#bela_lugosi

[jamieroxxartist]

RIP today, Aug 16, 1956 – #BelaLugosi, Hungarian-American actor (b. 1882) walked on.

( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela_Lugosi )

[nebris]

Lugosi, the youngest of four children, was born Béla Ferenc Dezső Blaskó in Lugos, Kingdom of Hungary (now Lugoj, Romania) to Hungarian father István Blaskó, a banker, and Serbian-born mother Paula de Vojnich. He later based his last name on his hometown. He and his sister Vilma were raised in a Roman Catholic family.

At the age of 12, Lugosi dropped out of school. He began his acting career in 1901 or 1902. His earliest known performances are from provincial theatres in the 1903–04 season, playing small roles in several plays and operettas. He went on to perform in Shakespeare's plays. After moving to Budapest in 1911, he played dozens of roles with the National Theatre of Hungary between 1913 and 1919. Although Lugosi would later claim that he "became the leading actor of Hungary's Royal National Theatre", almost all his roles there were small or supporting parts.

During World War I, he served as an infantryman in the Austro-Hungarian Army from 1914 to 1916, rising to the rank of Lieutenant. He was awarded the Wound Medal for wounds he suffered while serving on the Russian front.

Due to his activism in the actors' union in Hungary during the revolution of 1919 and his active participation in the Hungarian Soviet Republic, he was forced to flee his homeland. He went first to Vienna before settling in Berlin (in the Langestrasse), where he continued acting. He took the name "Lugosi" in 1903 to honor his birthplace, and eventually travelled to New Orleans, Louisiana as a crewman aboard a merchant ship.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela_Lugosi

[thisisthepartwhereyou]

BEASTARS SPECULATION #3: What’s in a name?*May contain spoilers*

I have always liked coming up with names; whether they be for characters in a story, pets or giving suggestions to my siblings what to name their kids. A lot of the time, the choice of names have inherent meanings to the givers themselves. I myself was named after a character in a beloved Astrid Lindgren-story, which in itself could say something about my parents (either as big Astrid Lindgren-fans or just seeing a quality in the character they found intriguing). 

As Shakespeare himself once wrote: “What’s in a name?”

In fictional works, characters more than often receive names that hint at their nature or some aspect of their personality, either ironically or poetically. Among others, several of these examples exist in the works of J.K. Rowling, such as with Albus Dumbledore, whose name is a linguistic conundrum. As detailed and lifted from https://harrypotter.fandom.com/wiki/Albus_Dumbledore: 

“Albus could refer to bright, or white.

Albus may be the masculine form of "Alba", the Gaelic name for Scotland or an Italian word meaning "sunrise", possibly alluding to the rebirth symbols associated with him. It is also a Latin word for white, and thus could be meant to invoke Good as traditionally associated with white, or merely to refer to his long white hair and beard.

Dumbledore is an old 18th century English word for 'bumblebee'. It is still used in Newfoundland, Canada, to refer to a bumblebee. Rowling stated she imagined him flitting about the castle humming to himself”

Other examples would be in American superhero comics, where several characters, both heroes and villains, possess names that are practically puns waiting to be used for their costumed identities. Dr. Otto Octavius anyone?

Anyway, I bet you’re wondering at this point, what does all of this have to do with Beastars? Well, besides using this method itself with several of the characters in it, though quite sparingly and subtle (which one could argue emphasizes the characters for their personalites as a driving point in the plot as opposed to specific themes that they’re supposed to convey), I feel there’s a special case with Legosi. 

As fellow cinephiles may recognize, Legosi’s name is a reference to Bela Lugosi (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela_Lugosi), probably the most recognizable actor that has ever played the role of Dracula, which he did in the 1931-movie of the same name. This is interesting because it could have several inherent connections and meanings: 

Both Legosi and the Count are essentially predators who tries their best to maintain a sense of humanity, but are occasionally overwhelmed by their rage and/or instinctive bloodlust. The difference though is that the human aspect is more of a facade for Dracula, enabling him continue living in modern society and satisfy his monstrous appetite without persecution, while Legosi genuinly doesn’t want to hurt people and desires to be strong enough to enable a peaceful life with the ones he cares about.

Both Bela Lugosi as Dracula and Legosi are naturally intimidating, but also charismatic. Though the difference there lies in their different kinds of charisma: Dracula is a man of the world, an aristocrat who is intelligent, charming and eloquent. Legosi on the other hand is well-meaning, honest and kind-hearted, but also an insecure and awkward introvert, making him hard to dislike once you get past his scary appearence.   

Both Dracula and Legosi desires a member of the opposite sex, both in a complicated fusion of hunger and lust. Dracula’s desires are directed at Mina Harker (among others), while Legosi’s are directed at Haru. While the original Dracula from the book (and the 1931-movie) probably sees Mina as just another in a long line of conquests, later versions, such as the movie by Francis Ford Coppola, turns that desire into a more romantic direction, where the lonely vampire searches for a partner with which to break the insufferable loneliness that is coupled with his immortality. Legosi on the other hand is romantically and sexually interested in Haru, though they both admit throughout the series that it could have something to with an underlying instinct between the two where one wants to eat the other and the other get eaten. Not that they actually WANT it to go down that way, but in the same time, it is a danger they don’t think they can ignore. This sort of of link between Dracula and Legosi may be the most poignant, as Beastars really likes to associate the act of sex with the act of devouring (I am surprised DA hasn’t gone crazy yet).

Legosi’s actual father, Miyagi, is an actor, like Bela Lugosi was. 

With that said, I move on to another side of the subject: The naming of fan-made children of interspecies couples. We’ve seen this in fanarts and fanficitons of other anthro-centric works of fiction, such as Zootopia and Aggretsuko, and Beastars is no different. Except, unlike the two previous two who either hasn’t acknowledged it or it simply isn’t a possibility, Beastars may the first one to canonically showcase that hybrids can be created between very different species (Though not really in a happy light so far, which could also be a subject for speculation at another time). Anyway, several artists online enjoy imagining what the hybrid children between Legosi and Haru would look like and be named. 

I too have pondered a bit about this, and if I got to decide what to call them, I’d probably use the same kind of poetic irony of which I’ve talked about in the text above, either by considering their mixed nature or the names and personalities of their parents, not to mention their own personalites and appearences. As a cinephile, I’d probably find a way to reference another Universal horror-film actor from the old Hollywood-era, such as Boris Karloff (Frankenstein’s monster), Lon Chaney Jr. (The Wolfman) or Claude Rains (The Invisible Man).

Anyway, that’s what I’d do. How about you guys? 

[thenightling]

Strange but true fact:  In our era of "Cultural appropriation!" and "Problematic casting" there is an irony to 1931's Dracula.  As much as people make fun of the "Dracula accent" started by actor Bela Lugosi, the simple fact is that was his real accent.   Bela was born in Transylvania. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela_Lugosi The part of Transylvania he was born in had been declared a part of Hungary at the time of his birth but while he was living in America it reverted back to Romania. Because this was before the era of Google, when Bela applied for American citizenship, he renounced both Hungary and Romania "Just in case." But yeah, ironically the Dracula with the "cheesy accent" was 1. A real accent.  And 2.  The only culturally accurate Count Dracula in English language cinema. 

[jamieroxx]

Birthday Remembrances. Today, Oct 20, 1882 – Bela Lugosi, Hungarian-American actor (d. 1956) was born. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela_Lugosi) #BelaLugosi #PropTroopers (www.PropTroopers.com for Custom #Cosplay #Costumes and #Accessories)

[buzzdixonwriter]

#fictoids #humor_pitiful_stabs_at #Bela_Lugosi #Angelo_Rossitto

[posterpond]

Dracula 1931 Poster #2_more_credits #bela_lugosi #bram_stoker #david_manners #hamilton_deane #helen_chandler #karl_freund #tod_browning

[cyanotter]

Bela Legosi! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela_Lugosi #inktober #belalugosi

[jamieroxxartist]

Birthday Remembrances. Today, Oct 20, 1882 – #BelaLugosi, Hungarian-American actor (d. 1956) was born.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela_Lugosi)

[jamieroxx]

RIP today, Aug 16, 1956 – Bela Lugosi, Hungarian-American actor (b. 1882) walked on. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela_Lugosi) Prop Troopers (www.PropTroopers.com for Custom #Cosplay #Costumes and #Accessories) #BelaLugosi

[celebrfacts]

Listen to them. Children of the night. What music they make.

Count Dracula played by Bela Lugosi in the movie Dracula in 1931

[jamieroxxartist]

RIP today, Aug 16, 1956 – #BelaLugosi, Hungarian-American actor (b. 1882) walked on.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela_Lugosi)

From a couple of years ago: Here is a picture from the RIP Horror Film Festival when they presented a Custom #Commissioned #Painting of #BelaLugosi I painted to his son: “Last year’s presentation to Bela Lugosi, Jr. for his fathers great efforts and hard work as our, “Legend of Horror 2014” Beautiful tribute art by “POP Artist” James Rosh (#JamieRoxx) “

Painting by @ArtistJamieRoxx #JamieRoxx (www.JamieRoxx.us)

[jamieroxxartist]

Birthday Remembrances. Today, Oct 20, 1882 – #BelaLugosi, Hungarian-American actor (d. 1956) was born.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela_Lugosi)

[jamieroxxartist]

RIP today, Aug 16, 1956 – #BelaLugosi, Hungarian-American actor (b. 1882) walked on.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela_Lugosi)

[jamieroxxartist]

Birthday Remembrances. Today, Oct 20, 1882 – #BelaLugosi, Hungarian-American actor (d. 1956) was born.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela_Lugosi)

[jamieroxxartist]

RIP today, Aug 16, 1956 – #BelaLugosi, Hungarian-American actor (b. 1882) walked on.

(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bela_Lugosi)

Prop Troopers (www.PropTroopers.com for Custom #Cosplay #Costumes and #Accessories)