Hero Fails: Supposedly Heroic Characters Who Are Actually Awful

[Luckylyn]

The idea is that sometimes a movie is made with a hero or heroine who is supposed to be admirable but something about the writing, the context, or portrayal isn’t working.  So a character who is supposed to be admirable comes off as horrible to the audience inspite of the filmakers intention.

I think Duane Johnson’s character in San Andreas perfectly captures the concept.  His pilot character is a first responder.   When a crisis happens, it is his duty to rescue everyone he can.  When the earthquake happens, not only does Duane Johnson’s character abandon his duty to rescue as many people as possible, but he steals government equipment (rescue helicopter) to focus all his efforts on rescuing his family.  So not only are emergency services short a qualified person but also now don’t have a critical tool to rescue people.  We’re supposed to think he’s a hero when he abandons his duty but in real life imagine of first responders had an attitude of  “Screw you strangers.  I’m only going to rescue people I love.” They would be horrible people.   He doesn’t even seem torn or feel guilty about his choice.  

Edited May 27, 2018 by Luckylyn

[Spartan Girl]

Ooh, great idea for a thread!

Definitely Ben Affleck's Batman in Batman v Superman and Justice League. His whole reasons for hating Superman and "protecting" the world for him were pure paranoia. Like sure, go attack the only other superhero that's trying to help people!

[Danny Franks]

Maverick in Top Gun. He's an arrogant asshole who doesn't listen to anyone, doesn't accept orders the way any military officer would have to, breaks any rules he wants and constantly gets away with it because he's a really good pilot. But no one in any real Navy (or any military branch) would accept someone whose attitude is so overwhelmingly selfish and alienating. And he doesn't learned a damned thing until he gets his best friend killed... upon which he goes on a self pity bender, wallowing in misery and still failing to act like a grown up, who is responsible for the lives of comrades, and tens of millions of dollars of military equipment.

[Wiendish Fitch]

On 5/27/2018 at 3:37 PM, Spartan Girl said:

Ooh, great idea for a thread!

Definitely Ben Affleck's Batman in Batman v Superman and Justice League. His whole reasons for hating Superman and "protecting" the world for him were pure paranoia. Like sure, go attack the only other superhero that's trying to help people!

Isn't it just swell that Batman plots and attempts to murder Superman, the Man of Tomorrow, Last Son of Krypton, Fighter for Truth, Justice, and the American Way... but he won't kill the fucking Joker?!?!? Yeah, imagine how awful everyone's lives would be if mass murdering psychopath the Joker weren't around! A modern day George Bailey, that guy! No, no, Superman is the menace to society, he's got to go! That spit-curl wearing, milk-drinking, mild-mannered reporter is a threat to our way of life! He might do something really terrible and nightmarish like-GASP!- give people hope and inspire them to be better! Kill the bastard! Kill! Kill! KILLLLLLLLLL!!!

But for serious,  I really hate the modern day interpretation of Batman (Affleck's most of all). I hate how they've made him this mistrustful, self-pitying (dude, you've lived more of your life without your parents than with them), self-absorbed, cruel, socially worthless asshat. I especially don't like how, in the last generation or so, Batman's schtick is that he "doesn't trust anyone."

Excuse me?

The Batman I grew up with has a huge circle of friends and allies: Robin, Commisioner Gordon, Barbara Gordon/Batgirl, Leslie Tompkins, Lucius Fox, Detective Bullock, and, yes, occasionally Superman (at least in some of the comics)! Batman shouldn't be this antisocial, solipsistic loner! Even he knows he can't always work alone!

I ask you all: Whatever happened to this Batman?

[Spartan Girl]

How about Dumbledore and Snape? Dumbledore certainly made a lot of choices that were supposed to be good, like leaving Harry with the Dursleys. Yes Harry needed his mother's blood protection, but nobody exactly protected Harry for being abused for 10 years.

As for Snape, even if he was working as a "good guy", was still a bully to Harry and other non-Slytherin students.

[Lugal]

On 5/29/2018 at 10:51 AM, Wiendish Fitch said:

I ask you all: Whatever happened to this Batman?

I blame Frank Miller.

[Spartan Girl]

Someone on another thread pointed out that Jack Sparrow is nothing more than an asshole who is portrayed as a hero. Gonna have to agree. Even when he does the "right" thing, it's only when it's convenient for him (or when he's out of other options).

[Wiendish Fitch]

On 5/31/2018 at 11:50 AM, Lugal said:

I blame Frank Miller.

That's both fair and unfair; hell, I blame Frank Miller for global warming.

Anyway, the older I get, the more points Westley from The Princess Bride loses from me. I think it's unforgivable that, in five whole years, he never once attempted to contact Buttercup to let her know he was alive. Then the unforgivably shitty way he treated her when they were reunited. Dude, she thought you were dead! And it's not that she's "faithless" or even moving on... Prince Humperdink is pretty much forcing her to marry him! 

Worst of all? Westley never, ever, ever apologizes! Never! Buttercup is framed as being in the wrong for... well, whatever the hell she did wrong, I guess. 

I mostly love this movie for Inigo, Fezzick, and Miracle Max and Valerie. 

[Spartan Girl]

Yup. I love The Princess Bride, but yup.

You could label Rhett from Gone With the Wind the same way for the way he treats Scarlett. Don't get me wrong, Scarlett was a real piece of work, but he knew she didn't really love him whe he proposed, what did he expect?

[Wiendish Fitch]

I consider myself a feminist, but that doesn't mean women should be exempt from this topic, and my choice?

Musical theatre fans, forgive me, but Mama Rose from Gypsy is just horrid to me. Yeah, she's bigger than life and interesting, but when people go on about how "heroic" she is and how Gypsy owes everything to her... nope. Nope, nope, nope. I saw nothing but a selfish, exploitative, short-sighted monster who cared little about her daughters' well-being and happiness and wasn't above lying about being assaulted to get out of paying the rent. I for one hate the ending when she and Gypsy seemingly reconcile: I wouldn't have blamed Gypsy one bit for casting that attention whore out her life once and for all. 

Gypsy didn't owe Mama Rose anything. Nothing. Nada. Zip-a-roony.

[Spartan Girl]

I'm ashamed I didn't start adding some so-called heroines that suck myself! Allow me to contribute:

Elizabeth in Pirates of the Caribbean was poratayed as this big rebellious heroine, but to me she just came off as this spoiled fickle rich girl. Serious side eye to how she was flirting with Norrington and Jack while being engaged to Will.

And I hated how Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood portrayed Vivian as this unsung heroine when all she did was treat her husband and kids like crap. And why? Because her former fiancé was killed in war? Puh-lease.

[Popples]

4 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

I consider myself a feminist, but that doesn't mean women should be exempt from this topic, and my choice?

Musical theatre fans, forgive me, but Mama Rose from Gypsy is just horrid to me. Yeah, she's bigger than life and interesting, but when people go on about how "heroic" she is and how Gypsy owes everything to her... nope. Nope, nope, nope. I saw nothing but a selfish, exploitative, short-sighted monster who cared little about her daughters' well-being and happiness and wasn't above lying about being assaulted to get out of paying the rent. I for one hate the ending when she and Gypsy seemingly reconcile: I wouldn't have blamed Gypsy one bit for casting that attention whore out her life once and for all. 

Gypsy didn't owe Mama Rose anything. Nothing. Nada. Zip-a-roony.

We were supposed to root for Rose? I've never seen anyone say she was heroic, those people must be crazy. She was the ultimate stage mom and her daughters were suffocating due to her infantilization of Gypsy and June and never wanted either of them to become functional adults. As much as I love the song "Rose's Turn", a better ending would have been Rose finding out Gypsy went to the party and left her behind in the theater all by herself.

[Wiendish Fitch]

1 hour ago, Spartan Girl said:

I'm ashamed I didn't start adding some so-called heroines that suck myself! Allow me to contribute:

Elizabeth in Pirates of the Caribbean was poratayed as this big rebellious heroine, but to me she just came off as this spoiled fickle rich girl. Serious side eye to how she was flirting with Norrington and Jack while being engaged to Will.

And I hated how Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood portrayed Vivian as this unsung heroine when all she did was treat her husband and kids like crap. And why? Because her former fiancé was killed in war? Puh-lease.

Some people (namely the creator of the comic "Stone Soup") gave the late Roger Ebert crap for panning Divine Secrets, but I think he hit the nail on the head regarding Vivi's character and the story as a whole: The Ya-Ya Sisterhood is rubber-stamped from the same mold that has produced an inexhaustible supply of fictional Southern belles who drink too much, talk too much, think about themselves too much, try too hard to be the most unforgettable character you've ever met, and are, in general, insufferable... [Vivi] gets drunk, pops pills and stars in her own mind.

Hey, I find characters like that unbearable, too, regardless of gender. 

1 minute ago, Popples said:

We were supposed to root for Rose? I've never seen anyone say she was heroic, those people must be crazy. She was the ultimate stage mom and her daughters were suffocating due to her infantilization of Gypsy and June and never wanted either of them to become functional adults. As much as I love the song "Rose's Turn", a better ending would have been Rose finding out Gypsy went to the party and left her behind in the theater all by herself.

It sure seems that way to me, from what I've read, but I have a rich, colorful history of being wrong.

But, yeah, I hated Mama Rose, and Gypsy should have left her alone with her stupid, unrealized dreams.

[GHScorpiosRule]

On 5/29/2018 at 1:51 PM, Wiendish Fitch said:

 

I ask you all: Whatever happened to this Batman?

Aside from Christian Bale’s Batman (I’majustgonnaignoretheGODAWFULvoice(though it was fine in Begins))-Nolan got THE DARK KNIGHT RIGHT, you can find the Batman in that panel in Bruce Timm’s DCAU-Batman: The Animated Series(even though the last “stylized”season had him acting like a RAGING ASSHOLE-I’ve vented my spleen in that forum);Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League/Justice League Unlimited, and most of the straight to home dvds/Blu-rays. All due to the excellent writing, and let’s not forget, the AWESOME TALENT of ❤️???❤️KEVIN!FUCKING!!CONROY!!!❤️???❤️

On 5/31/2018 at 11:50 AM, Lugal said:

I blame Frank Miller.

So do I. ???????

On 6/2/2018 at 4:10 PM, Wiendish Fitch said:

That's both fair and unfair; hell, I blame Frank Miller for global warming.

 

I think it’s fair. I remember his contempt for the Bats and Supes friendship; he said these two should NOT be Friends. And then those FUGLY ASS animation didn’t help.

Edited June 4, 2018 by GHScorpiosRule

[VCRTracking]

Don Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar aka "El Cid" from the titular movie El Cid, and it's not because he was played by Charlton Heston(who I've actually liked in other movies). El Cid is just a self-righteous asshole IMO.

Edited June 4, 2018 by VCRTracking

[Wiendish Fitch]

2 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Aside from Christian Bale’s Batman (I’majustgonnaignoretheGODAWFULvoice(though it was fine in Begins))-Nolan got THE DARK KNIGHT RIGHT, you can find the Batman in that panel in Bruce Timm’s DCAU-Batman: The Animated Series(even though the last “stylized”season had him acting like a RAGING ASSHOLE-I’ve vented my spleen in that forum);Superman: The Animated Series, Justice League/Justice League Unlimited, and most of the straight to home dvds/Blu-rays. All due to the excellent writing, and let’s not forget, the AWESOME TALENT of ❤️???❤️KEVIN!FUCKING!!CONROY!!!❤️???❤️

So do I. ???????

I think it’s fair. I remember his contempt for the Bats and Supes friendship; he said these two should NOT be Friends. And then those FUGLY ASS animation didn’t help.

 

Kevin Conroy was, is, and always will be my Batman. I just used that panel from "From the Man Who Has Everything" because it's a great story, even though

Spoiler

that little puke Jason Todd is the one who saves the day, not Wonder Woman.

 

Come to think of it, given how repellant the character has become in recent years, I think Adam West was a more respectable Batman (hell, at least West's Batman cared about people).

Edited June 4, 2018 by Wiendish Fitch
Because italics make all the difference.

[VCRTracking]

It all depends on who's writing him:

 

Edited June 4, 2018 by VCRTracking

[Spartan Girl]

How about Bilbo Baggins? He's just the epitome of failure since him keeping the ring for all those years got Frodo sucked into that whole mess. Yeah, he at least showed remorse over it in the first movie but I swear every time I see the end of ROK when he's mewling about how he'd love to hold that ring one more time I wanna smack him. I don't care that he was senile at the time, THE RING WAS NOT WORTH IT.

Of cousrse the King of all heroic failures in those movies had to be Thorin Oakenshield. His heroic moment at the end doesn't make up for his gold madness getting that town destroyed.

[Dandesun]

On 6/2/2018 at 12:44 PM, Spartan Girl said:

Someone on another thread pointed out that Jack Sparrow is nothing more than an asshole who is portrayed as a hero. Gonna have to agree. Even when he does the "right" thing, it's only when it's convenient for him (or when he's out of other options).

I enjoy Jack Sparrow for what he is, which is definitely NOT a hero. He's a rogue who is pretty much in it for himself no matter what. Will Turner is the steadfast hero of the first trilogy up to and including the fact that he was sacrificed for the greater good. It's just that Jack's flashier so the attention goes to him.

But, truthfully, I never thought that the Pirates movies would work without Will as the foil to Jack. The rogue can only very rarely shoulder the burden of the story alone. They generally need the more 'heroic' character to play off of and be the straight man to their roguish shenanigans. Otherwise it becomes a bit farcical. Especially in swashbuckling tales like the Pirates movies are.

[Joe]

2 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

How about Bilbo Baggins? He's just the epitome of failure since him keeping the ring for all those years got Frodo sucked into that whole mess. Yeah, he at least showed remorse over it in the first movie but I swear every time I see the end of ROK when he's mewling about how he'd love to hold that ring one more time I wanna smack him. I don't care that he was senile at the time, THE RING WAS NOT WORTH IT.

Of cousrse the King of all heroic failures in those movies had to be Thorin Oakenshield. His heroic moment at the end doesn't make up for his gold madness getting that town destroyed.

Bilbo didn't know that the ring was evil. If anything, it's Gandalf's fault for not working out what was happening and taking action sooner.

[VCRTracking]

2 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

How about Bilbo Baggins? He's just the epitome of failure since him keeping the ring for all those years got Frodo sucked into that whole mess. Yeah, he at least showed remorse over it in the first movie but I swear every time I see the end of ROK when he's mewling about how he'd love to hold that ring one more time I wanna smack him. I don't care that he was senile at the time, THE RING WAS NOT WORTH IT.

Of cousrse the King of all heroic failures in those movies had to be Thorin Oakenshield. His heroic moment at the end doesn't make up for his gold madness getting that town destroyed.

When Tolkien first wrote "The Hobbit" the ring was just a magic ring and the Gollum gave it up willingly when Bilbo wins the riddle contest. When Tolkien was writing the sequel The Lord of the Rings, he made it the One Ring and revised second editions of The Hobbit so that Gollum would be more aggressive and angry over losing it.

There are many things wrong with Staying Alive, the 1983 sequel to Saturday Night Fever, but the biggest is that it expects the audience to root for Tony Manero, who went from immature but good-hearted  kid in the first movie, to narcissistic misogynist: The podcast How Did This Get Made? did an episode about it and  guest writer Katie Dippold said it best:
 

Quote

 

DIPPOLD: "It seems like it's a story about a character that wants something but he's demanding it from two women and he has to learn his lesson. That's what it SEEMS like, but I don't know if (writer-director) Sylvester Stallone was in on that, you know what I mean? Like it almost seems like if Sylvester Stallone would give a log line of this movie, it would be like 'Ugh, these two broads are giving him a hard time!'"

JASON MANTZOUKAS: 'He just wants to dance and these bitches be weighing him down!'"

 

Edited June 5, 2018 by VCRTracking

[GHScorpiosRule]

7 hours ago, Wiendish Fitch said:

Kevin Conroy was, is, and always will be my Batman. I just used that panel from "From the Man Who Has Everything" because it's a great story, even though

  Reveal hidden contents

that little puke Jason Todd is the one who saves the day, not Wonder Woman.

 

Come to think of it, given how repellant the character has become in recent years, I think Adam West was a more respectable Batman (hell, at least West's Batman cared about people).

 

Da FUCK? That miserable pissant saved them??????? I’m SO GLAD Timm and company changed it for the series. Kevin Conroy’s last line about what Mongul is thinking about once a the Black Mercy was thrown on him, always gets to me:

”Wherever he is, it’s too good for him.”

And Diana proved who was BOSS in that episode. It made me rage, laugh and ugly ? ???

Edited June 5, 2018 by GHScorpiosRule

[VCRTracking]

2 hours ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

Da FUCK? That miserable pissant saved them??????? I’m SO GLAD Timm and company changed it for the series. Kevin Conroy’s last line about what Mongul is thinking about once a the Black Mercy was thrown on him, always gets to me:

”Wherever he is, it’s too good for him.”

And Diana proved who was BOSS in that episode. It made me rage, laugh and ugly ? ???

As I posted above how Batman and Jason Todd's Robin depended on the writers

Mike W. Barr:

Jim Starlin:

[Spartan Girl]

The Light Between Oceans makes Isabel out to be a long-suffering heroine that oh-so selflessly gives up her adopted/kidnapped daughter. HORSESHIT. The bitch almost let her husband go to death row while "struggling" with who to choose. Any person with a shred of decency wouldn't have taken that long to do the right thing.

[proserpina65]

On ‎06‎/‎05‎/‎2018 at 5:26 PM, Spartan Girl said:

The Light Between Oceans makes Isabel out to be a long-suffering heroine that oh-so selflessly gives up her adopted/kidnapped daughter. HORSESHIT. The bitch almost let her husband go to death row while "struggling" with who to choose. Any person with a shred of decency wouldn't have taken that long to do the right thing.

Any person with a shred of decency wouldn't have insisted on keeping the daughter after finding out that her mother was alive and desperate to find her.  I understand that when her husband originally found the baby, she was basically suffering from serious post-partum psychosis as a result of the still birth which had followed at least one miscarriage.  But at the time Tom found out about Hannah, Isabel had long-since recovered.  She was just a lousy person.

[VCRTracking]

TV Tropes calls the examples on this thread, Designated Hero:

Quote

A Designated Hero is a character in a story who, despite being presented as heroic, is actually a Jerkass at best and an arguable villain at worst. This is not the same as the deliberately morally ambiguous Anti-Hero. From the praise they receive from other characters, the narrative, and perhaps Word of God, it is plain that the audience is expected to like and root for the Designated Hero; instead, they have problems that can even inspire pity or, on rare occasions, disgust.

[kathyk24]

On ‎5‎/‎30‎/‎2018 at 7:47 PM, Spartan Girl said:

How about Dumbledore and Snape? Dumbledore certainly made a lot of choices that were supposed to be good, like leaving Harry with the Dursleys. Yes Harry needed his mother's blood protection, but nobody exactly protected Harry for being abused for 10 years.

As for Snape, even if he was working as a "good guy", was still a bully to Harry and other non-Slytherin students.

Amen! Dumbledore should have paid more attention to Harry while he was growing up. He might have chosen to befriend Draco instead of rejecting him. Snape also had no excuse for being mean to Neville Longbottom.

[Spartan Girl]

Jamie Foxx's character in Law Abiding CItizen. All his preaching about working with an imperfect justice system was just a cover for the fact that he made a deal with the murderer of Gerard Butler's family so he wouldn't risk tarnishing his perfect winning streak as a DA. Literally everyone else in the movie admitted it was a bad choice, but not him. He had zero remorse over it. So yeah he was an awful "hero".

Edited June 16, 2018 by Spartan Girl

[VCRTracking]

This makes a very convincing case why Val, the son of Albert and Armand in The Birdcage is the worst character and the real villain, not the conservative senator played by Gene Hackman:

[Cobalt Stargazer]

20 hours ago, VCRTracking said:

This makes a very convincing case why Val, the son of Albert and Armand in The Birdcage is the worst character and the real villain, not the conservative senator played by Gene Hackman:

 

It always makes me so sad to see Albert trying to sit 'like a man' instead of the way he normally sits because he wants to make Val happy.

[Spartan Girl]

Yeah, I hated that Val initially dismissed Albert's role in his life. He does make up for it at the end when finally tells the senator that Albert is, despite being a man, his mother. But that video was right, he owed them a lot more than that.

Edited August 12, 2018 by Spartan Girl

[tennisgurl]

On 5/29/2018 at 1:51 PM, Wiendish Fitch said:

Isn't it just swell that Batman plots and attempts to murder Superman, the Man of Tomorrow, Last Son of Krypton, Fighter for Truth, Justice, and the American Way... but he won't kill the fucking Joker?!?!?

Batman in Batman V Superman is like a psychotic, murderous J. Jonah Jameson. "That Superman is a menace! A menace!" I get that they were going for an older, darker Bruce, but that was just ridiculous, and they didnt do near enough to redeem him later on. The guy was less of a dark anti hero and more of a deranged serial killer who took his violent urges out on criminals because they're a more socially acceptable victim. Then went after Superman because...Bruce is a big space racist who wants to murder Clark because he happens to have super powers. So, dude is a demented combination of Dexter, J. Jonah Jameson, and every bad guy from an X Men movie. Our hero ladies and gents! 

And, I know this has been covered over and over in other threads, but I freaking hate Julianne Moore's character from Crazy Stupid Love, and how we’re supposed to have so much sympathy for her. She cheated on her husband, several times, and left him without warning, never really tried to make amends or apologize, and then the movie treats HIM like the asshole for daring to try and move on, and for "not fighting for her". Then he has to give the big speech and apologize to her! Even though she was the one who cheated when she was unhappy, instead of talking to her husband like an adult! 

Edited August 13, 2018 by tennisgurl

[Spartan Girl]

5 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Batman in Batman V Superman is like a psychotic, murderous J. Jonah Jameson. "That Superman is a menace! A menace!" I get that they were going for an older, darker Bruce, but that was just ridiculous, and they didnt do near enough to redeem him later on. The guy was less of a dark anti hero and more of a deranged serial killer who took his violent urges out on criminals because they're a more socially acceptable victim. Then went after Superman because...Bruce is a big space racist who wants to murder Clark because he happens to have super powers. So, dude is a demented combination of Dexter, J. Jonah Jameson, and every bad guy from an X Men movie. Our hero ladies and gents! 

And, I know this has been covered over and over in other threads, but I freaking hate Julianne Moore's character from Crazy Stupid Love, and how we`re supposed to have so much sympathy for her. She cheated on her husband, several times, and left him without warning, never really tried to make amends or apologize, and then the movie treats HIM like the asshole for daring to try and move on, and for "not fighting for her". Then he has to give the big speech and apologize to her! Even though she was the one who cheated when she was unhappy, instead of talking to her husband like an adult! 

CAN I GET AN AMEN?!

God, if there's one thing I hate more than a despicable character, it's a despicable character that plays the victim, and that bitch did that the whole fucking movie.

[andromeda331]

Didn't her character in the Kids Are All Right also cheat on her spouse and get away with it? The person she cheated with (who was also the sperm donor of their kids who tracked him down when they were teens) end up getting all of the blame?

[Spartan Girl]

How about every single member of The Family Stone?  A bunch of nasty judgemental hypocrites masquerading as a loving open-minded family.

Also Meredith's so-called sister, who instead of supporting her like she was supposed to, joined in on the judgement and basically stole her would-be fiance away from her.  But considering that Everett was a jerk, maybe she unintentionally did Meredith a favor on that one.

[Morrigan2575]

On 8/11/2018 at 7:08 PM, VCRTracking said:

This makes a very convincing case why Val, the son of Albert and Armand in The Birdcage is the worst character and the real villain, not the conservative senator played by Gene Hackman:

I always thought Val was a POS, glad to see I'm not alone

On 8/13/2018 at 8:33 AM, andromeda331 said:

Didn't her character in the Kids Are All Right also cheat on her spouse and get away with it? The person she cheated with (who was also the sperm donor of their kids who tracked him down when they were teens) end up getting all of the blame?

Yes and boy did that piss me off.

[tennisgurl]

On 8/13/2018 at 6:33 AM, andromeda331 said:

Didn't her character in the Kids Are All Right also cheat on her spouse and get away with it? The person she cheated with (who was also the sperm donor of their kids who tracked him down when they were teens) end up getting all of the blame?

Uggggg yes. The Kids Are Alright is so deeply overrated, if you ask me. I have no clue why it got an Oscar nomination for best picture. It had some good performances, and ideas, but the cheating plot was an absolute mess. Not only does Julianne Moors character get away with cheating on her wife (again, for no real reason that we see) while blaming it all on sperm donor guy, he gets cut out of the kids lives, after they invited him into them, while she gets nothing but some mild silent treatment for a scene or two. Also frustrating was that she kept trying to justify it by saying that because he happens to be a guy that it "doesn't count" and that she is still a lesbian, which...huh? It still counts, no matter the gender, and being bisexual is a thing! As are tons of other things! 

[andromeda331]

2 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Uggggg yes. The Kids Are Alright is so deeply overrated, if you ask me. I have no clue why it got an Oscar nomination for best picture. It had some good performances, and ideas, but the cheating plot was an absolute mess. Not only does Julianne Moors character get away with cheating on her wife (again, for no real reason that we see) while blaming it all on sperm donor guy, he gets cut out of the kids lives, after they invited him into them, while she gets nothing but some mild silent treatment for a scene or two. Also frustrating was that she kept trying to justify it by saying that because he happens to be a guy that it "doesn't count" and that she is still a lesbian, which...huh? It still counts, no matter the gender, and being bisexual is a thing! As are tons of other things! 

I thought so too. I hated the cheating and I hate that her character got away with it. He got all the blame and kicked out of their lives while nothing happened to her. Why was it all his fault? It takes two to tango. He shouldn't have gotten involved with one of his kids moms but she shouldn't have gotten involved with him either. She sees her kids are getting attached to him especially her daughter and when everything hits the fan. She shows zero remorse for what she did, for hurting her wife and her kids, and causing her daughter to sever that relationship. Nope, who cares, she gets forgiven and forgotten while he gets kicked completely out and blamed for everything. Why did she cheat on her wife? Why does it not count if she's lesbian? It still counts. Why wasn't she bisexual? Why did they need a cheating part at all? 

[Cobalt Stargazer]

15 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

I thought so too. I hated the cheating and I hate that her character got away with it. He got all the blame and kicked out of their lives while nothing happened to her. Why was it all his fault? It takes two to tango.

Because men.

Sorry, but it needed to be said.

[Spartan Girl]

I'm gonna hate myself for this one because I LOVE The Blues Brothers, and Jake and Elwood were trying to help the orphans...but just because their intentions were good doesn't change the fact that they did intentionally cause a bunch of car crashes in which people may have gotten hurt or killed -- the Nazis don't count though.

[PepSinger]

On 8/13/2018 at 1:12 AM, tennisgurl said:

Batman in Batman V Superman is like a psychotic, murderous J. Jonah Jameson. "That Superman is a menace! A menace!" I get that they were going for an older, darker Bruce, but that was just ridiculous, and they didnt do near enough to redeem him later on. The guy was less of a dark anti hero and more of a deranged serial killer who took his violent urges out on criminals because they're a more socially acceptable victim. Then went after Superman because...Bruce is a big space racist who wants to murder Clark because he happens to have super powers. So, dude is a demented combination of Dexter, J. Jonah Jameson, and every bad guy from an X Men movie. Our hero ladies and gents! 

My mom's friend and I started laughing at all the murders he was committing, especially during that car chasing scene. I thought they were trying to go for an Absurdist Batman at one point because of the sheer ridiculous that was on my screen. Also, how dare Clark cause a mess while trying to save Earth! He could've at least called housekeeping! *rolls eyes*

[Wiendish Fitch]

1 hour ago, PepSinger said:

My mom's friend and I started laughing at all the murders he was committing, especially during that car chasing scene. I thought they were trying to go for an Absurdist Batman at one point because of the sheer ridiculous that was on my screen. Also, how dare Clark cause a mess while trying to save Earth! He could've at least called housekeeping! *rolls eyes*

I'm still pissed that Batman decided to break his no-kill policy on Superman instead of, oh, I dunno... the Joker?!?!

Sorry to beat a dead horse, but I will never not be astronomically annoyed by this. 

Anyhoo, I roll my eyes whenever people praise Mia Wasikowska's Alice for being a feminist hero. Not only do I find her a prissy bore, but she's also an utter hypocrite; she sings the praises of being mad, but meanly judges her possibly senile aunt for having "delusions". 'Cause, you know, crazy is only appealing if you're young, cute, and blonde. Go to Hell, Alice... or better still, go to Jan Svankmajer's Wonderland.

Edited August 23, 2018 by Wiendish Fitch

[Spartan Girl]

Casey Affleck in Gone Baby Gone was a self righteous hypocrite. Look, we can spend all day debating whether it was "wrong" to take Amanda from an abusive home without the legal approval, but at the end of the day, that dipshit fell for the bitch mother's victim act and took Amanda from a loving surrogate family and sent her right back to being abused and neglected.

[proserpina65]

15 hours ago, Spartan Girl said:

Casey Affleck in Gone Baby Gone was a self righteous hypocrite. Look, we can spend all day debating whether it was "wrong" to take Amanda from an abusive home without the legal approval, but at the end of the day, that dipshit fell for the bitch mother's victim act and took Amanda from a loving surrogate family and sent her right back to being abused and neglected.

Unfortunately I can't agree with this, as much as I want to.  Legally he had no choice, and really, ethically as well.  There are plenty of ways to deal with a situation like the one in the movie - yes, they don't always work and can take a long time, but you don't go straight to 'kidnapping'.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

Ferris Bueller.

Smart?  Oh yeah.  Witty?  You betcha.  Leadership?  Lots.

Yet, look at who he was and how it manifested.  Elaborate system to fool his parents, who have done nothing to mistreat him.  Nothing.  ID theft?  Ask The Sausage King.  Pushing his "friend" into unreal anxiety?  Respect for property of others?  Vroom.  Vroom.  Lessons learned at the end?  Anarchy is the way to go.  You be you.  Nothing, and no one else, matters.  

In sum...a tyrant.  

I am not saying the movie wasn't a hoot and undeserving of its iconic status.  It was.

[Blergh]

OK, this may be better for the UO thread but I always thought the Risky Business protagonist Joel was a smarmy, snotty greedy pimp who didn't care how he exploited Lana and her associates to get into college- and I don't care how cute everyone else thought it was for Tom Cruise to glide across the floor in socks! I kept wishing Lana, her associates, the Princeton recruiter, his parents, ANY character would have called Joel out and dissed him for having done that (and in the family home to boot) but he came through the movie completely untouched and just smugly congratulated himself on his enterprise - regardless of how many other lives got jaded and possibly ruined by his stunts!

[Browncoat]

3 hours ago, Blergh said:

I don't care how cute everyone else thought it was for Tom Cruise to glide across the floor in socks!

I don't think it was the socks....  ;)

[Spartan Girl]

10 hours ago, Lonesome Rhodes said:

Ferris Bueller.

Smart?  Oh yeah.  Witty?  You betcha.  Leadership?  Lots.

Yet, look at who he was and how it manifested.  Elaborate system to fool his parents, who have done nothing to mistreat him.  Nothing.  ID theft?  Ask The Sausage King.  Pushing his "friend" into unreal anxiety?  Respect for property of others?  Vroom.  Vroom.  Lessons learned at the end?  Anarchy is the way to go.  You be you.  Nothing, and no one else, matters.  

In sum...a tyrant.  

I am not saying the movie wasn't a hoot and undeserving of its iconic status.  It was.

This literally JUST got posted:

[Wiendish Fitch]

I never liked Ferris Bueller, something about him screamed "sociopath in the making" to me.

I love that video, Spartan Girl.  I always felt for Jeanie Bueller.

Edited August 25, 2018 by Wiendish Fitch

[VCRTracking]

10 hours ago, Blergh said:

OK, this may be better for the UO thread but I always thought the Risky Business protagonist Joel was a smarmy, snotty greedy pimp who didn't care how he exploited Lana and her associates to get into college- and I don't care how cute everyone else thought it was for Tom Cruise to glide across the floor in socks! I kept wishing Lana, her associates, the Princeton recruiter, his parents, ANY character would have called Joel out and dissed him for having done that (and in the family home to boot) but he came through the movie completely untouched and just smugly congratulated himself on his enterprise - regardless of how many other lives got jaded and possibly ruined by his stunts!

Joel just got in way over his head and the rest of the movie is him trying to get himself out of a big mess. Honestly it's a great companion piece to Eyes Wide Shut!

Edited August 25, 2018 by VCRTracking