credit: Die Hard
Rooting for the hero in a movie is easy enough most times since they’re out to do the most good and the story is usually geared to make them appear as noble or at least as useful as possible. But in such movies, there are usually jerks who are placed there to be the most cringe-worthy individuals they can be, meaning that they say the wrong things, they do what they want regardless of others, and they generally tend to be the types who don’t think they’ll get caught in the process, or who believe that they can talk their way out of anything. A lot of times, these characters end up getting a huge dose of karma that ends with their ultimate humiliation or their death, whatever comes first. But these characters are those that a lot of people aren’t too sorry to see face some form of punishment since, well, they’re just big of a pain in the backside.
5. Carter Burke-Aliens
credit: Aliens
Some characters are suspect from the start since they don’t come off as the type of people that one can really like or trust for one reason or another. It’s too bad really, Paul Reiser is usually such a beloved actor, but there are times when even the most-liked need to perform a heel turn for one movie or another. This character was seen as a sleaze from the first moment he came on screen since he was shown to work for the same company that determined that Ripley and her fellow crewmates on the Nostromo were expendable when a new organism was discovered. The fact that Carter was taken out by one of those same organisms was the type of payback that was to be expected and made a lot of people very happy.
4. Principal Rooney-Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
credit: Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
It’s strange to think that Ferris is manipulative and knows how to get people how to do what he wants and believe that he’s really sick, but Principal Rooney, the guy who’s just doing his job, is seen as a bad guy. Unfortunately, Rooney is a serious jerk since he tends to lord over the school in his own way and isn’t the nicest guy around. This guy might just be another educator trying to keep up with the students who think he’s a joke, but the way he goes about his job makes it clear that he likes the power and the authority that comes with it but is well aware that it can be taken away in an instant if he screws around too much. And lo and behold, his obsession with a single student manages to draw karma right to him.
3. Shooter McGavin-Happy Gilmore
credit: Happy Gilmore
Let’s be completely honest with this character since it’s true that Shooter worked his way into a position to be one of the best golfers in the world, and he wanted nothing more than to win the gold jacket that would prove that his hard work hadn’t been in vain. Unfortunately, one thing he either forgot or never learned was humility since losing to an upstart like Happy, who came upon the sport of golf by some messed-up happenstance, had to be frustrating but could have been handled with a lot more grace. At the end of the movie Shooter simply breaks and tries to take what he feels should have been his, but it doesn’t take long for Happy’s fans to remind him that being a sore loser is never cool.
2. Ellis-Die Hard
credit: Die Hard
Oh Ellis, how much we despised thee. Really, this guy was a seriously horrible character right from the get since, if anyone remembers, he was snorting nose candy off of a desk when he met John McClane, the husband of Holly Gennaro, the same woman that Ellis was trying to use to flex on John. Then, after panicking like a weakling for a while and badmouthing John for daring to stand up to the terrorists, Ellis decides that his silver tongue can get him and everyone else out of trouble by simply talking to the terrorists and getting them to stand down because it’s in their best interest. Huh, boy, some guys need to be reminded that the flash they exude still requires substance to back it up.
1. Percy Wetmore-The Green Mile
credit: The Green Mile
People were actually hoping to see Percy get humbled since he entered this movie as one of the worst-case scenarios of someone suffering from a severe Napoleon complex, or ‘little man’ syndrome. This guy didn’t care who he hurt, who he badmouthed, or who he offended. That’s kind of a poor attitude to have when one is so much smaller than the coworkers they don’t get along with and works in a prison where just about any of the prisoners could fold him up like a lawn chair.
Yeah, watching a jerk get their just desserts is kind of satisfying.
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