I think we can apply the definition to Corrie bad lad Callum Logan, don't you? He's the softest hard lad that Corrie's ever had (*). He's been stylized and affected as a nasty piece of work but there's much more going on with Callum than first meets the eye.
The first publicity picture we ever saw of Callum showed him in the Dog and Gun pub, twiddling with a beer mat. As @DubWeasel points out on twitter, it wasn't just any beer mat. It was a beer mat for Semillion Chardonnay, a white wine. A sweet white wine.
That Callum was fiddling with a beer mat suggests an awkwardness, a nervousness, some anxiety. That's my experience with beer mat fiddlers anyway. And who'd have had Callum down as a Chardonnay drinker? Surely a pint of snakebite with a chaser of uppers should be much more the style of someone who's a nasty piece of business.
The clues were there from the start. Callum was never going to be a menace, he'd never hurt anyone, not really, although he might know people who would. This was proved when Audrey and Gail faced him down in the pub, on his own turf. It's also why little Max wants to get to know his real dad. Even little Max doesn't sense any evil. And it's why his mum has utter faith in her son, supporting him in his quest to get his son and her grandson into their lives. How cuddly and warm was his mum? Dressed in non-threatening pink when we first met her, sharing sudoku and crosswords instead of sarcasm and cross words with Gail.
At the mediation sessions with both David and Callum supported by their mums, David chips in at one point to the mediator, about Callum, with: “I’d really learn how to control that anger. You wouldn’t want her thinking you’re not a nice guy.”
He's not a nice guy. But I bet he's never pushed his mother down the stairs, or chucked peanuts at her.
I can't say I'm enjoying the Callum v David fighting for Max storyline. In my view, it's gone on too long already and it's clear we're nowhere near the end of it yet. But there's a certain complexity, and campness, to the character of Callum that makes the storyline watchable. When Kylie returns, she might just be the one to get Callum out of the Platts' lives.
Glenda Young
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27 comments:
I thought the guy who played Real Gavin managed to summon more genuine menace in three episodes than Callum's displayed in six months. It's a shame he's dead.
Love it Glenda!
Hilarious! I wish he'd run off with the vicar, but I couldn't cope with Sean's misery...
I agree with Anonymous...Real Gavin was brilliant! Actor Mark Holgate was genuinely menacing, with a dynamic screen presence. What a shame he wasn't cast as Callum! How much longer will we have to endure this un-threatening, un-sexy, un-interesting milksop of a 'villain'?
Callum is about as menacing as day old bread. I guess the actor is doing his best but he has to dig a bit deeper if he's going to give anyone the creeps. He is really just acting like a spoiled 8 year old. New director needed!
It wouldn't bother me if Callum and his Mom got custody of Max. After all, everyone keeps forgetting that both Gail and David have done time (although Gail was innocent). David has a very dark side (pushing his mother down the stairs)and is prone to violent outbursts. Also Max's mother is a known drug user. Although Callum is a drug dealer I haven't seen him take drugs. I also agree that the actor who played the real Gavin was excellent!
While i might not think Callum is very camp, i also don't think he's very menacing, either, not as a "street" dealer. I could see him being a dealer in a university setting or working in some sort of business environment but not one that works out of a grotty pub like the Dog and Gun. Macca makes a much more believable dealer. Not necessarily menacing but a small time drug dealer that also samples his own wares.
Lovely stuff. He's about as threatening as Charles Hawtrey.
They can wrap this story line up any time now, yawn! I don't know why they felt they had to do this in Kylie's absence, they could have done so many other things, but I guess we have to bring in the beefcake when things go awry and we don't know what else to do. Getting really tired of the powers that be bringing in pretty faces instead of actors who can act, and these stupid storylines. I agree that real Gavin was much more evil! And why is it that they can only write storylines that revolve around one family at a time? First we had the Windasses (I sure hope we are moving on from all of that after Faye's baby) and now the Platt's are dominating. Balance folks!!!
I also agree with the first comment - 'real' Gavin was a real badass! Callum? Not so much. Even Chesney got him to back down!
I'm surprised the writers haven't resurrected Demon David - HE'D know how do see Callum off in a hurry.
C in Canada
Yes, this story line has lasted for too long, and I'm fed up with Callum barging into the Platts' home as if he owns it. He cares nothing for his biological child; he just likes to bully people. Can't somebody take a bully down the ginnel when no-one's looking, and thrash him within an inch of his life? Where's Tracy Luv with an heavy object when we need her?
Yeah, where is David's dark side in all of this? We know he can be nasty when he wants.
Loved the shout out to my favourite baddie. Jez was great to watch and was a nasty piece of work. Thanks for the pic at the end Glenda!
This storyline is so thin, you could use it as tracing paper. I don't care about any of the characters and wouldn't be bothered who got custody of Max in the end. The obvious thing right at the beginning was for David to find a decent solicitor. As a consequence, none of this rings true. Presumably, the silliness goes on until Kylie returns.
I agree with everyone...Callum is NOT a convincing bad guy. I don't see him as campy. I see it as bad acting. He tries, I'll give him that, but the poor thing comes across like he's in a school play. Or maybe it's the direction he is given, I don't know.
The real Gavin actor, Mark Holgate most definitely should have been cast as Callum. He was so good.I would have looked forward to his scenes rather than groaning when Callum walks into the picture.
They need to end this storyline one way or another. It has dragged on way too long. It was a pathetic path to go down just to give Kylie an exit for mat leave.
And...the one thing that has really bugged me about all of this, is the almost lackadaisical attitude about him being a drug dealer. The whole lot of them on the street should have been outraged and actively trying to get him off the street, away from children etc...Instead we've got the hot girls pursuing him and Kevin, Owen and Gary keeping their cool. And most surprising is NOT seeing the return of crazy David who would have made mincemeat out of him and his mother by now. What the hell? Very disappointing.
I dislike Callum because he's a bully more than the drug dealer thing, which is bad enough. And we know bullies are mean to people because they're insecure in themselves. Not good villain material. I don't think he's very hunky either. Kind of weasley. Loved Jez! It was his time when I started watching Corrie, so good memories.
I'd like David to stand up for himself too, but I recall him saying that he can't get aggressive with Callum because he knows he could lose Max. So he's playing along with him.
He does try and be authentic by sniffing like he takes coke but apart from that he is a total plonker and totally miscast. Like "Tina" the powers that be for looks over acting ability I am afraid.
Colin, well said! I never thought the actress who played Tina was very good.
To my mind, Callum's fiddling with a white wine mat says something else. He's a bored rich kid.
He doesn't have to be menacing because he's actually never wanted for anything in his life. When times get tough he goes back to the security of mum and dad.
He can pass the time of day in the pub with or without selling drugs but his friends are of a darker state of mind, so when in Rome...
re being a villain, i never found callum camp, more vanilla...
or as anon 17:09 says, spoiled and slumming it.
also agree with zagg, where's the outrage among the moral street folk?
The thing about Jez Quigley was, not only did you know he would hurt people, you suspected that he would enjoy it.
When even Chesney could make Callum back down, the villain became a joke.
I'd like to think that Gail would throw Sarah out if she consorts not only with a drug dealer but the very drug dealer who's trying to get custody of her grandson. If David tells his mother to do otherwise to keep in Callum's good books ... well, I just give up with this story.
Humpty Dumpty,I think David warns his sister to stat away from Callum but of course like Katy before her,Sarah doesn't listen.I doubt Gail would throw out 'Princess Sarah' though if she did continue to see Callum if only so she can have access to Max.Considering how silly the storyline is becoming,it will probably be twisted to be David's fault and he'll be the one thrown out of HIS house just like the time when he found out Nick slept with Kylie.
misuse of actor. If he came on like a nice guy with a lingering, hidden dark side that only peeked through and then built up, we'd have us a bonafide corrie villain in the making. But instead, he had to come on as explosive and sexy and whatever the hell else they were going for (!).. Now, it's a joke. So true about the corrie men not stepping in as Zagg said, it doesn't make sense. And so many other things about this stupid story just don't make sense.
Misue of actor, character and messed up writing is what I see.
And where's Owen when you need him, as soon as he heard a drug dealer was sniffing round his daughter he would have had him pinned to the wall (a laTim) and sent him packing.
Let's hope that David puts his big boy pants on soon and punches Callum straight in the nose. Oddly, I think his mum should stick around as it seems like she and Gail could be great friends. And, let's face it, she could use a friend after all these years.
If I have to watch ANOTHER character brought in to take up space on the PLATT SHOW, I will .. well, I'll...
be more fed up then I ever thought I could be with this show. What's going on? Enough of the Platts and especially ENOUGH of Gail. I do not want to see Gail and her new 'friend' interact. Frankly, I found their bonding scene in the waiting room an uncomfortable and unrealistic and ridiculous. Not cute and comfy. Could they have gotten any closer physically. That was just weird.
Milly,I agree with your comments as I also thought the scene with Gail and Callum's mum weird and showed a total lack of loyalty to David[nothing new there].To add insult to injury she blows off the second mediation meeting to attend Gavin's funeral,who only a week ago was blackmailing her on her wedding day to his father?!
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