Pop Culture Icons Who Lived With No Regrets

What would you do if you could have one day of no regrets? Hack into your payroll system? Skate through Paris museums? Blow all your money on cake?  Contiki are giving one lucky winner the chance to live like there’s no tomorrow: head here watch the video for some inspiration, then tell Contiki what your #NOREGRETS day would involve for your shot to make it actually happen.

–

They are the characters who live for the moment, inspire us with their confidence and swagger, and kick ass wherever they go. They are brave, hilarious and invigorating, and we wish we could live like they do.

Here’s our nine favourite icons who never think twice, and don’t look back.

–

Ferris Bueller — Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Ferris Bueller is the ultimate movie teenager – he does what he wants when he wants, and when he decides to skip school for day, he takes his friends on an incredible adventure around Chicago. He crashes a parade and steals a very expensive sports car for a joyride, while consistently staying one step ahead of the creepiest high school principal ever. He even convinces his sad-sack buddy Cameron to stand up to his overbearing dad.

“Life moves pretty fast,” Ferris says, in the perfect distillation of his no regrets philosophy. “If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

–

Janis Ian — Mean Girls

Janis Ian doesn’t give a damn what anybody thinks, and makes being a high school outcast look like the coolest thing imaginable. She and her “too gay to function” best buddy Damian carve out their own little corner of weirdness at North Shore High, where she throws hilarious snark at the popular girls, speaks her mind always, and regrets absolutely nothing.

Deep down, everyone secretly wants to be Janis Ian: why else would all those cheering, screaming girls be carrying her around on their shoulders at the end? From her gothed-out fashion  to her withering sarcasm, Janis Ian is the ultimate.

–

R2D2 — Star Wars

Okay, so here’s the thing about the Star Wars films: blonde, handsome Luke Skywalker likes to hog all the glory, but it’s really his robot pal R2D2 who gets it done. Though his physical appearance amounts to little more than a trash can on wheels, R2D2 rolls bravely into the unknown, bleeping and blooping in the face of mortal danger. With his series of in-built gadgets, he can pretty much do it all – put out fires, project holograms, and even repair spaceships on the fly.

Some have made the fairly convincing argument that he is actually the real hero of the whole saga. Whether or not you believe that, you have to admit that R2D2 is as fearless as they come.

–

Kirby — Kirby’s Dream Land

Link and Mario and the rest are pretty great, but the little pink blob known as Kirby is actually the secret badass of the Nintendo family. The resilient little guy explores colourful new lands with an endlessly upbeat attitude; he doesn’t say a whole lot, but he forges on, sucking up anything that gets in his way.

Since Kirby’s Dream Land came out in 1992, the little pink puff has starred in numerous games, not least of all Super Smash Bros, where he is one of the most versatile fighters, inhaling his opponents and copying their moves.

–

Gogo Yubari — Kill Bill Part 1

With her trademark mace and mean look, murderous high school student Gogo Yubari lives in the moment, and will make you regret it if you cross her. Gogo’s weapon of choice is the not-very-practical but still awesome-looking Meteor Hammer, a spiked ball on a chain. She may dress like your average Japanese school girl, but beneath the outfit she’s a ruthless assassin, as the hapless businessmen who try to pick her up in bars inevitably discover.

Right up until her showdown with The Bride at the House Of Blue Leaves, Gogo lives in the moment.

–

Driver — Drive

Ryan Gosling’s cool, calm and collected Driver is the focal point of Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive. He’s a man of few words, but with his signature scorpion jacket and his particular brand of gruff stoicism, he generally gets his point across.

Driver is most at home when he’s behind the wheel of a car, with the freedom of the open road ahead of him. Also, he’s a bit of a hunk. Just watch the scene where he takes Carey Mulligan’s character and her kid through one of LA’s waterways and try to keep your heart from melting.

–

Chairman Kaga — Iron Chef

Iron Chef is a cooking competition with balls: it brings together the greatest chefs from around Japan to fight for supremacy in Kitchen Stadium, with positively no crying and no extravagant displays of emotion allowed.

With his flamboyant outfits, his flair for finding unusual ingredients, and his army of Iron Chefs ready to do battle, Chairman Kaga rules Kitchen Stadium with an iron fist, playing the role of benevolent dictator. No matter how weird the theme ingredient of his choice — swallow’s nest, thousand-year egg, sea urchin roe — the chefs in Kitchen Stadium must obey his orders without question. Sure, he may or may not be hamming it up for the show, but Chairman Kaga rules over everything and regrets nothing.

–

Jack Dawson — Titanic

Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jack Dawson is the ultimate romantic hero: a dashing young rogue who believes that you make your own luck in life. He wins his trip on the Titanic in a lucky game of poker, then falls in love with Kate Winslet’s society girl Rose, teaching her to let her hair down and enjoy life in the cheesiest and yet most compelling way possible.

–

Captain Jack Sparrow – Pirates Of The Caribbean

Pirates Of The Caribbean’s transformation from a chlorine-smelling Disneyland ride to multi-billion dollar movie series comes down to just one thing: Johnny Depp’s swaggering Captain Jack Sparrow. From his profound disrespect for authority to his wisecracks to the trail of broken hearts he leaves in every port, Jack Sparrow lives in the here and now. A warm, white sandy beach and a bottle of rum are all that he needs.

–

Alasdair Duncan is an author, freelance writer and video game-lover who has had work published in Crikey, The Drum, The Brag, Beat, Rip It Up, The Music Network, Rave Magazine, AXN Cult and Star Observer.