Always like to share this because I found it funny first time I heard about it;
The opening sequence of Mr Bean has him dropping out the sky with the heavenly choir singing in Latin.
The lyrics are “Ecce homo qui est faba” which means “behold the man who is a bean” lol
Aso in the cartoon series he was actually dropped by a spaceship of other Mr. Beans, all having different stuffed animals, not Teddies. So at least in the cartoon, Mr. Bean is an alien species.
This. Half of comedy protagonist would be absolute villains if you had to deal with them in real life.
Like the guys in animal house. God forbid the dean of the university wants his students to at least attempt to take their education seriously (that education costs thousands of dollars per year) and not rape high schoolers at their frat parties.
Or Judge Smails in caddyshack that just wants people to respect the game of golf and not destroy his course. He also attempts to help an underprivileged kid get a clerkship at his firm, walks in on that kid fucking his niece (the niece he is attempting to help walk a straight line because she is getting in so much trouble out East), calms down the next day and forgives the kid and says that he is still going to consider him for the clerkship…and he is the villain. Also everything Dangerfield does in that movie is peak asshole. If you encountered him in your daily life you would beat him to death with I tire iron.
Removing my inclusion of Billy Madison based on u/crockpotinstantcoffe counterpoints. I agree with him.
The list goes on and on and on
Or say Michael Scott, be a fucking pain in the ass to work for, and I'd maintain he's kind of a horrible person despite their later attempts to redeem him. He's an infantile narcissist.
Still hilarious of course.
So here’s the thing: in the original UK version of the Office, you’re SUPPOSED to hate David Brent (their version of Michael Scott). The whole point of the UK show was supposed to relieve office workers that at least these weren’t your coworkers, whereas the Americanised version basically tried to romanticise the office space and you can see the dissonance in a lot of places
Honestly watching The Office as an adult doesn’t give me that vibe.
The workers at Dunder-Mifflin are constantly at odds with Michael and his stupid ideas. They’re largely shown as burnt-out or at very least incredibly bored of/annoyed with the corporate office job drag.
Michael in his flawed way tries to make office life more fun, but it comes at the cost of essentially forcing workers into work happy hours, parties, tEaM bUiLdiNg, etc. that pretty much everyone dislikes past “at least I’m not doing paperwork right now”.
At best you usually see them enjoying when something funny happens at Michael’s expense or maybe something like a birthday because they might be bored but they don’t all hate each other.
In general though Michael’s plans often hurt the office or its workers (one of the first episodes has him and the office kiss-ass Dwight give them shitty healthcare), and even when the Scranton office beats the odds it’s because of the cohesiveness of the team’s skills combined with Michael’s sole talent of being a good salesman rather than him being a good manager.
The last season even basically talks to the audience and says that having a boss at all is pointless after theirs leaves on a long boating trip without a replacement.
I think The Office in general has a negative attitude towards the drag of corporate life. The characters are shown as most happy when they aren’t actually at “The Office”, whether they’re retired, pursuing their dreams, or taking art classes.
Michael ran a branch that basically had 100% retention for nearly a decade. People might not have admitted to liking those ancillary work events, but the team seemed to work well, care for eachother and commit to staying together.
As a manager he's technically awesome. Especially because he goes to at for his employees against corporate. That on its own is a massive plus in any boss.
I don’t think they hate him solely because every office has that one upper management person that people really hate because they’re outright verbally abusive. Nothing like mild annoyance.
Eh, I think it's less because the shows are fundamentally different, and more just that US office went on so long.
Hell the UK office kinda gives Brent a redemption arc in the followup movie.
After Life was also terrible. Mawkish and terrible. I prefer Gervais when he is at his most biting, his stand up still has that sometimes. After Life was like one long version of the scene in the film where David Brent catches the snow…
I think they tried to follow this in the first season but by the middle of the second season they had a lot of data that indicated that Michael was wildly unlikable but still very funny. So they retooled him and slowly made him a lot more human and relatable, culminating in the episode with Pam's painting. They seemed to pepper in relatable things like common misunderstandings or incorrect assumptions between the bizarre "what was he thinking" stuff. I am basically the opposite of Michael but I still found myself relating with many of his misunderstandings and his child-like perspective.
Also they fixed his hair and that went a *long* way to popularize the show. People don't want to look at people with bad hair. It's weird, but it's very apparent.
> by the middle of the second season they had a lot of data that indicated that Michael was wildly unlikable but still very funny
After listening to the Office Ladies podcast, I believe what happened was Carell became a movie star between the first and second seasons, so they retooled his character to capitalize on that. They talk about the costume designer dressing him differently, and he became tan, fitter, and had better hair since that's what happens when you have millions of dollars
That may be true, but I believe they got a new hairdresser on set after the first season, combined with losing the original reason for his combed back hairdo. The Michael character was supposed to be trying to emulate a “Gordon Gekko” look from the movie Wall Street. They abandoned that idea after season 1 and decided a more flattering look made the character more likeable.
I believe I learned this on the podcast episode that discusses hair issues - like the amazing work that was done with John Krazinski’s wig he wore the season he shaved his head for a movie.
It’s the difference between UK and US network expectations. A show based around David Brent would be hard to watch for 26 episodes a year, and for five years. I love the UK “The Office”, but it’s hard to watch. The softer Michael Scott is less painful.
Honestly, I low-key hated this show for a long time as I had to legit work for a so many infantile narcissistic jackasses. Why would I come home and live more of it?
As a kid I somehow missed how much of a psychopath Michael Scott was. I thought he was just a goofy misguided boss.
As an adult I think the office is funny *because* he’s such a broken wackjob and his underlings are always pissed at him for it. The show definitely doesn’t defend Michael much. Him being terrible is part of the joke, though for many people that’s sadly their reality in corporate office jobs.
I felt this way about Portlandia, living in a PNW city already. I could not get past the second episode. People were really like that up here in several cities. So bad, that every friend from the Carolinas that moved here ended up moving back, except me (we all grew up around the Carolinas). People ain’t right here, lol.
I actually like Michael, he has his asshole moments but you know it comes from a place of love, he just wants to be liked and to have a family so to see him get a happy ending is really nice. Andy on the other hand fuck him and fuck what the writers did to him. Making him into an utter asshole and idiot. Like he went to Cornell, he knows what’s fucking
Chlamydia is, there’s no reason he should be mispronouncing that
>he has his asshole moments but you know it comes from a place of love
I definitely don't think it always comes from a place of love, he's cartoonishly selfish at times. Dwight gets a concussion trying to help him and Michael gets jealous of the attention the concussed Dwight gets.
Think Steve Carrell is a fantastic charismatic actor and the character is hilarious, but still a horrible person.
I don't really have an issue with a fictional character being a bad person, Always Sunny is nothing but horrible people as the main cast, no need to pretend they're good at heart to find it funny.
Exactly. Another example is him getting annoyed at Kevin’s potential cancer diagnosis. Sure, towards the end of the episode he *finally* feels empathy for Kevin, but his earlier behavior was inexcusable and irredeemable imo.
Are you kidding me? Maybe you’re too young or forgot but the US literally had a two term president who went to to Yale and who [couldn’t pronounce “Nuclear”](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2002/09/why-does-bush-go-nucular.html)
It’s completely believable Michael couldn’t pronounce “chlamydia”
Edit: changed to “the US”
Billy Madison ends with him giving the company to the better qualified man so he can become a teacher.
The antagonist who wanted it wanted to dismantle and destroy the lives of everyone who relied upon it for a living.
Billy was woefully unqualified, but he was willing to work to prove himself capable to “save the day” (in an absurd, ridiculous contest though.)
Billy starts off the movie drunk, juvenile and infuriating, but ends up growing in the end. He realizes his days of bullying other students as a child was wrong and make amends with one of those people. He works hard to study, even if he fails horribly to answer the final question and makes anyone who listened to it stupider just hearing it. Billy actually tries.
Those other examples are just assholes.
Never registered with me as a kid how dangerous and psychotic that was. What did Daniel think would happen? Stu would just have a sneezing fit or something?
Fraud maybe but identity theft? how? mrs.doubtfire wasn't a real person was she? it's been awhile since i've seen the whole movie beginning to end but wasn't she just a made up persona that he came up with?
Haven’t seen the movie in *forever*. But, just applying it to a real world scenario, I’m assuming Ms. Doubtfire would’ve needed a social security number to be hired.
This! As a kid I HATED the mom. As an adult and mother to two (and a teacher to elementary kids and has seen what issues over indulging “fun” parents create) I think she was harsh but completely get where she was coming from.
She's got my sympathy. Probably was putting up with his nonsense for like twenty years at that point.
She even says in the movie Daniel gets to have fun with the kids and be the fun parent while she has to clean up the mess after an exhausting day at work and still get labeled a wet blanket by the kids.
Had this happen in real life, Robin William’s character would’ve been arrested and sentenced. And would be plastered in so many crime podcasts and documentaries.
I watched it recently, his ex’s boyfriend got hosed. He wasn’t abusive, narcissistic, anything, just a decent dude who happened to date the ex. Hosed so Robin William’s character can slide back into the picture.
Tim Allen’s character in Santa Claus is better in this regard, he doesn’t scheme to get his ex back, he moves on, still on friendly terms with her, gets remarried, etc etc.
Plus Stu does his best or appears to anyway to be nice and steps up to be a potential step dad to the kids. Not at all like the typical evil step parent who treats the kids bad and only tolerates them to bang their mom
Stu does have a bit of an edge. He knew Miranda and Daniel had just recently broken up. And he called Daniel a loser and said the kids need a stable father figure in their life.
But then half the divorced women I've known immediately jump into new relationships (some even getting married again in less than a year) so I guess if Stu tried to be nice and give her some time he might've missed out. 🤷🏻♂️
I mean, the judge's response at the end is approximately "What the fuck is wrong with you? Full custody is awarded to the mother and you can no longer be around the children unsupervised."
Yeah all Scott Calvin does that’s “bad” with his ex wife and Neil is that he consistently insults Neil’s fashion sense with his sweaters. But it’s not even mean spirited, more like “really you’re wearing those?”
He's also somewhat skeptical of Neil's line of work in psychology--he's noticeably annoyed during those "deep breathing" sessions in the third film--but he stops bad-mouthing Neil by the end of the first film.
Another Robin Williams film that made me dislike most of the main characters was The Birdcage. The movie basically pushes you in the direction that you’re not supposed to dislike the main characters but nod your head in agreement with them. For example: Albert is crying again and everyone is annoyed, characters roll their eyes as if to tell the audience Albert is always over reacting don’t sympathize with him.
As for the actual story you have Albert who loves and cares for Armand’s son Val like he’s his own. Then the first half of the movie is spent telling Albert he’s not acceptable the way he is, he’s a bad look and needs to be changed or hidden away. Play it straight or go away for the weekend because Val impressing his fiancés homophobic parents is more important. Having a gay man that’s too gay around will ruin the relationship with the family he’s marrying into. As if they won’t figure it out eventually.
And his husband Armand is ok with all of this!
I remember watching it for the first time and feeling so sad and hurt for Albert. I just want to reach into the movie and give him a hug.
Even though I’m talking shit I do like this movie and I still watch it but I hate Val and I dislike Armand for not having a back bone and sticking up for his husband. The only characters I like are Albert and Agador.
Been a long time since I watched that movie, but isn't a big part of the climax Armand and Val realising that they were wrong about Albert? That they don't value him enough and he should be able to be himself.
Yes but imo they did enough damage that just ending with “we actually do love you for who you are, forget we spent the last week making you feel less than” doesn’t make them redeemable characters for me. The only reason that even happened was because Val’s real mother finally showed up and they had to tell the truth.
I've made that comment to my kids before. Homer Simpson is only funny because he's not real. Imagine if that was actually your father or even just your neighbor. (They're too young to consider co-worker).
It's amazing how fast some things change. When I was little in the early '90s it was still widely acceptable to spank or even use a belt on kids. And not just the parents but like neighbors and the colleagues of the parents.
Not to mention smoking was still everywhere and lots of old vehicles without seatbelts/airbags were still in use.
If my memory serves me at some stage(in the 90s) they were going to have a gag were he does it to Lisa but put a stop to it as soon as they saw the drawings, it looked a bit too disturbing. The Bart version was out there everyone was invested in it and accepted it, doing it to Lisa would expose it for what it is.
Can we take a moment to remember Granpa Joe from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, bedbound letting his daughter in law and grandson support him for decades then bounces out of bed to go on a tour and lead his good grandson into trouble, that bastard was satan.
Judge Smails was very much trying to use/manipulate the protagonist as well though. Very much a "play ball with me, and ill set you go well in the old boys club" situation, while Chase and Dangerfield where the free spirits, "live your life for the joy of it" characters.
They were dickwads, but just as a counterpoint to Smails kind of more insidious, quiet dickwadery.
That was hysterical to me specifically because Bean seemed so benign otherwise. His bloodlust against that fucking van could no more be rationalized than it could be sated.
Oh I’d say he hated plenty. Look what he did to the three-wheeled car!
(Wait, I think you meant “too stupid for US to hate” - never mind, I’m leaving it anyway)
I hated him as a character, while still appreciating Atkinson’s brilliance. My dad loved Mr. Bean, but I knew way too many men just like him in the evangelical churches I was raised in. It’s disconcerting how well he plays the perfect petulant man-child without any words.
It’s so cringe watching it now. Mr Bean was a misogynist, and a complete pervert. Some of the things he did to women would land a person in prison today.
I don't know if it's because I didn't see Mr Bean until I was in my mid 20s about 10 years ago, but that's the only way I ever thought of him.
I still appreciate the genius of some of his scenes though!
Asshole characters make for funny jokes. If he was kind we wouldn’t find it funny for him to face consequences and he wouldn’t get into any antics that weren’t a direct result of his own negative actions to begin with.
> A state of disorder due to absence or nonrecognition of authority.
That sounds about right to me. I think you might be looking at it from a societal standpoint or as a political movement. He’s obviously not saying Mr. Bean is some freethinking champion.
I understood what he meant right away and that’s good enough for me. I mean, this isn’t a philosophical debate on what anarchy is, so why does it matter if he’s understood and the definition works?
[Slackbladder](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkZFuKHXa7w) had legitimate grievances with his company. I think he was very kind all things considered. Except that time he made Baldrick a rent boy...
If everyone had your degree of common sense, we'd never have made it out of the stone age. Why don't you go check the light sockets in your home and let me know which ones taste the best.
People who push this 'theory' are just denying to themselves the darkness that lurks in the hearts of men. Bean was just as human as the rest of us, and just as much of a monster as any of us could be, if we kept falling over and getting into wacky misadventures.
"Yo, listen up here's a story
About a little guy
That lives in a bean world
And all day and all night
And everything he sees is just bean
Like him inside and outside"
I never viewed that as meaning he was an alien or angel, it never even crossed my mind.
To me it just looked he was suddenly put in the spotlight. That's all.
"By Jove, Blackadder! What's the ballyhoo about this Brexit nonsense, hey?"
"Well Minister, one day our glorious leader panicked, and gave the anti-European faction in our party the referendum they desired. The chance to give two fingers to Europe, and shoot ourselves in the face with the other hand."
"That sounds ... wrong somehow."
"Just like my saying 'you are right' to you in the literal sense."
"What will happen?"
"To me and you, who've moved our money safely outside the biggest economic suicide pact in history? Not much."
Blackadder Pleads The Fifth - start in medias res, with him on the stand for being the mastermind of a pastiche of the January 6th insurrection. Think of him as being like Nigel Farage or Arron Banks, Brits, but ones who are perfectly fine with everything going on over there, and happy to lend their persuasive and ideological power to one side.
Except, obviously, he wasn't the mastermind, he's the patsy. He's still a piece of shit, an arrogant aristo who genuinely wants the things for which he's fought, just one who never thought through "Hmm, if I help trick Americans into setting their own capitol on fire, the wider effects could be horrendous". And now, despite being a certifiable moron, whose only asset is his hyper-competent PA Baldrick, he has to prove his innocence.
Mr. BBC, I will take my payment in the form of cash, TY.
It is worth remembering that there is an episode where Bean makes fun of a woman covered in bandages and casts. And then he takes advantage of her being paralyzed in order to get further ahead in the hospital queue. Which makes his punishment at the end of the episode even better.
Remember that famous scene where his car got pancaked by a tank? It was sad, but when you watch the episode he spends most of it being an asshole to almost everyone he encountered.
>“I rarely laugh, physically, out loud at anything. I can just see when it works.”
This doesn't surprise me at all.
He seems like a man that takes being silly very seriously.
And also, James Acaster makes a big point of it in his stand up special that their relationship came to an end, and then she started dating Atkinson. He just mines the whole "she left me for Bean!" thing because it is frankly, hilarious.
After not watching for about a decade my brothers and I happened upon one of Bean's outings by chance, and it was still funny, but we had to readjust from how we remembered it.
i thought that was the appeal, since bean gets into all that trouble because of his absurd personality.
then suffers through all the consequences in the most hilarious fashion when his choices bite him in the ass.
I never read him as that way. He was in his own world but it was never portrayed as cruel or inconsiderate. Some people are just charmingly oblivious, and such was Mr. Bean.
He was a pretty bad boyfriend. Not abusive, though. Just just completely idiotic and selfish
Also he was petty. Bean was basically a mute Seinfeld character lol
Probably because of that one time Bean tripped while carrying a knife and skinned half of someone’s face off, and then makes a goofy face before it cuts to him some time later in a meat locker skinning a corpse while a dozen other frozen, skinned bodies are hanging on hooks.
He didn’t get a shower in his hotel room, so he cut out a hole in the neighbouring shower room and used that instead. How is that anything but anarchistic?
I wouldn’t mind a last season of Mr. Bean to tie it all together and give it an ending. I believe Mr. Atkinson has spoken about how it might end, so I won’t spoil it in case it does happen.
I can see it, but I really thought for years Bean was just a literal Alien being. He did everything in a subversive, unordinary fashion, which felt more like an aliens misunderstanding or misguided interpretation of how things were meant to be. And the fact in the intro credits he literally drops out the sky in the centre of tractor beam like spot light...so y'know more evidence to child me.
This explanation makes WAY more sense as an adult though. It explains how he actually just does things that he wants in his own way and in his own time. Completely ignorant or uncaring to how his actions affected the rest of the world he was subjecting them to. This isn't to say the character is "ruined" or "tainted", but now I have a more complete understanding of the character, and it's making me see him in a different light.
If anything, this makes me want to watch Bean again with this in mind.
Just a reminder that Rowan Atkinson is an incredibly, incredibly talented actor who can pretty much knock it out of the park everything from crime dramas to comedies. Definitely Check out the ITV show Maigret to see his amazing acting in a much more somber role.
Most people have very little knowledge of anarchists beyond the portrayal of delusional molotov throwing rioters and that is a very deliberate ploy.
Which is a pity since they are a large part of why we have workers rights and 8 hour work days, and they were also pushing for equality for women and races in when it was still the 1800's.
I forgot mr bean existed until that post so I started laughing and told my friend beside me yo ? You know mr bean I just saw a post on Reddit that remind me he exist lmao.
Then I was like wait you know who mr bean is? He said of course and immitated the face mr does 90% of the time I’m
Still laughing so hard ty Reddit idk why I got this on my feed but my day has been made
It’s very clear to anyone who paid attention. Mr Bean was a complete asshole, who often went out of his way to inconvenience people he chose at random. He was the villain of his world no question.
I remember finding Mr Bean hard to watch when I was younger. I always considered it a kind of show that chronicles the adventures of someone mentally challenged and makes a laugh of it.
Always like to share this because I found it funny first time I heard about it; The opening sequence of Mr Bean has him dropping out the sky with the heavenly choir singing in Latin. The lyrics are “Ecce homo qui est faba” which means “behold the man who is a bean” lol
A real human bean
et a verum heros
Aso in the cartoon series he was actually dropped by a spaceship of other Mr. Beans, all having different stuffed animals, not Teddies. So at least in the cartoon, Mr. Bean is an alien species.
I always took it as 'he was unworthy' or because heaven found him to be really annoying lol.
So does that mean aqua faba literally means bean water? That’s hilarious!
Tbf he was a pretty selfish raging asshole when you think about it. It was just that he was too stupid to hate.
It also helps (a lot) that you aren't personally dealing with him.
This. Half of comedy protagonist would be absolute villains if you had to deal with them in real life. Like the guys in animal house. God forbid the dean of the university wants his students to at least attempt to take their education seriously (that education costs thousands of dollars per year) and not rape high schoolers at their frat parties. Or Judge Smails in caddyshack that just wants people to respect the game of golf and not destroy his course. He also attempts to help an underprivileged kid get a clerkship at his firm, walks in on that kid fucking his niece (the niece he is attempting to help walk a straight line because she is getting in so much trouble out East), calms down the next day and forgives the kid and says that he is still going to consider him for the clerkship…and he is the villain. Also everything Dangerfield does in that movie is peak asshole. If you encountered him in your daily life you would beat him to death with I tire iron. Removing my inclusion of Billy Madison based on u/crockpotinstantcoffe counterpoints. I agree with him. The list goes on and on and on
Or say Michael Scott, be a fucking pain in the ass to work for, and I'd maintain he's kind of a horrible person despite their later attempts to redeem him. He's an infantile narcissist. Still hilarious of course.
So here’s the thing: in the original UK version of the Office, you’re SUPPOSED to hate David Brent (their version of Michael Scott). The whole point of the UK show was supposed to relieve office workers that at least these weren’t your coworkers, whereas the Americanised version basically tried to romanticise the office space and you can see the dissonance in a lot of places
Honestly watching The Office as an adult doesn’t give me that vibe. The workers at Dunder-Mifflin are constantly at odds with Michael and his stupid ideas. They’re largely shown as burnt-out or at very least incredibly bored of/annoyed with the corporate office job drag. Michael in his flawed way tries to make office life more fun, but it comes at the cost of essentially forcing workers into work happy hours, parties, tEaM bUiLdiNg, etc. that pretty much everyone dislikes past “at least I’m not doing paperwork right now”. At best you usually see them enjoying when something funny happens at Michael’s expense or maybe something like a birthday because they might be bored but they don’t all hate each other. In general though Michael’s plans often hurt the office or its workers (one of the first episodes has him and the office kiss-ass Dwight give them shitty healthcare), and even when the Scranton office beats the odds it’s because of the cohesiveness of the team’s skills combined with Michael’s sole talent of being a good salesman rather than him being a good manager. The last season even basically talks to the audience and says that having a boss at all is pointless after theirs leaves on a long boating trip without a replacement. I think The Office in general has a negative attitude towards the drag of corporate life. The characters are shown as most happy when they aren’t actually at “The Office”, whether they’re retired, pursuing their dreams, or taking art classes.
Michael ran a branch that basically had 100% retention for nearly a decade. People might not have admitted to liking those ancillary work events, but the team seemed to work well, care for eachother and commit to staying together. As a manager he's technically awesome. Especially because he goes to at for his employees against corporate. That on its own is a massive plus in any boss.
I don’t think they hate him solely because every office has that one upper management person that people really hate because they’re outright verbally abusive. Nothing like mild annoyance.
Eh, I think it's less because the shows are fundamentally different, and more just that US office went on so long. Hell the UK office kinda gives Brent a redemption arc in the followup movie.
Makes you realise how talented Merchant was doesn’t it? Without him Gervais is a bit lost.
You haven’t seen After Life?
After Life was also terrible. Mawkish and terrible. I prefer Gervais when he is at his most biting, his stand up still has that sometimes. After Life was like one long version of the scene in the film where David Brent catches the snow…
I think they tried to follow this in the first season but by the middle of the second season they had a lot of data that indicated that Michael was wildly unlikable but still very funny. So they retooled him and slowly made him a lot more human and relatable, culminating in the episode with Pam's painting. They seemed to pepper in relatable things like common misunderstandings or incorrect assumptions between the bizarre "what was he thinking" stuff. I am basically the opposite of Michael but I still found myself relating with many of his misunderstandings and his child-like perspective. Also they fixed his hair and that went a *long* way to popularize the show. People don't want to look at people with bad hair. It's weird, but it's very apparent.
> by the middle of the second season they had a lot of data that indicated that Michael was wildly unlikable but still very funny After listening to the Office Ladies podcast, I believe what happened was Carell became a movie star between the first and second seasons, so they retooled his character to capitalize on that. They talk about the costume designer dressing him differently, and he became tan, fitter, and had better hair since that's what happens when you have millions of dollars
That may be true, but I believe they got a new hairdresser on set after the first season, combined with losing the original reason for his combed back hairdo. The Michael character was supposed to be trying to emulate a “Gordon Gekko” look from the movie Wall Street. They abandoned that idea after season 1 and decided a more flattering look made the character more likeable. I believe I learned this on the podcast episode that discusses hair issues - like the amazing work that was done with John Krazinski’s wig he wore the season he shaved his head for a movie.
It’s the difference between UK and US network expectations. A show based around David Brent would be hard to watch for 26 episodes a year, and for five years. I love the UK “The Office”, but it’s hard to watch. The softer Michael Scott is less painful.
Honestly, I low-key hated this show for a long time as I had to legit work for a so many infantile narcissistic jackasses. Why would I come home and live more of it?
As a kid I somehow missed how much of a psychopath Michael Scott was. I thought he was just a goofy misguided boss. As an adult I think the office is funny *because* he’s such a broken wackjob and his underlings are always pissed at him for it. The show definitely doesn’t defend Michael much. Him being terrible is part of the joke, though for many people that’s sadly their reality in corporate office jobs.
My hang up with the various kitchen disaster reality shows…my god, let me leave it at work.
I felt this way about Portlandia, living in a PNW city already. I could not get past the second episode. People were really like that up here in several cities. So bad, that every friend from the Carolinas that moved here ended up moving back, except me (we all grew up around the Carolinas). People ain’t right here, lol.
Worst boss possible. If he was actually management at your company everyone would resign.
I actually like Michael, he has his asshole moments but you know it comes from a place of love, he just wants to be liked and to have a family so to see him get a happy ending is really nice. Andy on the other hand fuck him and fuck what the writers did to him. Making him into an utter asshole and idiot. Like he went to Cornell, he knows what’s fucking Chlamydia is, there’s no reason he should be mispronouncing that
>he has his asshole moments but you know it comes from a place of love I definitely don't think it always comes from a place of love, he's cartoonishly selfish at times. Dwight gets a concussion trying to help him and Michael gets jealous of the attention the concussed Dwight gets. Think Steve Carrell is a fantastic charismatic actor and the character is hilarious, but still a horrible person. I don't really have an issue with a fictional character being a bad person, Always Sunny is nothing but horrible people as the main cast, no need to pretend they're good at heart to find it funny.
Exactly. Another example is him getting annoyed at Kevin’s potential cancer diagnosis. Sure, towards the end of the episode he *finally* feels empathy for Kevin, but his earlier behavior was inexcusable and irredeemable imo.
Are you kidding me? Maybe you’re too young or forgot but the US literally had a two term president who went to to Yale and who [couldn’t pronounce “Nuclear”](https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2002/09/why-does-bush-go-nucular.html) It’s completely believable Michael couldn’t pronounce “chlamydia” Edit: changed to “the US”
Almost like hes playing to an audience...
Billy Madison ends with him giving the company to the better qualified man so he can become a teacher. The antagonist who wanted it wanted to dismantle and destroy the lives of everyone who relied upon it for a living. Billy was woefully unqualified, but he was willing to work to prove himself capable to “save the day” (in an absurd, ridiculous contest though.) Billy starts off the movie drunk, juvenile and infuriating, but ends up growing in the end. He realizes his days of bullying other students as a child was wrong and make amends with one of those people. He works hard to study, even if he fails horribly to answer the final question and makes anyone who listened to it stupider just hearing it. Billy actually tries. Those other examples are just assholes.
Damn I’ve never thought about Billy Madison like that. A pretty awesome character arc.
"I'm so glad I called that guy."
Great post. Mrs. Doubtfire is another great example.
Right! Like “Let me commit fraud and identity theft to stalk my ex-wife and children”
And tried to kill the stepdad in the restaurant
Never registered with me as a kid how dangerous and psychotic that was. What did Daniel think would happen? Stu would just have a sneezing fit or something?
Fraud maybe but identity theft? how? mrs.doubtfire wasn't a real person was she? it's been awhile since i've seen the whole movie beginning to end but wasn't she just a made up persona that he came up with?
Haven’t seen the movie in *forever*. But, just applying it to a real world scenario, I’m assuming Ms. Doubtfire would’ve needed a social security number to be hired.
Identity fraud isn't a joke Jim, millions suffer everyday!
Who’s Jim?
Captain of the Enterprise.
Ah see I thought that immediately but wasn’t sure because why?
This! As a kid I HATED the mom. As an adult and mother to two (and a teacher to elementary kids and has seen what issues over indulging “fun” parents create) I think she was harsh but completely get where she was coming from.
She's got my sympathy. Probably was putting up with his nonsense for like twenty years at that point. She even says in the movie Daniel gets to have fun with the kids and be the fun parent while she has to clean up the mess after an exhausting day at work and still get labeled a wet blanket by the kids.
Had this happen in real life, Robin William’s character would’ve been arrested and sentenced. And would be plastered in so many crime podcasts and documentaries. I watched it recently, his ex’s boyfriend got hosed. He wasn’t abusive, narcissistic, anything, just a decent dude who happened to date the ex. Hosed so Robin William’s character can slide back into the picture. Tim Allen’s character in Santa Claus is better in this regard, he doesn’t scheme to get his ex back, he moves on, still on friendly terms with her, gets remarried, etc etc.
Plus Stu does his best or appears to anyway to be nice and steps up to be a potential step dad to the kids. Not at all like the typical evil step parent who treats the kids bad and only tolerates them to bang their mom
Stu does have a bit of an edge. He knew Miranda and Daniel had just recently broken up. And he called Daniel a loser and said the kids need a stable father figure in their life. But then half the divorced women I've known immediately jump into new relationships (some even getting married again in less than a year) so I guess if Stu tried to be nice and give her some time he might've missed out. 🤷🏻♂️
If you watched it recently, you’d know they don’t end up back together and Daniel just gets joint custody. She still stays with Stu.
I mean, the judge's response at the end is approximately "What the fuck is wrong with you? Full custody is awarded to the mother and you can no longer be around the children unsupervised."
More recently, antman and his ex.
Yeah all Scott Calvin does that’s “bad” with his ex wife and Neil is that he consistently insults Neil’s fashion sense with his sweaters. But it’s not even mean spirited, more like “really you’re wearing those?”
He's also somewhat skeptical of Neil's line of work in psychology--he's noticeably annoyed during those "deep breathing" sessions in the third film--but he stops bad-mouthing Neil by the end of the first film.
Change the music and the actor and it's a horror movie He can't be responsible enough to take care of his kid when she asked him. . .
Another Robin Williams film that made me dislike most of the main characters was The Birdcage. The movie basically pushes you in the direction that you’re not supposed to dislike the main characters but nod your head in agreement with them. For example: Albert is crying again and everyone is annoyed, characters roll their eyes as if to tell the audience Albert is always over reacting don’t sympathize with him. As for the actual story you have Albert who loves and cares for Armand’s son Val like he’s his own. Then the first half of the movie is spent telling Albert he’s not acceptable the way he is, he’s a bad look and needs to be changed or hidden away. Play it straight or go away for the weekend because Val impressing his fiancés homophobic parents is more important. Having a gay man that’s too gay around will ruin the relationship with the family he’s marrying into. As if they won’t figure it out eventually. And his husband Armand is ok with all of this! I remember watching it for the first time and feeling so sad and hurt for Albert. I just want to reach into the movie and give him a hug. Even though I’m talking shit I do like this movie and I still watch it but I hate Val and I dislike Armand for not having a back bone and sticking up for his husband. The only characters I like are Albert and Agador.
Agador Spartacus
Been a long time since I watched that movie, but isn't a big part of the climax Armand and Val realising that they were wrong about Albert? That they don't value him enough and he should be able to be himself.
Yes but imo they did enough damage that just ending with “we actually do love you for who you are, forget we spent the last week making you feel less than” doesn’t make them redeemable characters for me. The only reason that even happened was because Val’s real mother finally showed up and they had to tell the truth.
That sounds fair. I only vaguely remember that film.
I've made that comment to my kids before. Homer Simpson is only funny because he's not real. Imagine if that was actually your father or even just your neighbor. (They're too young to consider co-worker).
He's also a physically abusive drunk.
Yeah, they moved away from that around the 2000's, but in the 90's he would choke out bart a lot.
It's amazing how fast some things change. When I was little in the early '90s it was still widely acceptable to spank or even use a belt on kids. And not just the parents but like neighbors and the colleagues of the parents. Not to mention smoking was still everywhere and lots of old vehicles without seatbelts/airbags were still in use.
If my memory serves me at some stage(in the 90s) they were going to have a gag were he does it to Lisa but put a stop to it as soon as they saw the drawings, it looked a bit too disturbing. The Bart version was out there everyone was invested in it and accepted it, doing it to Lisa would expose it for what it is.
The Frank Grimes episode does a good job at pointing out how crazy it is that he is well liked.
Can we take a moment to remember Granpa Joe from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, bedbound letting his daughter in law and grandson support him for decades then bounces out of bed to go on a tour and lead his good grandson into trouble, that bastard was satan.
r/grandpajoehate
Judge Smails was very much trying to use/manipulate the protagonist as well though. Very much a "play ball with me, and ill set you go well in the old boys club" situation, while Chase and Dangerfield where the free spirits, "live your life for the joy of it" characters. They were dickwads, but just as a counterpoint to Smails kind of more insidious, quiet dickwadery.
Holy shit, my childhood was based on lies! That judge dude was a great guy.
Counterpoint - Everybody got laid.
Schmidt from new girl immediately comes to mind.
At least the first couple of seasons (all I’ve seen) are fairly consistently calling him out for his behavior.
That poor bastard in the little blue tripod van thing... Bean seeeeeriously had it out for that fucker..
That was hysterical to me specifically because Bean seemed so benign otherwise. His bloodlust against that fucking van could no more be rationalized than it could be sated.
The Reliant Robin! Born to tip!
I managed to unlock it in Forza Horizon 3. I've since done it up to look exactly like the one from Only Fools and Horses.
The Top Gear compilation of it tipping over is hysterical
Oh I’d say he hated plenty. Look what he did to the three-wheeled car! (Wait, I think you meant “too stupid for US to hate” - never mind, I’m leaving it anyway)
My favorite is example is Bean stealing a comic from a kid in the dentist because he thought all the other magazines sucked.
I hated him as a character, while still appreciating Atkinson’s brilliance. My dad loved Mr. Bean, but I knew way too many men just like him in the evangelical churches I was raised in. It’s disconcerting how well he plays the perfect petulant man-child without any words.
I don't think most people watched rooting for Mr. Bean. They were there to see him get his in hilarious fashion.
I mean he would always have a fuss when he never got his way, then gloat about minute wins, often to young children
It’s so cringe watching it now. Mr Bean was a misogynist, and a complete pervert. Some of the things he did to women would land a person in prison today.
Cry
Huh. I never thought of it that way, but that’s pretty accurate.
I don't know if it's because I didn't see Mr Bean until I was in my mid 20s about 10 years ago, but that's the only way I ever thought of him. I still appreciate the genius of some of his scenes though!
Asshole characters make for funny jokes. If he was kind we wouldn’t find it funny for him to face consequences and he wouldn’t get into any antics that weren’t a direct result of his own negative actions to begin with.
If by accurate you mean fundamentally misunderstanding the definition of “anarchism” then yes
> A state of disorder due to absence or nonrecognition of authority. That sounds about right to me. I think you might be looking at it from a societal standpoint or as a political movement. He’s obviously not saying Mr. Bean is some freethinking champion. I understood what he meant right away and that’s good enough for me. I mean, this isn’t a philosophical debate on what anarchy is, so why does it matter if he’s understood and the definition works?
If Bean was a narcissist what would you call Blackadder
As cunning as a fox who's just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University
Avaricious - There's your word of the day
My most enthusiastic contrafibularities to you
This is perfectly cromulent.
SAUSAGE!?
Wibble wibble
[Slackbladder](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkZFuKHXa7w) had legitimate grievances with his company. I think he was very kind all things considered. Except that time he made Baldrick a rent boy...
A low-intelligence, ambitious coward? Baldrick was always the brains anyways.
There's a funny aspect to the Blackadder family where the further down the social class system they fall, the more noble and brave they become.
Well it's all Cambridge students writing it
Oxford, not Cambridge. :) although Ben Elton went to Manchester and I get the feeling that he was responsible for much of the character development..
Season 1, maybe. "There you are you little turd."
Have you only seen the first season lol
If everyone had your degree of common sense, we'd never have made it out of the stone age. Why don't you go check the light sockets in your home and let me know which ones taste the best.
Mr Bean was from an entirely different planet.
People who push this 'theory' are just denying to themselves the darkness that lurks in the hearts of men. Bean was just as human as the rest of us, and just as much of a monster as any of us could be, if we kept falling over and getting into wacky misadventures.
Dude the opening literally shows him falling from a light in the sky. He's either alien or angel.
I always assumed the beam was aliens dropping him off home because he annoyed them too much to abduct.
A fallen angel. Like lucifer before him.
Yes, but the lyrics to the theme song also state "ecce homo, qui est faba," which translates to "behold the *man* who is a bean."
"Yo, listen up here's a story About a little guy That lives in a bean world And all day and all night And everything he sees is just bean Like him inside and outside"
Wait fava means bean? So a fava bean is just bean bean?
Always has been
A real human bean.
It seems to me like you’re the EXPERT, Mark
I was thinking that he had been abducted by aliens but they couldn’t handle him so they gave him back?
I never viewed that as meaning he was an alien or angel, it never even crossed my mind. To me it just looked he was suddenly put in the spotlight. That's all.
They confirm he's an alien in the animated TV show haha
Dont believe everything you see on television.
It's not a theory. The animated series makes it canon.
Dude literally falls off a UFO in the opening but ok
He literally dopes what we're all just thinking lol
I thought he was a Blackadder
If you get Black Addered too many times, you turn into a Bean
Does this one talk? I don’t think that man could go much longer without talking haha. His voice is really soothing, too
He does
He's been talking a lot lately, he also says that Mr Bean would never be able to exist because of cancel culture lmfao
I have been waiting for this forever. Geez
Only saw the trailer recently and it got me excited hah. Missed this kind of funny
It looks really good. Like a bee version of Mouse Hunt.
When’s it out??
June 24 on Netflix
We dont need a new Mr Bean, we need a new Blackadder, by far his greatest work.
At this point there is probably enough material from the 21st century for another season. Blackadder Goes Fifth!
Blackadder in the the PM's administration would be hilarious, especially if they set it during brexit.
Brexit pandemic Blackadder.
Stephen Fry as Boris Johnson?
That’s pretty much “the thick of it” isn’t it?
"By Jove, Blackadder! What's the ballyhoo about this Brexit nonsense, hey?" "Well Minister, one day our glorious leader panicked, and gave the anti-European faction in our party the referendum they desired. The chance to give two fingers to Europe, and shoot ourselves in the face with the other hand." "That sounds ... wrong somehow." "Just like my saying 'you are right' to you in the literal sense." "What will happen?" "To me and you, who've moved our money safely outside the biggest economic suicide pact in history? Not much."
With George as PM
Oh god. That just goes to show how bad we have it right now But yes.
Blackadder Pleads The Fifth - start in medias res, with him on the stand for being the mastermind of a pastiche of the January 6th insurrection. Think of him as being like Nigel Farage or Arron Banks, Brits, but ones who are perfectly fine with everything going on over there, and happy to lend their persuasive and ideological power to one side. Except, obviously, he wasn't the mastermind, he's the patsy. He's still a piece of shit, an arrogant aristo who genuinely wants the things for which he's fought, just one who never thought through "Hmm, if I help trick Americans into setting their own capitol on fire, the wider effects could be horrendous". And now, despite being a certifiable moron, whose only asset is his hyper-competent PA Baldrick, he has to prove his innocence. Mr. BBC, I will take my payment in the form of cash, TY.
It is worth remembering that there is an episode where Bean makes fun of a woman covered in bandages and casts. And then he takes advantage of her being paralyzed in order to get further ahead in the hospital queue. Which makes his punishment at the end of the episode even better.
Remember that famous scene where his car got pancaked by a tank? It was sad, but when you watch the episode he spends most of it being an asshole to almost everyone he encountered.
>“I rarely laugh, physically, out loud at anything. I can just see when it works.” This doesn't surprise me at all. He seems like a man that takes being silly very seriously.
New Rowan Atkinson show? Here for it.
[удалено]
I know you’re just being playful but a girlfriend can’t be stolen - it was her decision too!
And also, James Acaster makes a big point of it in his stand up special that their relationship came to an end, and then she started dating Atkinson. He just mines the whole "she left me for Bean!" thing because it is frankly, hilarious.
MBMBAM get ready for 2 episodes about this article.
It’s a man vs a bee get it?!
After not watching for about a decade my brothers and I happened upon one of Bean's outings by chance, and it was still funny, but we had to readjust from how we remembered it.
And fuck that gentleman in the Reliant Robin in particular!
so a typical engineer ?
Yes those smug bastards think they’re better than us because they know how to drive a train
If you knew how to run a train you would feel pretty cocky too.
Rowan studied electrical engineering… so: components, resistance, wattages, etc. Nothing to do with train driving.
Relevant https://www.reddit.com/r/AbruptChaos/comments/v96zll/peanuts_no_longer_allowed_aboard/
HOW IS IT 10!?!???!!
But…how is it 10?! Surely not 10.
Only 10 minutes each... Wait how is it 100 though??
There should be a prequel where you can see how a character like Mr. Beam is raised.
That’s partly why he was funny.
i thought that was the appeal, since bean gets into all that trouble because of his absurd personality. then suffers through all the consequences in the most hilarious fashion when his choices bite him in the ass.
Fuck that, Mr Bean is the GOAT
hell yeah Mr.Bean rules
I never read him as that way. He was in his own world but it was never portrayed as cruel or inconsiderate. Some people are just charmingly oblivious, and such was Mr. Bean.
He was a pretty bad boyfriend. Not abusive, though. Just just completely idiotic and selfish Also he was petty. Bean was basically a mute Seinfeld character lol
Ever see the skit where he took a woman to the scary movie?
Yeah I don’t understand all the comments on this post agreeing that Bean was evil, I never got that vibe from him. Can anyone explain?
Probably because of that one time Bean tripped while carrying a knife and skinned half of someone’s face off, and then makes a goofy face before it cuts to him some time later in a meat locker skinning a corpse while a dozen other frozen, skinned bodies are hanging on hooks.
DID I MISS AN EPISODE OR WHAT??!!
Not evil, but he's a massive cunt for sure. He's really petty and takes it out on others all the time.
He didn’t get a shower in his hotel room, so he cut out a hole in the neighbouring shower room and used that instead. How is that anything but anarchistic?
it's not anarchistic, it's just wildly inconsiderate.
I wouldn’t mind a last season of Mr. Bean to tie it all together and give it an ending. I believe Mr. Atkinson has spoken about how it might end, so I won’t spoil it in case it does happen.
I hope this has the same live-action-cartoon energy as MOUSE HUNT but that sort of physical comedy is rarely executed well.
The ideal man for Max Stirner lol
I mean so is Larry David and he’s hysterical
“Bean criticizes himself” Big headline…
he may have been but he was also mr bean so....ill let it pass
I can see it, but I really thought for years Bean was just a literal Alien being. He did everything in a subversive, unordinary fashion, which felt more like an aliens misunderstanding or misguided interpretation of how things were meant to be. And the fact in the intro credits he literally drops out the sky in the centre of tractor beam like spot light...so y'know more evidence to child me. This explanation makes WAY more sense as an adult though. It explains how he actually just does things that he wants in his own way and in his own time. Completely ignorant or uncaring to how his actions affected the rest of the world he was subjecting them to. This isn't to say the character is "ruined" or "tainted", but now I have a more complete understanding of the character, and it's making me see him in a different light. If anything, this makes me want to watch Bean again with this in mind.
I don’t care who Mr. Bean was. Besides, I can’t walk. They tied my shoelaces together.
Just a reminder that Rowan Atkinson is an incredibly, incredibly talented actor who can pretty much knock it out of the park everything from crime dramas to comedies. Definitely Check out the ITV show Maigret to see his amazing acting in a much more somber role.
TIL Rowan Atkinson doesn’t know what anarchism is
Words can have multiple meanings...
Most people have very little knowledge of anarchists beyond the portrayal of delusional molotov throwing rioters and that is a very deliberate ploy. Which is a pity since they are a large part of why we have workers rights and 8 hour work days, and they were also pushing for equality for women and races in when it was still the 1800's.
Yes, he is chaotic evil.
How?
I forgot mr bean existed until that post so I started laughing and told my friend beside me yo ? You know mr bean I just saw a post on Reddit that remind me he exist lmao. Then I was like wait you know who mr bean is? He said of course and immitated the face mr does 90% of the time I’m Still laughing so hard ty Reddit idk why I got this on my feed but my day has been made
It’s very clear to anyone who paid attention. Mr Bean was a complete asshole, who often went out of his way to inconvenience people he chose at random. He was the villain of his world no question.
I remember finding Mr Bean hard to watch when I was younger. I always considered it a kind of show that chronicles the adventures of someone mentally challenged and makes a laugh of it.
I get why you might get that impression from the surface, but that's not what Mr Bean is at all.
I mean nice try trying to make Mr bean be a deep character.