Viola Indigo

Viola Indigo

**Viola Purrpah Indigo** is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the comedy web series Viola's Videos portrayed by Douglas Harvey. Viola is an unappreciated mother and constant target of the mafia, and each episode portrays her various adventures tackling both aspects of her life.

A strong and forceful woman, Viola has a deep affinity for Creme de Menthe - always toting around a bottle even when held captive by a villain - and she is known to resort to vulgar language and violence when needed. She is also able to communicate with the spirit of her deceased mother Yetta "Mimsy" Indigo at times, displaying some kind of supernatural powers. Her son, Anthony Indigo, is a constant source of stress for Viola, but she has shown compassion for him regardless of his antics.

The character was created by Douglas Harvey as a last-minute improvisation character in a friend's video class project, the very project that became the "pilot" episode - Viola's Crossroads. Her unique way of speaking is a hybrid of comedic exaggerations of the accents of both Katharine Hepburn and Sir Ian McKellan.

## Character Overview

### Early Life/Background

Not much is known about Viola's past other than a few fleeting remarks made in conversation with other characters. Her son, Anthony, was born under mysterious circumstances brought on by Viola being unaware that a sailor's birthmark was not, in fact, a birthmark. The details of this conception and birth are as of yet unexplained. It is known from Anthony's belittling of his mother that Viola's husband (whether or not this is his father is unknown) left her five years before the events of *Viola's Crossroads*.

Viola's mother, Yetta Indigo, passed away fourteen years before *Viola's America*, and the woman's chain-smoking and heavy drinking could very well be a factor in Viola's personality and a possible explanation for her addiction to Creme de Menthe. Not much is known about their relationship other than that when called upon from Heaven, Yetta and her daughter are on friendly terms and can hold a conversation with one another over cigarettes.

At some point before the events of the series, Viola had purchased a Frank Sinatra music collection and defaulted on the payments. This financial slip now has her under surveillance by the mafia, and she lives in such fear of her creditors that she has attempted fleeing the country. Her dealings with the mafia are as of yet unresolved, but her escape from them is the main drive of the series.

It is also stated that in Viola's Crossroads, Viola is suffering a broken ankle. By the time of the second episode, Viola's America, set an indeterminate time later, this ailment is apparently healed. The injury has since gone unexplained.

### *Viola's Crossroads*

In the pilot episode of the series, Viola is introduced as an under-loved and unappreciated mother who must force her son Anthony to be independent. The reasons for her departure as a support figure are explained as an escape from the mafia, and that Anthony cannot accompany her as she flees the country. After watching the 2002 Britney Spears film *Crossroads*, Anthony seemingly learns the benefits of becoming independent of his doting mother, and the two share a loving embrace. Their future is left uncertain.

### *Viola's America*

Set some time after Viola's revelation that she must escape the mafia, *Viola's America* finds Viola packing her things and leaving her son and her home behind to flee the country. As she steps foot outside her home she is approached by a mysterious man and asked to smell a chloroformed rag. Abducted and held captive in a dirty basement, Viola communicates with the spirit of her dead mother Yetta in order to form an escape plan. After rising above her predicament, she fights and kills her captor and escapes. Once freedom is hers, she realizes that she has committed murder, stolen property, and abandoned her son for a debt...something only America can offer. Viola returns to her son and reveals that after seeing a doctor about injuries sustained during her capture, she has found out that she is pregnant.

### *Viola's Christmas Carol*

Viola will return in a holiday special. Whilst seeing her life from an outsider's perspective, Viola learns a lesson of her own and commits herself to a new life where she will raise her unborn child.

## Character Traits

### Appearance

Viola is a heavy-set woman of middle age who sports obnoxiously large, thick-rimmed glasses and shoulder length purple hair (hence her names: Viola - from the color violet; Purpahh - from the color purple; and Indigo - from the color indigo). Her trademark clothing item is a cheap faux-leather jacket that she wears for almost her entire collected screen-time, even while she is indoors. Other than her leather jacket, her attire consists of various floral-print shirts and solid colored slacks.  She does not appear to wear any makeup.

The only difference to her general look is in the pilot episode Viola's Crossroads, where she sports a black V-neck sweater over a red dress shirt beneath her trademark coat, accompanied by a pair of blue jeans. Her glasses are also a less obnoxious pair, but still thick-rimmed. (This costume was what actor Douglas Harvey was wearing at the time before the last-minute call into the video project. The glasses were his own everyday glasses that he didn't take off before filming began. Viola's look was later developed into its current appearance for the first "genuine" episode, Viola's America.  The new and current pair of glasses as well as the orange floral shirt from *America* are from Douglas Harvey's 2012 Halloween Costume - Charles Nelson Reilly.)

### Personality

Viola is a very volatile woman, at times calm and loving, other times snarky and angry. When pushed to her limits, she is capable of becoming cold and violent and nearly indestructible. Her mood swings are brought on by several different factors; the most common being her ungrateful son's attitude towards her, or her fear of mafia retaliation. She is also known to snap when threatened or held against her will.

In her default state, she is a doting mother who supports her adult son Anthony financially and emotionally. In return, Anthony abuses her emotionally and constantly belittles her with reminders that her husband left her, her mother is dead, and that she could very well be an alcoholic. After a momentary harsh retaliation, Viola returns to doting on her son and the cycle continues. Only briefly does Anthony seem to learn a lesson, but the bond they share in that fleeting moment doesn't last very long.

### Skills

Viola has shown several skill-sets that raise more questions about her life before the series. She is adept at combat, being able to subdue a male captor (*Viola's America*) and assault her son without leaving her recliner (*Viola's Crossroads*). She is also clearly proficient with a handgun, loading and firing with ease (*America*). However, despite her personal protection abilities, she seems nearly incapable of operating simple things like Blu-Ray players (*Crossroads*), or doors (*Viola's America*).

Viola is also clumsy and often oblivious to her surroundings, as evidenced by her lack of motor skills loading a disc in a Blu-Ray player (*Crossroads*), and her constant collisions with hanging pipes and metal poles (*America*). This may be a side effect of another one of her skills - her binge-drinking of Creme de Menthe.

She is seen constantly chugging the liquor, often spilling it across her face (*Crossroads*, *America*) or even shooting it from her mouth (*America*). Whether or not she is intoxicated during her appearances is unconfirmed, but as evidenced by her son's comment "God Mom, that's a lot of hooch.", and Viola's subsequent shamed "I know..." (*America*); it is very likely that she is a functioning alcoholic.

Viola is also a confirmed killer, having shot her captor to death. Her nonchalant reaction to the murder raises questions as to whether she has committed other killings in the past. When escaping her captor's house, she momentarily laments the murder along with her other committed acts of vulgarity (stealing bacon ranch popcorn and abandoning her son), but justifies them as the result of her simply being an American.

### Relationships

#### **Anthony Indigo**

Viola's son Anthony provides her with a constant headache.  Seemingly unable to stop herself from doting on her son and supporting him financially, Viola continues to allow the unhealthy relationship grow until she realizes she must leave the country to escape her debts.  It is only then that she takes steps to teach her son independence, and appears to succeed (however temporarily) by showing him the Britney Spears film *Crossroads*.

From there, Anthony continues to treat his mother poorly with verbal abuse and laziness, despite the fact that Viola had attempted to leave the country without him.  Upon discovering his mother's mysterious pregnancy after returning from her abduction, Anthony is visibly shocked.  What's in store for him and how a sibling will affect their relationship remains to be seen.

Comments made by Anthony reveal that, at the age of 24, he still breastfeeds.  He is also a lover of buffalo chicken and despises his mother's Hormel brand meat loaf and Creme de Menth.  He doesn't drink on school nights, and claims to be allergic to bacon - a comment to which his mother reveals he is lying about.

#### **Yetta "Mimsy" Indigo**

Viola's mother Yetta is a chain-smoking, wine-chugging frail old woman who communicates with her daughter from Heaven. Their relationship is a friendly one, the two sharing cigarettes over a conversation and exchanging quips with one another. Yetta is the beacon of hope Viola cries out for upon realizing the severity of her captivity, and is ecstatic to see her mother's spirit appear before her.  Viola affectionately calls her mother "Mimsy".

Yetta enjoys telling old war stories about her adventures during World War II, and at one time tells a story about an escape that left her genitals deformed. It is implied by this story that Yetta was a man at one point, and the damage done to her reproductive organs resulted in her becoming a woman. Whether this is true or just a geriatric exaggeration is unknown, but Viola does not seem at all surprised by the tale.

At each meeting, Yetta gives her daughter advice on three levels - the first being a reference to a famous performer and their greatest body of work; the second being a warning of a sexual nature; and the third being a piece of advice that pertains to the current predicament but almost always involves supporting her daughter's alcoholism. This is evident by their first meeting in *Viola's America*, when Yetta's advice is:

1. Robin Williams shines in dramatic roles.
2. If a sailor says it's a birthmark, don't believe him.
3. A little alcohol will get you through any situation.

The advice always becomes useful to Viola (at the very least the third point), and upon departing the real world Yetta gives Viola a run-down of what's currently happening in Heaven. In *America*, Yetta is keen to return in order to discover Who Shot J.R.

#### **Unborn Child**

Not much is known of Viola's unborn child, other than that she discovered the pregnancy after escaping captivity.  Seeking a doctor to check up on a "busted cap" from her abductor throwing her down a flight of stairs, she was unable to have an X-Ray taken because the doctors found that she was pregnant.  The nature of the conception and the sex of the child is as of yet unknown, but despite the news of her coming child she continues to binge-drink her Creme de Menthe.

#### **Victims**

**Buffalo Chicken Bill** - Viola's captor in *Viola's America*. He holds her hostage in a dirty basement after chloroforming her on her own front porch. Upon waking up and being hit in the face with a hurled tube of body lotion, Viola confers with the spirit of her dead mother and prepares to fight him by drinking her liquor and obtaining her loaded pistol from her luggage. Viola then causes a commotion, luring Bill into the basement where they engage in a brief but vicious fight culminating in the death of Bill by a bullet to the head. It is assumed Buffalo Chicken Bill is a member of the mafia targeting Viola for her debts, but Anthony later remarks that he was simply their mailman. His motives for abducting Viola are never revealed.

## Media Appearances

Viola is the primary character in the web series *Viola's Videos*. The series consists of the following seasons and episodes:

**Season One (Winter-Spring 2014)**

## Trivia

* The Creme de Menthe that Viola drinks is actual mint liquor, and the amount of volume that decreases during the course of each episode shows just how much actor Douglas Harvey is actually drinking during filming.
* Viola always splashes a mouthful of liquor across her face during the first swig of each episode.