlier, you “can’t buy backbone,” he must now regrow his own ethical spine to face the wounded Max with the truth, that he hid his Rosemary romance from him.
HERMAN BLUME: She’s my Rushmore.
In a truly interesting way, Herman Blume and Rosemary both benefit from the youthful enthusiasm that Max jumpstarts their sputtering routine lives with. Rosemary regains the desire to try her heart at dating again after losing her sacred husband. Herman also realizes that life doesn’t have to come to a conclusion abruptly, and can have a chapter two — romantically and socially. Herman may have his issues with Rosemary, but by previously being stuck in a domestic dead-end, Blume was able to “bloom” from the social seeds planted by these refreshing and new bonds he has solidified with Rosemary and Max.
HERMAN BLUME: She’s in love with a dead guy anyway.
For his honest and often humorous reactions to uncomfortable situations, his walk on the wilder side to reconnect with himself and his need to be needed — Herman Blume is one GREAT CHARACTER in the Bill Murray catalogue.
Great role, great movie.
Thank you, Jason, for this post and the entire month-long series featuring Bill Murray characters. What’s your favorite bit from the movie? Please join us in comments to discuss Rushmore.
You may follow Jason on Twitter: @A2Jason.