Ok Chance has some type of developmental delay that clearly prevents him from caring for himself, he might have some interesting perspectives but he can’t even feed himself much less find work in the workforce.
So we know of at least two people who were total rat bastards and in real life would have condemned Chance to death on the streets.
The old man(Chance’s father?) who despite the fact he was supporting Chance his entire life and knows he cannot care for himself makes no provision in his will for him.
The housekeeper or maid, she has worked there for years and knows all about Chance, because she helps care for him. Yet when the old man dies she literally ups and leaves instantly without even telling a soul about Chance.:smack: In fact she leaves KNOWING without her Chance can’t even feed himself and later Chance is pathetically begging for food. She couldn’t make a damn call to the authorities?
I’ll skip the real estate agent slimeballs that put Chance out.
Is everyone in this movie without a shred of moral fiber?
Well, Shirley MacLaine’s character takes Chance into her home after he was injured by her car. Later, her dying husband encourages Chance to stay on to comfort his soon-to-be-widow. There’s a doctor character played by Richard Dysart that figures out Chance’s condition, but says nothing because by this time Chance has everyone else fooled anyway.
The maid’s actions are a bit callous, now that you mention it, but I don’t recall any strongly-negative characters or villains in the film.
Actually, I met my (future) wife at this movie - I was assigned to see it for English class ( :rolleyes: ), and she was seeing it because she was bored that night and had nothing better to do. Except meet her future husband, of course.
Well, the movie is fable or a parable or an allegory or something; not meant to be viewed as a realistic depiction of realistic people doing realistic things. I don’t think it’s fair to attribute rat-bastardhood on characters in so stylized a story.
Maybe and I understand the need to get Chance out of the house so he can get hit by the right car, but I think it could have been done without making the people look so callous. Maybe Chance wanders away when unattended for a few moments trying to get back to the house, and he is not challenged due to his fancy clothes etc.
Jerzy Kosinski had a pretty dark view of humanity. Being There is positively rosy in its outlook when compared to some of his other writings and given his experiences during the holocaust, it’s a wonder that any of his characters have any positive characteristics.
