Is 'zany' always bad?

Wednesday evening, before telling her "You're Fired!", Sir Alan Sugar summarised his feelings by telling Lucinda that she was 'too zany' for his company. I can understand his sentiments, but I must admit I think that people who take a chance with people like Lucinda are unlikely to lose out - she seems definitely to be an 'original' and I confess to thinking she was in many ways the best of the 5 remaining potential 'apprentices' on Wednesday. I thought that one very telling remark by Sir Alan Sugar during the course of the latest show, that he was 'too old' to be bothered with certain things [such as Lucinda's 'zaniness'], inadvertantly said rather more about him than he perhaps realised (or cared). Of course as a very Iwealthy man who is now quite elderly I can understand his viewpoint, but it does seem to me to raise questions about the continuing validity of the premise of the programme. Does he want a genuine 'apprentice' or a personal assistant or even a care assistant? Probably none of these, but I do get the definite impression that Sir Alan is now merely going through the motions and has become a little bored with the whole procedure, which has become somewhat formulaic in the past couple of years as it has gained in viewer ratings - indeed it seems to have lost whatever business validity it may once have had and become simply a ratings chaser and a vanity project for Sir Alan.

Anyway, this post has taken me in a completely unexpected direction from when I started to write it! What I really wanted to say is that I think there is definitely a place for 'zany' people such as Lucinda; prickly to deal with, but correctly motivated worth 10 of most corporate 'drones'. Personally I rather liked her, even if I don't think I entirely trust her; indeed one of Sir Alan's questions to her indicated he may have felt similarly, but found it easier to justify the sacking by focussing on her 'zaniness'. What prompted this post was in fact this post at Chicken Yoghurt featuring a video-clip of Christopher Walken doing a Jackanory spoof on the Jonathan Ross show. He is certainly one of the 'zaniest' and most briliant actors I can recall. Christopher Walken has always seemed to me to be one of the most unusual and versatile actors around and whilst many of his film roles have involved somewhat sinister, not to say unhinged, characters (see a film biography here), I have always seen him as quite a knowingly witty and flexible character, traits exemplified in spades in this amazing dance routine to the musical compilation 'Weapon of Choice' by Fatboy Slim:



In summary, I expect Lucinda will continue to thrive quite nicely, if idiosyncratically, in whatever she chooses to do next.