Jerkass Woobie/Film: Difference between revisions

* Mark from ''[[The Social Network]]''. He's an [[Insufferable Genius]] who discards people when they're no longer useful to him, but one of his lawyers finds out that much of his behavior is a [[Jerkass Facade]], and he's actually significantly more lonely and vulnerable than he lets on.

* Louis Winthorpe in ''[[Trading Places]]''. He was a snobby [[Blue Blood]] commodities broker who ends up being framed for embezzlement and drug dealing, gets incarcerated, loses his home and wealth, and gets shunned by all his friends and fiance, who's also led to think that he's been cheating on her. The shock of all this proves so much that he gets [[Driven to Suicide]] ''twice''. [[Character Development|He gets better]] after he learns that he went through all that because of a bet by his bosses {{spoiler|of only one dollar}}, and he gets back at them magnificently.

* The Red Queen from [[Tim Burton]]'s ''[[Alice in Wonderland (film)|Alice in Wonderland]]''. Yes, she's ([[Composite Character|basically]]) the [[Ax Crazy]] [[God Save Us From the Queen|Queen of Hearts]]. And yes, she's quite evil, what with [[Doomed Hometown|razing the countryside]], unleashing multiple [[Eldritch Abominations]], [[Kick the Dog|abusing the]] [[Talking Animal|Talking Animals]], and ''killing'' [[Morality Chain|the King]]. Yet she's also desperately lonely, has an [[The Unfavourite|inferiority]] [["Well Done, Son" Guy|complex]] with [[Cain and Abel|her sister]], and knows that she's only safe as long as people are too afraid to revolt. Also, she does NOT have a [[Villainous Breakdown]] after her defeat and [[Fate Worse Than Death|punishment]] (despite her [[Psychopathic Manchild]] tendencies), merely making [[Tear Jerker|a TRULY heartbreaking face]] when she realizes that she'll effectively [[Dying Alone|die alone]]. Hell, she only descends into hysterics post-defeat when the Knave tries to kill her. Given that this is IMMEDIATELY AFTER she just said "[[You Are Worth Hell|At least we have each other]]", the audience is [[Moral Event Horizon|right there with her]].

* Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the 1984 film ''[[Amadeus]]'', a [[Jerkass]] and [[Insufferable Genius]], with an [[Annoying Laugh]] to boot. Once he gets around to writing the Requiem Mass, though, he starts breaking down physically and mentally, and you can't help but feel sorry him.

* At first, Bender from ''[[The Breakfast Club]]'' comes off like a punk with no reason behind his behavior, but it's later revealed that he has a very bad home life stemming from his father's abuse. He doesn't really change by the end of the movie, but your impression of him is softened considerably.

* Several characters from the ''[[Pirates of the Caribbean]]'' series -- but mostly Davy Jones and Norrington.

* Henry VIII as portrayed in ''Anne Of The Thousand Days''. He'll do anything for a male heir, no matter how unethical, unlawful, or unpopular, but all he gets for many years are daughters and stillborn sons. Small wonder that after the fourth failure, he [[Skyward Scream|shouts]], "I am accursed!" His ex-wife, as badly as he treated her, pities him.

* Sidney Falco in ''[[Sweet Smell of Success]]'', largely because most people he meets seem to loathe him before he even gives them reason to (which, granted, he probably will). And because his boss, JJ Hunsecker, is just so much worse.

 

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