# 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:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**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 20, 2017, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/41 "2017-06-20T01:58:01Z")
Run that by again? ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/42 "2017-06-20T02:38:20Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > Run that by again? Even hetero dudes gotta admit there’s a reason why the ladies swooned over Randolph 😃 Or were you talking about Godzilla’s T-Rex like forelegs? ---
**Author:** ![El\_DeLuxo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_deluxo/32/9043_2.png) [@El\_DeLuxo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_DeLuxo)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/43 "2017-06-20T04:09:02Z")
_ **Trog** _. I felt so sorry for the poor, ugly, confused thing that I cried at the end of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/44 "2017-06-20T06:06:01Z")
> [@DLuxN8R-13](#): > > _ **Trog** _. I felt so sorry for the poor, ugly, confused thing that I cried at the end of the movie. Yes, but keep in mind Joan Crawford wasn’t exactly the best mother in the world (allegedly). ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 10:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/45 "2017-06-20T10:17:35Z")
> [@Grrr](#): > > **Splice** I wanted EVERYONE to die in that movie, but especially the screenwriter and director. ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/46 "2017-06-20T16:20:15Z")
> [@Flare4roach](#): > > I think this premise was one of the reasons for the success of Karloff’s “Frankenstein”. Who couldn’t sympathize with him? He was a simple being who only wanted kindness and companionship but was chased down, beaten, chained and tortured at every step. Karloff expressed this confusion of humanity with his eyes and pleading hands. It broke my heart as an 8 year old kid and still evokes those strings today. Remember him playing with the little girl? Smoking a cigar? He just wanted friendship. I think this film and “The Bride of Frankenstein” are masterpieces because of that very reason. The creature had human feelings. I think Hollywood abandoned Frankenstein’s humanity in the remaining films and chose to ride out the creature as more of a monster than human and they suffer because of it. Karloff was quite the sympathetic “monster”. Excellent actor! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2017, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145/47 "2017-06-22T11:34:25Z")
He’s only a “Monster” in a metaphorical sense, but one perfect example is The Jackal in the Fred Zinnemann film _Day of the Jackal_ (which I’m now “re-reading” on audio, which is what brought it to mind). The Jackal of the title is a soulless mercenary killer and assassin. He’s been hired by the French OAS to assassinate Charles de Gaulle. When he learns that his operation has been “blown” and his false identity exposed, he has to decide whether to give up, or to go on, trusting to his preparations to overcome the hurdles of increased security and the manhunt for him. In the book, this internal struggle takes place in a nondescript place, but in Zinnemann’s film it happens rather dramatically when The Jackal pulls his rented convertible to a stop at a literal fork in the road, the sign pointing one way back to Italy (where he entered France), the other to Paris. He sits there in the car, motor running, contemplating the sign, then pulls the roof up on his car, and heads off rapidly and determinedly for Paris. At this point, when I’ve seen the film in theaters, some people in the audience will cheer. Even though the Jackal is pretty clearly an evil person, going to kill someone merely for money and not out of conviction or passion, they admire his determination to confront the forces against him and to fight the odds. I think people admire that sort of self-confidence and bravado, even in the service of despicable goals. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rooting-for-the-monster-in-movies/789145.md?page=2)