# Rooting for the Monster in movies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 16, 2017, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145 "2017-06-16T21:56:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2017, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/21 "2017-06-17T21:24:31Z")
**Armageddon**. I was on the side of the asteroid. I cheered when Bruce Willis’s character died. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2017, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/22 "2017-06-18T04:21:45Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > Does thinking it was OK Hannibal Lector got the chief Psychologist count? Or is that just a matter of an asshole victim getting it? > [@G0sp3l](#): > > That Dr. kind of earned it, so I don’t mind Hannibal getting him. I was imagining wanting Michael Myers to kill Laurie Strode. It kinda casts Starling in a bit of a different light. She heard that Lector escaped and thought about her own safety (and concluded that Lector wouldn’t come after her), but it seems she never gave any thought to who Lector would want to seek out. > [@jtur88](#): > > I felt sorry for the robotic girls in Cherry 2000. And I Rooted for The Amazon Women On The Moon. Who were you rooting for in _Species_? ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/23 "2017-06-19T01:28:18Z")
King Kong, in every version. Except for, maybe, _King Kong vs Godzilla_ where the G-Man is the hero, sort of. Love the old guy. I even recently watched, and liked, the Jack Black version.:eek: Kong is the man. A complete Shakespearian tragic hero. What gal wouldn’t want to show up at the prom with this guy facing down her asshole ex-boyfriend? ---
**Author:** ![Trancephalic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trancephalic/32/380_2.png) [@Trancephalic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trancephalic)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/24 "2017-06-19T01:33:11Z")
Godzilla was the heel in GvsKK; Kong was the face. You remember incorrectly. I always root for the Gremlins because they are hilarious. Maybe the Cenobites, it depends on the victim. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/25 "2017-06-19T05:43:03Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > I definetly was rooting for E.T.'s big brother, which is how I thought of that creature on Super8 though I never thought of it as a monster. Fair point; it’s just that the _Super8_ alien was “The Monster” for story-telling purposes for the bulk of the story. He/she/it became sympathetic through revelation of what the U.S. Government did to him/her/it. ---
**Author:** ![Mavic\_Chen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e56c9b/32.png) [@Mavic\_Chen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mavic_Chen)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/26 "2017-06-19T15:42:34Z")
The monster in [Gorgo(1961)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgo_%28film%29) was pretty sympathetic. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/27 "2017-06-19T15:52:42Z")
I assume we’re not counting where the monster is the hero. Later Showa-era Godzilla and Gamera, for example. I’m rooting for the zombies in The Walking Dead. It’s been this long and the survivors still can’t get their crap together? Depending on how it goes in ASOIAF, I might wind up rooting for the zombies in the books and/or show. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/28 "2017-06-19T17:38:53Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I always root for Godzilla\* I was kinda hoping that Raymond Burr would be whacked. ---
**Author:** ![Dale\_Sams](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/779978/32.png) [@Dale\_Sams](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dale_Sams)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/29 "2017-06-19T17:41:22Z")
Lifeforce. Foe obvious reasons ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/30 "2017-06-19T18:03:37Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > I was kinda hoping that Raymond Burr would be whacked. That version is an abomination and should be expunged! I’ve been re-watching the Toho films and having a blast. The original Godzilla, even with sub-titles, is sooo much better than that Burr travesty. btw, unless you’re forced at gunpoint, avoid Frankenstein Conquers the World. It’s Manos bad. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/31 "2017-06-19T18:37:31Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > That version is an abomination and should be expunged! You’re just angry that they picked Burr instead of Randolph Scott. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/32 "2017-06-19T18:52:37Z")
Alfred Hitchcock was famous for getting audiences to sympathize with/root for the bad guys. The classic example is Norman Bates in “Psycho”, who cleans up after “his mother’s” grisly deeds. As he is pushing the late Marion Crane’s car into a lake, there is a moment when it stops halfway, still sticking out of the water. There is a loooong pause in which Norman silently debates what to do, before the car finally sinks all the way into the lake. Norman, and the audience, breaths sighs of relief. Another famous moment is when the villain in “Stranger on a Train” accidentally drops a key piece of evidence he was intending to use to frame the hero into a sewer drain. There’s a tense sequence as the villain tries to fish the evidence out of the sewer before the good guys’ (who are searching for him) catch up and find him. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/33 "2017-06-19T18:56:29Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > Chet after Lisa transformed him? LOL, Chet. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/34 "2017-06-19T20:20:02Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > You’re just angry that they picked Burr instead of Randolph Scott. > :dubious: 😃 I like to think Randolph Scott would have had too much dignity for that role. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Richard\_John\_Marcej](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_John_Marcej)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/35 "2017-06-19T20:24:45Z")
I’d agree with many here, rooting for King Kong, but only in the original, 70’s remake and _Kong Island_. I wish Kong was **really** real in Peter Jackson’s mess, so that he could have stomped on Jackson and spared us all from further crappy, loooooooong movies of his in the future. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/36 "2017-06-19T20:38:20Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > 😃 I like to think Randolph Scott would have had too much dignity for that role. Scott would have beaten Godzilla in a fist fight. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/37 "2017-06-19T21:58:33Z")
Obligatory Randolph Scott reference [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/yS0efFNShqo/hqdefault.jpg "Randolph Scott") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yS0efFNShqo) ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/38 "2017-06-19T22:30:13Z")
[Sigh.](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/e4/80/a1/e480a19eb35daedc0ac7244294ed6045.jpg) [Randolph](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a8/fa/13/a8fa133b13b4c2be9d35fbd405190060.jpg) [Scott.](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/e0/c7/5f/e0c75fd9337dc2d77326f9b6913758b3.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Marci\_Al](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Marci\_Al](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marci_Al)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/39 "2017-06-19T22:58:05Z")
The mammalian alien in Aliens 4: Resurrection. ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2017, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/40 "2017-06-19T23:19:21Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > [Sigh.](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/e4/80/a1/e480a19eb35daedc0ac7244294ed6045.jpg) > [Randolph](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/a8/fa/13/a8fa133b13b4c2be9d35fbd405190060.jpg) [Scott.](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/e0/c7/5f/e0c75fd9337dc2d77326f9b6913758b3.jpg) When 900 years old, you reach, look as good, you will not. 🙂 torture is so unseemly and of course Randolph would have beat Godzilla, Godzilla has no reach. Plus, hello, he’s Randolph Scott! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145.md?page=3)