It’s kind of strange how much we dismiss bad behavior, especially when it comes to movie characters, as some of the most beloved ones are also some of the most awful.
The day off wasn’t harmless
The thing with Ferris Bueller is that, yes, he’s ridiculously easy to like in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. But that’s part of the problem. He creates so much trouble for everyone else because he’s just so selfish, whether it comes from him faking being sick or hacking his school attendance record.
It all comes to a head when he pressures Cameron into taking his father’s prized Ferrari. He knows that Cameron is terrified of the consequences, but no, Ferris doesn’t care. He gets the perfect day, leaving Cameron to deal with a wrecked car. What a nice ‘friend.’
The nanny came with a major secret
Daniel Hillard’s goal in Mrs. Doubtfire is reasonable enough. He wants to see his children more often, and it’s a pretty noble objective, but it’s his method of doing things that’s not so great. First, he sabotages his ex-wife Miranda’s search for a housekeeper. Then he fakes being an elderly British nanny so he can secretly enter her home every day.Â
He then finds out that Miranda’s boyfriend Stu is allergic to pepper and deliberately loads Stu’s food with it. Daniel does end up saving Stu, but still, he did try to poison the guy. Good intentions don’t necessarily erase bad actions.
The romance involved plenty of sneaking around
Most people remember Jack Dawson from Titanic as being a dreamy artist. He was. But his romance with Rose isn’t so nice, as he knows she’s engaged to Cal, yet he keeps encouraging their relationship.
He knows about the pressure from Rose’s family. He just doesn’t care about any of it. Cal is hardly a sympathetic fiancé or anything, so it’s obviously good that Rose ends up with Jack. Still, it’s hard to root for a guy who’s so willing to encourage infidelity.
The rules rarely slowed him down
Everyone remembers Maverick from Top Gun, and really, it’s not hard to see why. He’s got cool sunglasses and a fast motorcycle, as well as huge amounts of confidence. But he’s also way too comfortable with ignoring orders that could end up killing people. Just look at the start, for example.
He’s ordered to land because he has very little fuel, but he chooses to ignore the order and continue flying. He breaks altitude rules while at TOPGUN and buzzes the control tower after being told not to. He also abandons his wingman during an exercise because he wants to chase Viper. He might be brilliant in a cockpit, but he’s also a pretty selfish coworker.
The experiment was rigged from the start
Peter Venkman’s introduction in Ghostbusters is enough to tell you what kind of guy he is. It starts with Venkman running an ESP experiment with two students and desperately trying to impress the female one. To do that, Venkman shocks the other student, a guy.
Not a shock like something surprising, but an actual electric shock. Yes, Peter rigs the whole thing and continually shocks the guy whenever he gets an answer wrong. He tells the woman she’s doing brilliantly, no matter what. Newsflash, flirting shouldn’t involve physically hurting someone else.
Bowling rules got dangerously serious
The Big Lebowski features Walter Sobchak, a guy with the annoying ability to turn almost any small disagreement into something bigger. There’s a scene where another character, Smokey, steps over the line during a bowling game. So, Walter decides to pull a handgun on him.
He points it at Smokey until he accepts a zero. That’s not the only scene like this, as Walter later becomes convinced teenager Larry Sellers stole the Dude’s money. He smashes up a Corvette that he thinks belongs to Larry. That’s not simple loyalty.
The museum excuse covered a lot
Indiana Jones really did make archaeology look cool, starting with Raiders of the Lost Ark. But there’s a darker side to his character that’s not really addressed. Marion, Indy’s love interest, tells him that she ‘was a child’ during their earlier relationship. She says he knew better.
Karen Allen, who plays Marion, says she imagined Marion being roughly 16 at the time, and that makes everything even more uncomfortable. There’s also the fact that Indy’s form of archaeology is nothing more than stealing something and putting it in a museum.
The prank involved someone’s coffee
No social boundary was too much for Stifler in the American Pie movies. He crosses every line, it’s hard to know where to begin. One of his nastier moments comes during the first movie when he humiliates Finch by putting a powerful laxative into his coffee.
Stifler also makes sure there are people nearby, just so that he gets an audience for his prank. It might be brushed off as a harmless college prank, but think about it. Stifler drugs someone because he was jealous.
The Vegas disaster started in one glass
Practically every bad event in The Hangover is because of Alan Garner. He’s the one who decides that the group needs a more exciting night, so he puts illegal drugs into everyone’s drink without telling them.Â
The entire group is left with huge gaps in their memories, and while the whole thing is treated as a joke, it’s really not. Garner deliberately drugged his friends. The truth is, you can’t really justify doing something like that, no matter how funny you might be.
Grandpa wasn’t exactly helping
Grandpa Joe has already spent years tucked up in bed when we meet him. The Bucket family is struggling to get by in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, including the youngest member, Charlie Bucket. Then he wins a Golden Ticket.
Grandpa Joe is somehow then able to jump up and dance around to celebrate. He could’ve used that energy to work and help out the rest of the family, but no. He chose to stay in bed. Things don’t get better at the factory, either, because Joe encourages Charlie to get into trouble.
The first date came with pressure
There’s no denying that The Notebook is one of the most popular romantic films around. The trouble is, Noah doesn’t exactly ease into things, and he essentially forces Allie into saying yes to a date. She initially rejects him, so he climbs onto her Ferris wheel car and hangs from it until she says yes.
He doesn’t care that she’s riding with someone else or that, you know, she has a right to say no. He continues pushing after that scene, too. The movie keeps presenting his persistence as romantic, but really, it’s not.Â
Harry wasn’t told the whole plan
Harry trusts his headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, to know what he’s doing in the Harry Potter films. Dumbledore does, but he also keeps some of the most important secrets to himself, even though they involve Harry. Yes, the Hogwarts headmaster deliberately keeps Harry in the dark.
He just expects Harry to blindly follow. He also shows a lot of favoritism towards Harry and Gryffindor. This really isn’t a guy you’d want teaching your children, let alone being the headmaster of the school.
The circle looked different from below
You might think Pride Rock looks peaceful in The Lion King, and it mostly is. But just think about who’s in charge. Mufasa rules the kingdom, and when Simba is born, animals from across the land are meant to support him. It sounds a lot like a dictatorship.
Mufasa teaches his son about the circle of life and tells him that the lions eat antelope. You know, they’re supposed to eat one of the animals bowing to the royal family. There’s something so twisted about all of that.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
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