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- Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
- New Line Cinema
16 Characters We Hated As Kids But Understand As Adults
Vote up the characters you couldn't stand as a kid, but understand now.
Perspective and experience are a helluva thing. These movie and TV characters were among our most despised growing up, but now we can't help but agree with them. Vote up the ones you think are also much more understood with a bit of time behind you.
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As a child, Squidward was thought to be a deep sea downer. You always related to SpongeBob and Patrick because they were carefree and fun! As we get older though, we start to understand Squidward and relate to his tired demeanor towards the world.
One of the most damning qualities is the fact that he is overworked and underpaid, which I think we can all relate to in this economy. Working over 72 hours a week and getting paid less than minimum wage. How does he even afford to live? It makes sense why he couldn’t care less about his job duties and the customers that come in. Why work hard when he’s getting nothing in return?
He also has the worst neighbors. SpongeBob and Patrick are constantly invading Squidward’s personal space, randomly entering his house when he’s relaxing, sleeping or even just doing a hobby he loves. Talk about an invasion of privacy! I think we can all agree that unless you have an open door policy with certain people, that this is completely unacceptable.
Lastly, what makes Squidward the most relatable is his disgust of people. He’s always thinking that most people are idiots or disgusting and saying things such as “I hate all of you.” I can’t help but feel these things deep down. Humans are the absolute worst, and some people are so selfish and self-centered, they don't even realize there are other humans around them that are affected by what their actions cause… which is even more infuriating.
Just like Squidward, we are all looking for a little peace and quiet, and to be able to afford a nice vacation here and there to relax. Until then, in the famous words of Squidward Tentacles, “I knew I shouldn’t have gotten out of bed today.”
-Sammy Shaum
Relatable?- 2
Jake Houseman - 'Dirty Dancing'
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When 17-year-old Frances "Baby" Houseman (Jennifer Grey) went up to the Catskills with her family, it's doubtful that her father Dr. Jake Houseman (Jerry Orbach) intended the teen to use the family getaway to lose her virginity with the resort's 30-something dance instructor. But Baby had other plans for that fateful summer of 1963…
As much as Dirty Dancing attempted to paint Baby's father as an overprotective, overbearing type who misunderstands artist Johnny Castle (Patrick Swayze) and his dancing ways, every action Jake towards his daughter is absolutely correct. His teenage daughter has been sneaking out to visit a man twice her age. A man who, for all he know, got his dancing partner Penny "in trouble," which he then tried to fix with a back-alley abortion that almost killed her. An abortion he paid for after giving Baby the money, trusting his teen daughter and her judgement. And after a rash of burglaries when Baby is forced to admit to sleeping with Johnny, she turns the tables and guilts him for being disappointed in her.
Not once did her punish her, nor ask her to pay back the money that she took. Instead, he just looked at her and told her he was disappointed in her actions, which to be fair, were abhorrent despite the underlying good intentions.
Baby was wrong. She deserved that corner. Put her in more corners until she learns. She lied about the money (despite the intentions behind it), she lied about her whereabouts, and she manipulated her parents when she was caught. She also didn't warn her sister about Robbie, nor tell her father about Robbie's involvement with Penny "problem," just allowing Johnny to take the fall in his eyes. Is it any wonder why Dr. Houseman doesn't want his underage daughter anywhere near Johnny?
Despite Baby’s actions, Dirty Dancing is still a delightful tale of romance, but it does Dr. Houseman dirty by trying to make him the villain. Truly, he just is trying to do right by his daughter. How can anyone find the fault in that?
-Erin Maxwell
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On sunny, smiling Sesame Street, Oscar the Grouch is the smoggy, scowling cloud.
He’s got matted, olive-green fur, and a permanently vexed unibrow; lives in squalor (a dented trash can); and loves all things dirty, dusty, rotten, and rusty. His favorite number? Zero. His favorite word? “No.” His first lines on the show? “Don't bang on my can! Go away!"
As a little girl praised for being kind, sweet, tidy and accommodating, I had issues with Oscar. I wouldn’t say I HATED him, because that just seems mean, but I didn’t LIKE him much, preferring instead gentle Kermit, lovable Cookie Monster, or another character voiced by Oscar actor-puppeteer Carroll Spinney: Big Bird.Oscar is always cantankerous even though he has such perky neighbors as Bob, Maria, and Elmo. Why won’t he take a bath or comb his hair? Sure, he sings - but about how he loves trash, hates Christmas, and is happy when he’s mad. I couldn’t relate.
I judged. But now I wish I hadn’t.Because Oscar is REAL. He knows it’s okay to be angry, unkempt, and different. He lets his true feelings show and doesn’t follow the crowd. He understands that sometimes people/Grouches just want and need to be alone and grumpy - and that a little dirt can add a lot of character.
As Bob says in one episode after Oscar gives him a Grouch-y makeover, “Being a Grouch is very, very freeing.”“I love trash” Oscar has even been vindicated on the garbage front, with eco-friendly campaigns urging us to reuse and recycle.
Spinney, in his book The Wisdom of Big Bird (and the Dark Genius of Oscar the Grouch), wrote about Oscar: “He gets to say exactly what he wants to say. He tells the truth, even when he probably shouldn’t. The thing I always try to do is make sure that his humanity comes through.”
I see - and love - your humanity now, Oscar. Sorry it took me so long.-Karen Lindell
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Watching LOTR as a kid, you almost forget Boromir after the first movie. This is partly because you WANT to forget him and how he almost took the ring from Frodo, and really he just seemed to whine far too often. But, as an adult you realize how valuable of a character Boromir actually is, and how he’s one of the best examples of what humanity is in the whole series.
Boromir was the golden child, but he never wielded that against his brother. He grew up with a foolish, cruel father and the pressure of leading a nation that was once great, but was starting to crumble. As Sauron and Mordor grew in strength, Gondor grew weaker, and Boromir had to see countless numbers of his own men perish in the battles between the two lands. Battles that HE planned out and executed, even if he didn't have a choice in the matter. The guilt he must have felt would be unimaginable, but he never lost the tiny sliver of hope he had. He kept fighting and kept trying to hold Gondor together as best he could.
Then, the Ring came into the picture. As someone who had spent his whole life fighting the forces of Mordor, Boromir truly believes that they have no hope in getting past their armies and destroying it. Instead, he sees a way out for Gondor, a way to bring back its former glory and repel Sauron - all through the power that the Ring holds. Even so, he decides to trust the council’s decision and becomes part of the Fellowship. And yet, as we know, the Ring can manipulate the emotions of those it comes into contact with. As a child, you think that Boromir tries to take the ring from Frodo because he is weak and greedy, but that’s not the case. Boromir tries to take the ring from Frodo because he is scared. He’s not scared for himself, he’s scared for his country, his family, and having everything he’s worked so hard to protect be destroyed.
And, as we know, he only tries to take the Ring under a moment of manipulation by the Ring itself. Once Frodo flees, he realizes what he’s done and is ashamed. But again, he doesn’t fold under the weight of his decisions and his emotions, he charges back into battle to protect his friends, sacrificing himself in the process. He admits to Aragorn his shame in trying to take the Ring from Frodo, and his hope starts to fade away. But Aragorn brings it back for him, saying that he will take on the burden of his battle, and promises to restore Gondor. With this, Boromir dies with his hope intact, and with true happiness in his eyes as he believes Aragorns words. His friends would be protected, his family would live on, and his country would be saved.
Boromir was a true hero. Half of the people who watch LOTR don’t even know how hard he fought, and how brave he was.
-Charlie Boyle
Relatable?- 5
Miranda Hillard - 'Mrs. Doubtfire'
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It’s pretty en vogue now to acknowledge that Robin Williams’ divorced dad at the center of Mrs. Doubtfire is, at best, truly unhinged. His scheme to impersonate a vaguely British housekeeper in order kidnap (?) his own children on a daily basis is the stuff of nightmares. We’re all adults now, and we can all admit this. But, while it’s easy enough to point out the utter madness of Daniel Hillard's plan, can we reserve some understanding for his long-suffering wife, Miranda?
When you watch the movie as a kid, Miranda, played by Sally Field, is the mom. And, she’s a total downer. She shuts down the party. She’d rather hire a nanny than let the kids hang out with their dad more. She trash talks her ex in front of the kids — which, let’s be honest, still isn’t cool. She meets a new guy who doesn’t seem nearly as fun. Just no good all around. But, as Miranda herself might say: The whole time, the whole time, she was the good guy. Totally reasonable. Doing her best. Reacting wholly appropriately. Daniel’s party did trash the house. Her husband quit his job without discussing it with her or thinking about their family. The new guy is a charming old flame who looks exactly like James Bond, so can’t fault her there. And, everything Daniel does as Mrs. Doubtfire is mean, manipulative, and cruel. Maybe Daniel isn’t evil, but Miranda sure ain’t, and I know that now.
-Anthony Barstow
Relatable? - 6
Mr. Stratford - '10 Things I Hate About You'
Walter Stratford is a maniac. He's every overbearing, over-protective helicopter parent blown up to cartoonish mega-proportions. He's not just obsessive, authoritative, and unreasonable, he's also way over the top: His career as an obstetrician “up to [his] elbows in placenta all day long” has left him fully paranoid about teenage pregnancy. He's so beyond worried about it that he concocts elaborate deals to ensure his neither Kat nor Bianca date. The lunatic makes Bianca wear “the belly” before going to a party.
While I didn't have overbearing, over-protective helicopter parents, I was squarely in the teen audience for 10 Things I Hate About You, and I was just as annoyed by Mr. Stratford as any eye-rolling youngster living by the adage that parents just don't understand.
As a childless man, I can't speak to how accurate Mr. Stratford's mania is to the actual experience of parenting. As a grown-up, however, I now understand this frantic, besieged man more than I ever imagined. His methods may be madness, but the horrifying fact is that Mr. Stratford isn't entirely wrong. In the world of 10 Things I Hate About You, “that hot rod” Joey Donner does exist. He and a whole array of self-interested boys are actively plotting around and lying to both Bianca and Kat. The endlessly unctuous Joey already damaged Kat's psyche years before, now he's planning on doing the same to Bianca. Their dad's methods may be impractical, but his concern is genuine. Speaking of genuine, he ultimately lets Kat make her own decision on college, and this single father even reveals a hidden depth and self-awareness in his achingly sincere final scene.
He's an overbearing weirdo, but Walter Straford is also down. He's got the 411, he raised two exceptional daughters who aren't getting jiggy with some boy, no matter how dope his ride is.
-Tucker DeSaulnier
Relatable? - 7
Pete - 'Shaun of the Dead'
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Bad roommates are the absolute worst and Shaun and Ed make it look easy. Young me thought there could be nothing better than staying up to the early hours of the morning playing video games and listening to loud music, that it was going to be when life actually started being worth living. Pete on the other hand was a square's square – wearing a tie every day, going to bed early, practicing basic hygiene. What a loser.
Now I don't think I could have lasted half as long as Pete did living with Shaun. Everything I thought I wanted is the exact opposite of what I want now. I'm at the point where a good eight hours of sleep is the best thing in the world and anyone hindering it ranks among my greatest enemies. If you still live with roommates I'm begging you: Be the Pete you want to see in the world.
-Jacob Bryant
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Growing up watching The Brady Bunch reruns was an exercise in seeing how many different ways Jan could mess up. From destroying an anniversary gift to losing Mike Brady’s plans in an amusement park ride, Jan couldn’t do anything right. But now, looking back, I see that she had the terrible misfortune to be human and fallible in a family full of unrealistic goody two-shoes. Sure, Jane could be annoying (who did she think she was fooling with that George Glass business?) but maybe think about how well you’d fare surrounded by living embodiments of perfection. You’d probably want to break an heirloom or two as well. Jan’s biggest flaw? She was the most human of all the Bradys. And for that, we thank her.
-Mark Rennie
Relatable?- 9
Mr. Hector - 'Home Alone 2: Lost in New York'
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In Home Alone 2: Lost in New York, Kevin McCallister once again finds himself separated from his family during the holiday season, this time in the Big Apple. Fortunately, he happens to have his father’s wallet, giving him access to credit cards he can use to not only survive, but thrive. In fact, he uses this unlimited spending to check himself into NYC’s historic Plaza Hotel.
The hotel’s Concierge (who wears a nametag reading “Mr. Hector,” though he’s never referred to by name) immediately suspects something is awry, and for good reason. Young Kevin is never seen with an adult, which is obvious cause for concern, not only for the child’s safety, but for the Concierge himself, who becomes more liable for this glaring oversight the longer it carries on. Now, I recognize that the Concierge certainly takes a haphazard approach to solving the unaccompanied minor mystery, essentially stalking Kevin and even entering his suite without permission. However, he’s traumatized at every turn. First, he gets catfished into thinking he’s walked in on Kevin’s uncle taking a shower, which concludes with the prerecorded threat, “Get out of here you nosey little pervert, or I’m gonna slap you silly!” Later, the Concierge and his staff are duped into thinking they are getting mowed down in a spray of gunfire.
As a kid, it’s easy to view the Concierge as a laughable boob. His smug British accent and Cheshire cat smile (courtesy of the legendary Tim Curry) scream “villain!” But as an adult, it’s clear to me that the Concierge is fighting for his livelihood. Hell, he’s fighting for his life. And why? Because a maniacal (though industrious) child who loves playing mind games lords over him with the power of a credit card. The Concierge has everything to lose, least of all is his pride. I shudder at the thought of what his life might look like in the aftermath of ‘Lost in New York’ - an emotionally broken man, most likely jobless, who will forever fear that any suspicious behavior may be the act of a heartless adolescent catfisher.
-T.J. Peters
Relatable? - 10
Head of the MTA - 'Volcano'
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Remember the movie Volcano? It’s about a volcano that quickly forms and erupts from the La Brea Tar Pits (fun fact, most of this takes place just down the street from the Ranker offices). I saw it in theaters when I was kid, but I never fully understood it until I moved to Los Angeles as an adult. That’s because I never understood what a disaster public transit in Los Angeles was until I had to live here and use it. The movie opens with an earthquake that leads to the death of an MTA worker in MacArthur Park. For non-LA dwellers, the MTA is the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and MacArthur Park is a big park — like a crummy Central Park, if you’re familiar. Anyway, that earthquake eventually leads to the volcano happening, somehow.
Tommy Lee Jones plays the hero, and Anne Heche plays the science advisor to the hero in the movie — they have real titles, but they’re not important. They tell MTA Chairman Stan Olber, played by John Carroll Lynch (maybe you know him from The Drew Carey Show) that he needs to shut down the trains. He declines, arguing that it will ruin people’s commute and there is no proof a volcano is going to erupt — again, a thing that has never happened in the civilized history of Los Angeles. Of course, we as the audience think: ‘You fool!’ because he is ignoring the advice of the heroes of the movie. But, let’s look at it from his perspective. Olber’s whole job is to make the trains run on time and get commuters where they’re going. There is no verifiable threat to the trains or people. What happens in the movie is a freak occurrence. And, when one of the trains inevitably is overtaken by lava, he literally sacrifices his own life to save everyone on board. The man’s a hero. I didn’t get it when I was a kid, but as a commuter in this city now, this is the MTA I want to believe in.
-Anthony Barstow
Relatable? - 11
Mark - 'Field of Dreams'
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Field of Dreams is a nice movie about baseball, nostalgia, missed opportunity, and the power of memory. It’s also like 90% a movie about some guy named Ray who destroys his own cornfield to build a baseball diamond in the middle of nowhere that he makes no attempt to let anyone except ghosts use, and his CYNICAL BROTHER-IN-LAW MARK (booo!!) who can’t see the ghost players and thus doesn’t know what Ray is doing. When the bank is about to foreclose on Ray’s farm because he can’t grow enough corn to pay his mortgage, Mark offers to buy it from him so he doesn’t lose everything (BOOOO!!!) but Ray tells him to buzz off (YEAHH!!!) because THIS cornfield belongs to INVISIBLE GHOST PLAYERS who never fulfilled their dreams.
Mark is positioned as the naysaying real-world cynic, but he’s completely rational the whole time. He can’t see the players until the end of the movie and thus has no reason to believe Ray is anything other than completely delusional. On top of that, Ray also makes seemingly no effort to lease the field out to local high schools or travel teams or anyone else who might provide him with some source of income other than hoping that the ghosts of dead professional ballplayers materialize and people around the world suddenly show up to the middle of Iowa and pay him to watch them scrimmage. Even up until the end, Mark is trying everything to bail out a relative who believes he’s helping baseball ghosts. He’s not just rational; he’s extraordinarily compassionate.
Also, he’s a redhead in an ‘80s movie, so by the William Atherton Rule (the naysaying jerk in Ghostbusters and Die Hard), we just automatically know the movie wants us to root against him. Don’t buy it!
-Dan Hopper
Relatable? - 12
Dean - 'Gilmore Girls'
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When I first watched Gilmore Girls, about two years younger than the actual characters themselves, I detested Dean Forrester. Sure he seems to be a good guy and a great first boyfriend but there were some definite red flags. Upon first viewing, I wanted Rory to be with Jess, who is not without his own problems and cursed Dean for his poor handling of emotions, being possessive, jealous, and with a hair trigger where his anger is concerned. His defense of outdated gender role stereotypes (the episode where they watch Donna Reed) should not go unmentioned. It is also hard to forget how he completely mishandles his relationship/marriage with Lindsay to the point of berating her for answering his cell phone in one particularly horrific episode. All of this culminated in a boiling hot, fiery hatred of Dean.
Then I rewatched the show in my thirties and realized that I was passing judgment on a character that we observe from roughly the ages of 16 to 23. While still holding him fully accountable for this problematic behavior it also became apparent that he had a really hard time growing up in Stars Hollow. From the moment he first expresses interest in Rory, the entire town seems to tell him that she is his soulmate. Then when they break up for the first time (because they are at different places in the relationship, which I think is a healthy thing to do) he is physically attacked by Luke (a grown man twice his age) and is verbally berated by Lorelai, making him feel in very real ways that he missed out on his one true love. It becomes a smaller wonder as to why he has so much trouble getting over Rory. None of this excuses him for cheating on Lindsay or yelling at his partners when frustrated. If nothing else, I just don’t hate him like I used to, I still don’t like him but by revisiting the series, I’ve driven a mile in that car Dean made for Rory and remembered how confusing and permanent teen years can appear to be. I also realized that when defending Donna Reed and traditional gender roles he was also defending his own mom and then I felt kind of bad. So in the spirit of this list, Dean Forrester is a character I hated as a kid but reducing him to simply a "bad guy" means I also reject his attempts to be a caring partner and the complicated realities of young love.
-Alex Alvarez
Relatable? - 13
Meredith Blake - 'The Parent Trap'
As a child there were few villains who could live up to Meredith Blake in The Parent Trap. She was conniving and stood in the way of not only Annie and Hallie's happiness, but true love. Nick and Elizabeth belonged together and Meredith was a no-good-dirty-rotten-evil Step Mom. Well, I am here to publicly admit that I was wrong. Not only was I wrong, I would now argue that Meredith is the victim here. Frankly, there's a strong case that the entire Parker-James family are straight-up psychopaths. Let's look at this from her perspective.
She's 26, at the peak of her life, and in the midst of a thriving PR career. She's so successful that she lands a job doing PR for a major winery in Napa. Once there, she meets a dashingly handsome (hello, Dennis Quaid) vineyard owner who sweeps her off her feet with romantic dinners and horse rides. Let's talk about how for almost anyone this would be a dream come true. Love, money, wine? Sign me up.Then he proposes to you and everything couldn't be going better. He has a child (which you're fine with) and come the first day she's home you go to meet her. Then, almost immediately this 11-year-old splashes you and says her Dad sleeps around and you're one of many (ok, also weird thing to say about Dad). You brush it off until every attempt to be nice to her is met with pure hatred.
Then, when you head to San Francisco to introduce your fiancee to your parents, the real horror movie begins. You soon find out that he has a whole second child, that HE NEVER EVEN TOLD YOU ABOUT. Who ships their child off with their mother and simply never mentions their existence again??? (Literally, psycho behavior.) Not only has he never mentioned the child, she and his ex from 11 YEARS AGO IS THERE. Word to the wise, if you are at what is essentially an engagement party and your ex from a decade ago shows up unannounced you should call the police. Now, both children have decided to have some weird vendetta against you. Also, let's not forget that the girl you thought you met wasn't even Hallie, but Annie who'd switched identities. Yet another creepy and very weird thing to do. Not only do they pull pranks to embarrass you, they put you in literal danger by pushing your mattress out in the lake while you're sleeping. Then, when you react as any normal human being would, your fiancee tells you to take a hike. Frankly, after all of this, I think Meredith lucked out here because she avoided an emotionally stunted man who lies and passes his sociopathic behaviors onto his children. You go Meredith Blake, I hope wherever you are, you're living the life you deserve and sipping on a strong cocktail to forget the trauma of the Parker-James family.
-Daren DeFrankRelatable? - Photo:
Avatar The Last Airbender seems a lot more black and white when you watch it as a kid. Team Avatar are the good guys, the Fire Nation is bad (except for Iroh and Zuko once he switches sides), and Azula is the WORST. However, watching it as an adult, you can see more of the grey area, the nuances that make these characters who they are and prove that nobody is just “evil” or “good,” they’re formed by those around them and the experiences they have when they’re young.
Is Azula cruel, and calculating, and somewhat psychotic? Yes. BUT SHE WAS ONLY 14.
That’s right everyone, in case you didn’t know, Azula was only 14 during the time of ATLA. And as you can see in some of the episodes, growing up she felt unloved by her mother (who loved her brother more), which made her crave love and acceptance from her father. She’d do anything for him, and he knew that, so he used her as a tool. She was always powerful, and always too clever and calculating for her own good, and that led to fear. First, it led to fear from other people, including her mother. Then it led to fear in Azula herself, who knew she would never be loved and accepted as she was. So, in order to feel accepted by her father and her nation, she learned to harness that fear to her advantage. Nobody was more powerful than her, nobody could instill fear in others like she could, and thus she became a weapon.
However, as we saw, this “perfect child” began to crack under the considerable pressure she was put under. She had always been better, more powerful than everyone else, but when other people started to catch up - she couldn’t take it. She couldn’t understand it. She was STILL one of the most powerful benders in the world, but fear began to take over her. She was betrayed by her friends, neglected by her father, and haunted by her mother. If she couldn’t use fear to make people love and admire her anymore, what would happen? The answer - a full psychotic breakdown. Her story is truly heartbreaking once you realize how broken she really was.
-Charlie Boyle
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Like any kid drunk on Ecto Cooler in the go-go ‘80s, I loathed Walter Peck with every fiber of my plump little body. Why wouldn’t I? Busting ghosts is fun and this self-serious stuffed shirt's sole purpose is to oppose ghostbusting. He shows up halfway through the movie purely to be a stick in the mud, a petty bureaucratic stooge threatening to rein in the paranormal shenanigans that are the entire point of Ghostbusters. As brought to life by the great, too-good-at-playing-an-a**hole character actor William Atherton, Peck sucks. When the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man's puffy white guts rain down on Peck at the end of the movie, I always felt like cheering, like justice was being done. He is, I thought, just as much of a villain as Gozer the Gozerian.
Slowly but surely, so slowly I didn't notice it happening, my view of Peck changed with every rewatch. Sure, he's confrontational and querulous, but it's actually Peter Venkman who stonewalls Peck first, refusing to give so much as an inch to the EPA despite the fact that, by the Ghostbusters' own admission, each one of them hops around a densely populated metropolitan area wearing unlicensed nuclear accelerators on their backs. This is exactly the sort of commercial operation the EPA should be investigating. Yeah, Peck pushes too far, but Venkman set the terms in their first interaction, leaving Peck little choice but to escalate. And yeah, he's astonishingly unlikable, but he's an almost certainly underpaid, undervalued civil servant who has to deal with self righteous captains of industry just like Peter “More Like a Game Show Host” Venkman.
Peck definitely isn't a hero, but it took years of working my own stooge jobs to see that he's also not a villain. He's just a d*ckless midlevel bureaucrat trying to do his job. Aren't we all?
-Tucker DeSaulnier
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Yes, we’re going to talk about that Carter Burke. I didn’t even hate the Xenomorphs as a kid, they are the perfect organism and I tend to admire their purity. But I definitely and righteously so despised Paul Reiser’s expert portrayal of a representative of the Weyland-Yutani corporation. For me, he is the embodiment of corporate greed, valuing the potential for profit over human life. Then came the inevitable musings that occur after multiple viewings of one of my favorite films of all time. If Carter Burke is all bad, a true evil as I used to see him, then why does he appear to be a genuine advocate for Ellen Ripley for about the first third of the film? I doubt it’s because the company wants him to be since we are led to believe that they are solely driven by self-interest and there’s little to no margin in showing compassion for an employee who admits to purposefully destroying a sizeable investment for Weyland-Yutani ~50 years prior.
Now comes the part where I, do not defend but understand why he attempts to use Ripley and Newt to smuggle alien embryos past quarantine when they will eventually return to Earth. I don’t think Burke starts out all that bad. He’s a pencil pusher; a light-blue-collar guy doing his job day-in-and-day-out. Then he’s presented with a unique situation where he has to help a company employee reassimilate into a “future” world after having spent half a century asleep in a cryotube. He even shows genuine sympathy when breaking the news that Ripley’s daughter had passed away. From there he’s thrust into a terrifying life-or-death scenario and makes some truly horrifying decisions. So what changed, is he genuinely evil or the symptom of a corporate system that instilled in him a twisted instinct to abandon camaraderie for personal gain? When I asked myself that question, my disdain for the character morphed into a begrudging allowance to see him as a flawed individual more deserving of pity than malice. Here is a seemingly decent guy who does his best to get Ripley acclimated to her surroundings before ultimately betraying her and the Colonial Marines. I think this happens because when faced with extreme existential dread and the very real threat of becoming an alien incubator, he resorted to the tenets (I imagine) instilled in him by Weyland-Yutani. When in doubt, always take the road that leads to the most profitable outcome for the company.
-Alex Alvarez
Relatable?
