Cartoon Crushes?

[pitbulllady]

Originally Posted by Mr. Marshmallow

Randall makes life stressful for himself though. He purposely gets in confrontations with both Mike and Sulley, and doesn't even appreciate those who work for him, let alone the people he hates. Randall's a villain through and through, he's even worse then Waternoose in the movie. Waternoose may have proven to be cold as ice when he said he'd take a thousand children just to save his company, but he also showed regret and sympathy towards what happened to Sulley. He wasn't entirely thrilled with Boggs idea of stealing screams either, he even said "you're not half the monster sulley is".

I absolutely beg...no, DEMAND, to differ with you there! You've insulted me, and no, I'm NOT kidding. I don't bash YOUR favorites, so be prepared for a long defense of Randall Boggs, written from the perspective of a working adult who's been through a lot of what he has, and understands first-hand that no matter how "good" a person you THINK you are, we all have limits.

Randall had no choice but to build the Scream Extractor and choose a human child to test it on. His boss, Mr. Waternoose, controlled his every move and masterminded the whole thing. Waternoose had no qualms about illegally "banishing" his own best friend, Sulley, when SULLEY crossed him, and it was clear that he had no love lost for Randall whatsoever, so what do you suppose he would have done if RANDALL had disobeyed him? I've been in that very situation-given a choice by a corrupt supervisor between committing a felony and losing my job, my sole means of support. I know exactly what it is like, and the toll it takes on you emotionally, to work for someone who hates you. I know what it's like to see that person's friends and family members who work for the same organization get treated like royalty while I got treated like crap. I know what it will do to your personality, too, and how you treat others. Been There, Done That. AGAIN, for those who are short of either real-life experience or common sense, or both, WATERNOOSE, NOT Randall, came up with the whole idea of building the Scream Extractor AND kidnapping children. NO big-shot CEO, anywhere in the Universe, in this dimension or any other, is going to pay any attention to some idea from some lowly Nobody like Randall Boggs, who, to make matters worse, is of a racial minority(only scaly, reptilian monster) at that! That would be like the guy who scrubs toilets at Microsoft's offices approaching Bill Gates with an idea for a new computer chip-AIN'T gonna happen, kiddo! The Universe just does not work that way.

Randall does NOT "purposefully get into confrontations with Mike and Sulley". Mike started the whole thing, because like Bloo, he doesn't find anyone else's jokes funny. He can't take a PRANK played on him by a co-worker, and yeah, that WAS a prank that Randall pulled in the locker room-silly and immature, yes, but I've done similar things and had similar things done to ME by co-workers, to relieve stress on the job, and I was able to laugh it off. Mike, however, feels the need to bring up Randall's second-place position and boast about how he and Sulley(as IF Mike was doing the Scaring himself)are going to beat Randall at breaking the All-Time Scare Record.

We also find out that Randall has apparently been working on designing and building that machine, down in that dark refinery, for two years. I seriously doubt that Waternoose is the patient type, either, who simply would say, "Oh, take as long as you need on this, dear boy"; that SOOO would NOT have happened! He would have, especially in the final days leading up to that movie, been breathing down the back of Randall's neck like a nightmare, constantly reminding him that he was in second place, how lousy a Scarer he was compared to Mr. Wonderful and Furry, and what sort of vile things were going to happen if Mr. Boggs didn't get that machine finished and tested YESTERDAY! I've worked for more than my share of Waternooses, and I know that is how they operate. All this time, of course, Randall still has to work his regular nine-to-five, so no one will be suspicious. And WHEN does that leave for working on the Scream Extractor? Why most nights, of course, along with holidays and weekends...for two friggin' YEARS! Did you know that sleep deprivation is so detrimental to one's mental, emotional and physical health that the Geneva Convention classifies it as TORTURE? Probably not. Now, imagine giving up every free moment you have-every weekend, every holiday, and much of your nights-to spend down in a virtual dungeon slaving away on some machine for someone who hates your guts and never wastes an opportunity to tell you so. Any social life, even that on the internet, that you had would be history. Go ahead, too, and imagine that you CANNOT TELL ANYONE about this, under possible threat on your life! If Randall had had a wife/girlfriend prior to the events of the movie, what do you suppose SHE would have thought, when he started coming home in the wee hours of the morning, all tired and worn out, and started disappearing over the weekends, and the holidays, and refused to tell her what was going on? I bet most female members on this forum would have a really easy answer for THAT one, right, ladies? Not many gals are gonna put up with that, so on top of the sleep loss, the loss of all free/leisure time, Randall most likely would have had a nasty break-up or divorce to deal with, along with the financial sucker-punch that those often bring. He would have just had to let her go; he would not have even been able to tell her!

Now, Mr. Marshmellow, think that YOU would still be Mr. Warmth and Personality after going through all THAT for two years? If you think so, buddy boy, you're kidding yourself, 'cause you definately ain't kidding ME! I don't consider myself an "evil" person, though like everyone else, YOU included, I have my limits, and I'm certainly capable of doing "evil" things. I found myself, as a naive and ignorant Twenty-Something(same age as Randall, who is 25 in the movie), in a similar predicament, like I said. I came pretty darn close to killing someone, I really did. I fantasized about it, since in my stress-induced condition, I had to emotionally find a scapegoat. It was either that, or take my own life. I was like a coyote in a steel trap by that point. I can therefore absolutely, 100% identify with, and understand, Randall's emotional state. If that is what constitutes being a "villain", well, I guess I'm as evil as they get, right? Of course, when I was young and naive, I NEVER would have IMAGINED that I'd ever get to such a low point; I was a good girl after all, and Good People don't do things like that, do they? It's so easy to point fingers when you've never Been There, Done That, or known closely someone who has. Believe me, Karma has much in store for the Perfect People(or so they think) in the world, and it's not gonna be pretty. As a teenager, I would have been the first to point out how "evil" Randall was, but my perspective, as an adult, is quite different, thanks to Karma kicking MY butt a time or two! I got through those dark times because I had something that Randall does not-a FAMILY. I DID have someone to talk to, a shoulder to cry on, somebody I knew would always be there, no matter what. They pulled me in from the brink, before it was too late. I don't think that Randall HAS a family. If YOU disappeared one day from school, or work, how would YOUR family react? Would they just sit by and say nothing while the last person you were seen with gets promoted to some important position? Would they just sit by while that person's buddy puts on a public "company play" in which YOU are ridiculed in front of everyone? If you can answer "yes" to either one of those questions, I feel very, very sorry for you. You're in worse shape than either myself OR Randall, and don't even know it.

Now, how do I know that Randall wasn't always a nasty jerk who had trouble getting along with co-workers? Easy...I WORK for a living. I know that companies do NOT put up with trouble-makers. They don't have to, since there's always somebody just as qualified to do your job, if you can't get along with others. As I've stated, stress WILL change your personality for the worst, though, and turn a person who'se normally easy to get along with into a total jerk...or worse. Everybody has their limits, and for Randall to have coped with all that for two years, his limits were a whole lot higher to begin with that mine every were! Even Wilt has shown that it doesn't take much-certainly not two years' worth-of acute stress to make HIM resort to violence(and I would call deliberately pushing Mr. Herriman down the stairs "violence")and snapping at people. I'd really hate to run into Wilt after two years of the same level of stress that he went through in either "Hiccy Burp" or "Bus The Two of Us", IF he survived that long, that is! Funny how no one considers Wilt to be a "villain" though, since we do get to see his good side, too, AND he's not scaly and reptilian, either.

Sorry to those who are more open-minded and DON'T bash others' favorites for the long diatribe, but I got the title PIT BULLlady honestly, since like my namesake canines, I don't put up with attacks on my favorites or anything or anyone I care about, and I don't turn tail and run like a wall-jumping cur, either.


pitbulllady