Is there any person more underappreciated than the garbage man? They deal with our junk, haul it around all day, and then have to go and unload before going back out again. Their truck typically stinks depending on what’s in it, and on especially hot days you can probably smell them coming a half mile away. But they are an important fixture in society as they provide a service that is just as necessary as it is nasty. Treating the garbage man with some respect is just as important as treating anyone else in the same manner.
Here are a few films and one show that highlight the importance of the garbage man.
5. Malcolm in the Middle
If the clip doesn’t load I apologize, but the gist of it is that during episode three in season six Hal decides to put a cat habitat out on the curb and unfortunately it’s too big for the garbage man to take, though he does take the six pack that Hal leaves as a bribe. When Hal decides to dump his family’s trash on the garbage man’s lawn things take a turn for the worse as the garbage man ups the ante by dumping a full truckload of garbage on Hal’s lawn.
4. Creepshow
These guys don’t really add a lot to the movie aside from paging through the kids comic book at the end and seeing what there is to see. It’s interesting to note however that Tom Savini, the guy responsible for a great deal of movie magic and makeup effects, plays one of the garbage men. And then of course we cut from the garbage men to the moment in which a young boy decides to take his revenge on his father for throwing away his comic book.
3. The Garbage Picking Field Goal-Kicking Philadelphia Phenomenon
So I can buy Tony Danza as a lot of things. A garbage man, an actor, a pitcher even in Angels In the Outfield. But as a kicker for the Philadelphia Eagles I have a little bit of an issue. There’s a reason this movie came and went without many people knowing about it. But it was a definite must have for this list, as Danza plays the role of a garbage man surprisingly well.
2. The Garbage Man
This is where movies tend to go wrong. The Garbage Man is about a pile of junk that essentially comes to life and goes stomping around town on a mindless rampage that makes no sense and is like the worst knockoff of a monster film you could ever imagine. Really, it is a guy dressed in a huge garbage suit shambling around trying to look scary. It’s place on the list is due mostly to the fact that it’s one of the few clips that could be found, and because just watching the trailer did make me laugh.
1. Men at Work
When it comes to garbage men on film this one can’t be beat by anyone. It’s back when Charlie Sheen was still fairly normal and Emilio Estevez was still acting. The brothers play this off so well that you would think they’d been in dozens of movies together. You’ve got to wonder though if some of that tension on screen is more than just acting.
So there you have it. Respect the garbage men, they’ve earned it.
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