The Woobie/Film: Difference between revisions

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It might be worth pointing out that the term "Woobie" perhaps was first used in the 1980's Michael Keaton movie ''Mr. Mom''. And incidentally, Kenny, the boy who owned the blanket he called "Woobie", was played by Taliesin Jaffe, who eventually grew up to write and direct numerous [[Superlative Dubbing|Superlative Anime Dubs]], including both TV and OVA versions of ''[[Hellsing]]''. Which means, yes, the boy with the Woobie wrote [[Cluster F Bomb|Jan Valentine's dialogue]].

It might be worth pointing out that the term "Woobie" perhaps was first used in the 1980's Michael Keaton movie ''Mr. Mom''. And incidentally, Kenny, the boy who owned the blanket he called "Woobie", was played by Taliesin Jaffe, who eventually grew up to write and direct numerous [[Superlative Dubbing|Superlative Anime Dubs]], including both TV and OVA versions of ''[[Hellsing]]''. Which means, yes, the boy with the Woobie wrote [[Cluster F-Bomb|Jan Valentine's dialogue]].

As for movies with a character who ''is'' a [[Woobie]] ... well, see the examples below.

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* ''[[King Kong]]'' may well be the tropesetter in film. In production, they literally cut out less flattering footage of the monster's monstrosity when preview audiences cheered Kong's swatting a plane down on the Empire State pinnacle. It's rare to see attention to public opinion that strong, so not only is the mythic megagorilla possibly film's first Woobie, he's likely the first ''official'' Woobie.

** In the [[Peter Jackson|2005 film]], we can also add Ann Darrow onto the list. To paraphrase Carl Denham, she's the saddest girl ever.

* As in the books, Faramir from the ''[[Lord of the Rings]]'' movies personifies Woobie as he rides out grimly on a suicide charge to [[Well Done Son Guy|please a father who can't be pleased]].

* As in the books, Faramir from the ''[[Lord of the Rings]]'' movies personifies Woobie as he rides out grimly on a suicide charge to [["Well Done, Son" Guy|please a father who can't be pleased]].

** And there's Frodo, who in the book was less woobieish than Sam, but when combined with Elijah Wood's enormous blue eyes becomes angst incarnate.

* Balian from ''[[Kingdom of Heaven]].'' {{spoiler|his son was stillborn, his wife committed suicide, he kills his brother which forces him to flee his home and his father dies mere days after they met for the first time}}. As the movie progresses he becomes de-woobiefied, though.

* ''[[WALL-E]]''. Come on...give a poor trash-compacting robot a hug. You could practically call the titular robot WOOB-E. He's like a pure, undiluted example of this trope. Besides, he's provided the image for the main Woobie page.

** Particularly interesting is how [[WALL-E]] develops into WOOB-E; in the first half of the movie, seeing him get hurt is [[Amusing Injuries|usually funny]], as he's the [[Butt Monkey]] until M-O appears. By the end of the movie, however, it's [[Dude Not Funny|not funny]] ''[[Dude Not Funny|at all]]'' -- and [[Funny Aneurysm Moment|suddenly it never was]].

** Particularly interesting is how [[WALL-E]] develops into WOOB-E; in the first half of the movie, seeing him get hurt is [[Amusing Injuries|usually funny]], as he's the [[Butt Monkey]] until M-O appears. By the end of the movie, however, it's [[Dude, Not Funny|not funny]] ''[[Dude, Not Funny|at all]]'' -- and [[Funny Aneurysm Moment|suddenly it never was]].

*** It's bad enough you already wanna hug him by just ''looking at him''.

** This is precisely what got the guy nominated for five Academy Awards, one for Best Animated Feature, and the top slot of TIME Magazine's "Best Movies of the Decade." Say "wuh-ALL-ee" to any of your friends, and they'll smile and probably respond with "EEEE-vuh." [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|You know a movie company's awesome like that when they can get the world to fall madly in love with a TRASH CAN.]]

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*** He might have qualified for the [[Chew Toy]] if it weren't for [[Tear Jerker|those darn scenes]]. But for most who see a generally nice guy getting stuck with [[Future Loser|future losers]], yet trying to [[Screw Destiny|change his fate]] for happiness other than his own, it [[Sand in My Eyes|makes the eyes itchy]]. Not to mention he mostly can change his fate, despite how the cards may seem.

* Dr. Neville from ''[[I Am Legend]]'' certainly qualifies for this, having witnessed his {{spoiler|wife and daughter killed, then later having to strangle his diseased dog which was his only companion for three years in an apocalyptic world.}}

* Cameron Frye of ''[[Ferris ~~Buellers~~ Day Off (Film)|Ferris Buellers Day Off]]''. He might qualify as the [[Chew Toy]] or the [[Butt Monkey]] were it not for the fact that most--if not all--of his woes are either within his ability to change or exist wholly inside of his own head, and it is this inability or unwillingness to recognize his own self worth that results in his uptight, paranoid hypochondriac persona (resulting in his also being [[The Eeyore]] of the film). He doesn't fit perfectly into the [[Loser Archetype]] because he doesn't really make any attempt to rise above his current situation, but you still get the impression that he could benefit from a good hug.

* Cameron Frye of ''[[Ferris Bueller's Day Off (Film)|Ferris Buellers Day Off]]''. He might qualify as the [[Chew Toy]] or the [[Butt Monkey]] were it not for the fact that most--if not all--of his woes are either within his ability to change or exist wholly inside of his own head, and it is this inability or unwillingness to recognize his own self worth that results in his uptight, paranoid hypochondriac persona (resulting in his also being [[The Eeyore]] of the film). He doesn't fit perfectly into the [[Loser Archetype]] because he doesn't really make any attempt to rise above his current situation, but you still get the impression that he could benefit from a good hug.

* Lars von Trier has used this trope a number of times.

** Selma in ''Dancer in the Dark''. One of the most archetypal examples of this trope ''ever''.

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* Bill the malt shop owner in ''[[Pleasantville]]''. If you don't want to hug him and tell him it's gonna be all right {{spoiler|when the B&W mob destroys his diner and his art}}, you ain't human.

** Arguably almost all of the characters who first turn to color. They've basically achieved a form of enlightenment and now are thrilled by the discovery of new knowledge and sensations. And because of this, they are hated and persecuted by the other people in the community.

* <s>5</s> [[Fan Nickname|Angst Waffle]] from ''[[~~Nine~~ (Animation)|Nine]]''.

* <s>5</s> [[Fan Nickname|Angst Waffle]] from ''[[9 (Animation)|Nine]]''.

* Janet Colgate from the late '80s film ''[[Dirty Rotten Scoundrels]]'' is, in all appearances, the ultimate Woobie- having won a chance sweepstakes for $50,000, she selflessly spends almost all of it on Lawrence Jamieson and Freddy Benson's scam to get Freddy to "walk again" after a "tragic accident". In the film she's giving, kind, naive, and trusting... {{spoiler|until it is revealed at the end of the film that she knew what Lawrence and Freddy were up to all along and had been scamming ''them''.}}

* [[Dwight Frye]]'s [[The Renfield|Renfield]] is absolutely adorable: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOOYzlMT23g

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** The fact that he's played by Stephen Rea, with his hangdog face and big sad eyes, also helps.

* From ''[[The Godfather (Film)|The Godfather]]'': Fredo. Goddamn. Corleone. How could you ''not'' pity the guy?

* Hiccup from ''[[How to Train Your Dragon (Film)|How to Train Your Dragon]]''. An outcast in his village, [[Well Done Son Guy|even his dad thinks he's a failure]], he thinks the only way anyone will respect him is if he kills a dragon, and at the end, even after he's gotten all the respect, love, and friendship he'd wanted for the whole movie. {{spoiler|He loses his left leg saving pretty much his entire tribe and a whole lot of dragons from a massive Green Death dragon}}.

* Hiccup from ''[[How to Train Your Dragon (Film)|How to Train Your Dragon]]''. An outcast in his village, [["Well Done, Son" Guy|even his dad thinks he's a failure]], he thinks the only way anyone will respect him is if he kills a dragon, and at the end, even after he's gotten all the respect, love, and friendship he'd wanted for the whole movie. {{spoiler|He loses his left leg saving pretty much his entire tribe and a whole lot of dragons from a massive Green Death dragon}}.

* Mike Waters from ''My Own Private Idaho'' is a gay narcoleptic prostitute {{spoiler|whose father is also his brother}} looking for his mother. {{spoiler|He doesn't find her. He goes all the way to Italy and finds out she's just left.}} For much of the movie the only person looking out for him is his friend Scott (a rich guy who's just being a prostitute for fun) {{spoiler|who he is also in love with, possibly in an unrequited sense}} . His narcolepsy means that often he collapses just about anywhere, and falls asleep; Scott is there to pick him up until {{spoiler|Scott decides to go back to his respectable family and get married, essentially abandoning Mike to his fate, literally leaving him by the side of the road even though he KNOWS Mike loves him. The film ends with Mike falling asleep on a road in the middle of nowhere, all alone. Some people come along and steal his bag and shoes.}} Also he's played by the incredibly woobietastic River Phoenix. Seeing him cry will KILL you.

* George Falconer from [[A Single Man]] - whose partner of 16 years dies and he can't openly show his grief cause it's the 60s and all.

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** Not forgetting the Phantom of the Opera, whose murderous and possessive streak can be explained in that he was paraded as a freak show when he was a kid, and almost everyone has denied him genuine love. He even had a woobie song (which was ironically [[Cut Song|cut from the film]]) called "No One Would Listen". Awww.

* Winslow Leach in ''[[Phantom of the Paradise]]''. Sweet and woefully naïve, not only is his precious cantata stolen, but he's also beaten up, framed and sent to life imprisonment, has his teeth extracted, his face mangled by a record press, {{spoiler|signs away his soul unwittingly, endures his cantata being mangled by a mediocre pop band, is rejected by his love and loses her to his nemesis, and unsuccessfully tries to kill himself. Then he dies, sacrificing himself for his love}}.

* Amazingly, Jason Voorhees from ''[[Friday the ~~13 th~~ (Film)|Friday the 13 th]]'' is often seen as one. The kid was born disfigured, drowned by bullies, watched his mother killed, and just wants to be left alone. True, he does this by killing anybody who disturbs him, but 90% of F''riday the 13th'' fanfiction involves him being reformed by somebody's [[Mary Sue]].

* Amazingly, Jason Voorhees from ''[[Friday the 13th (Film)|Friday the 13 th]]'' is often seen as one. The kid was born disfigured, drowned by bullies, watched his mother killed, and just wants to be left alone. True, he does this by killing anybody who disturbs him, but 90% of F''riday the 13th'' fanfiction involves him being reformed by somebody's [[Mary Sue]].

** Played up intentionally in ''[[Freddy VS Jason]]''. Amazingly, it works. You just want to give the big guy a huge when you see what Freddy does to him.

* In the short film ''Partly Cloudly'', both the cloud and stork deserve hugs.

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* "Heroin" Bob from [[SLC Punk]]. Although he doesn't get as much attention in the movie as Stevo, his story unfolds piece by piece until the end. When he and Stevo were kids, they were both {{spoiler|geeks, getting picked on}}. However, while Stevo was from a fairly normal family, Bob {{spoiler|had no mom and was living with his alchoholic, insane father}}. Later, he tries to visit {{spoiler|his father for his birthday and brings him a present, but the old man chases him out with a gun, after not recognising his own son. After Bob falls in love with Trish, he admits to Stevo that he actually feels happy with her and he's willing to give the city they both hated for so long another chance}}. Finally, in the end he spills his guts to Stevo, saying he {{spoiler|wants to marry Trish and revealing that all this time he's had doubts whether he's ever been a good son and if he hadn't let his father down}}. And to top it all, he {{spoiler|dies the next morning}}. If that doesn't make you tear up and want to hug the guy, nothing will.

* In the first [[Christopher Reeve]] ''[[Superman (Film)|Superman]]'' film, Reeve manages to create a moving Woobie moment. It's when Clark Kent is at the Daily Planet elevators, having just been brushed off by Lois Lane, ignored by nearly everyone and treated rudely the one person who does notice him. At that moment, Clark is a lonely nerd who can't get seem to get a break. All the more powerful when you know that Lois' helicopter is about to crash and Clark is about to have his [[Crowning Moment of Awesome]] as the Man of Steel because of it.

* Hank [[Mc Coy]] from ''[[X Men (Film)|X-Men: First Class]]'', he not only gets "[[Does This Remind You of Anything|outed]]" as being a mutant in the most awkward way possible in front of his dad, he loses said dad in a raid on the CIA (something that mind you never gets brought up, ever!), gets [[All of the Other Reindeer|teased and disrespected by his fellow mutants]] even when his scientific inventions help them improve their powers, loses his potential love interest when he can't accept her for her true appearance, and then accidentally advances his mutation and makes it impossible to hide while trying to cure it!

* Hank [[Mc Coy]] from ''[[X Men (Film)|X-Men: First Class]]'', he not only gets "[[Does This Remind You of Anything?|outed]]" as being a mutant in the most awkward way possible in front of his dad, he loses said dad in a raid on the CIA (something that mind you never gets brought up, ever!), gets [[All of the Other Reindeer|teased and disrespected by his fellow mutants]] even when his scientific inventions help them improve their powers, loses his potential love interest when he can't accept her for her true appearance, and then accidentally advances his mutation and makes it impossible to hide while trying to cure it!

* Todd in [[Dead Poets Society]] could count -- his parents prefer his older brother to him, he doesn't have the same confidence or self-assuredness that most of his friends seem to, and {{spoiler|his best friend kills himself toward the end of the movie.}}. It helps that he's perpetually cute and vulnerable-looking. The scene when he's showing Neil the desk set that his parents gave him for his birthday two years in a row, probably because they just didn't care enough to give it more thought, cements both Todd's woobie status and Neil's as the best friend he could possibly have. Fortunately, he gets a good deal more confident and sure of himself by the end.

** Flipside of this being that as Todd becomes less of a woobie, Niel becomes more of one due to his [[Why Couldn't You Be Different|relationship with his dad]] until the aformentioned {{spoiler|suicide}}.

** Flipside of this being that as Todd becomes less of a woobie, Niel becomes more of one due to his [[Why Couldn't You Be Different?|relationship with his dad]] until the aformentioned {{spoiler|suicide}}.

* [[Requiem for A Dream]]. Seriously, try to watch the final scene without wanting to give every character a big squishy hug.

* [[Lawrence Talbot]], aka Universal Studios' ''[[The Wolfman]]'', is an early example. Poor guy gets bitten by a monster, catches [[The Virus]], involuntarily kills a bunch of people, and gets beaten to death by his own father. And in the sequels, he escapes from the grave, learns he ''can't'' stay dead, kills his own [[Love Interest]] in a moon-mad rage, and spends most of the rest of the series as a fugitive from the law and/or the insane asylum, vainly seeking the means to commit suicide and/or destroy the wolf within. ''Definitely'' a guy in need of a hug.

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** Or, for that matter, when he sees the Enterprise for the first time in ''The Motion Picture''. The man's face just ''lights up''.

*** Why didn't you hug him when you could, Scotty?

* Both of the ''villains'' in ''[[The World Is Not Enough (Film)|The World Is Not Enough]]'' qualify to an extent. Renard the Anarchist is a brutal terrorist, yes, but he's also in the process of dying a horrible death (a bullet slowly migrating through his brain; he's already lost all sensation of both pleasure and pain), and he's completely an utterly in love. His scenes with his significant other are among the closest [[James Bond|this series]] gets to being totally heartwarming. His partner in crime, {{spoiler|and the aforementioned significant other, Elektra King}}, meanwhile, was {{spoiler|kidnapped by terrorists as a teenager (with there almost certainly being a sexual aspect to her captivity) to extort money from her oil-baron father. You know what he does? He leaves her there. You know who ''told'' him to leave her there? The frigging ''[[Big Good]]''. Fortunately for her, Renard was one of the terrorists, [[A Match Made in Stockholm|they fell in love]], and he helped her escape}}. It's thus easy to see [[Woobie Destroyer of Worlds|why they plan to]] {{spoiler|nuke Istanbul, cutting off the main center of the petroleum trade between East and West, allowing Renard to [[Dying Moment of Awesome|go out with a bang]] and Elektra to corner the oil market as a final post-mortem (Renard saw to that earlier) one-finger salute to Daddy Dearest}}. Unfortunately, they still have to die; they ''are'' plotting to kill millions, after all.

* Both of the ''villains'' in ''[[The World Is Not Enough (Film)|The World Is Not Enough]]'' qualify to an extent. Renard the Anarchist is a brutal terrorist, yes, but he's also in the process of dying a horrible death (a bullet slowly migrating through his brain; he's already lost all sensation of both pleasure and pain), and he's completely an utterly in love. His scenes with his significant other are among the closest [[James Bond|this series]] gets to being totally heartwarming. His partner in crime, {{spoiler|and the aforementioned significant other, Elektra King}}, meanwhile, was {{spoiler|kidnapped by terrorists as a teenager (with there almost certainly being a sexual aspect to her captivity) to extort money from her oil-baron father. You know what he does? He leaves her there. You know who ''told'' him to leave her there? The frigging ''[[Big Good]]''. Fortunately for her, Renard was one of the terrorists, [[A Match Made in Stockholm|they fell in love]], and he helped her escape}}. It's thus easy to see [[Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds|why they plan to]] {{spoiler|nuke Istanbul, cutting off the main center of the petroleum trade between East and West, allowing Renard to [[Dying Moment of Awesome|go out with a bang]] and Elektra to corner the oil market as a final post-mortem (Renard saw to that earlier) one-finger salute to Daddy Dearest}}. Unfortunately, they still have to die; they ''are'' plotting to kill millions, after all.

* Jim Prideaux, in the eyes of the [[Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Film)|Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy]] fandom. Being shot in the back, captured, and tortured would be quite bad enough, but the true extent of his woobiness falls into place at the end of the movie. {{spoiler|The Mole turns out to be Jim's best friend, former partner, and [[Ho Yay|possible ex-boyfriend]]. And Jim [[Kill the Ones You Love|kills him.]] }}

** And Peter Guillam, at least in the [[Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Film)|movie]]. When Smiley tells him to clean up any loose end of his own that might get him in trouble, Guillam goes home and {{spoiler|breaks up with his boyfriend - because that was still illegal in mid-70's Britain. Watching Guillam break down in tears as the man leaves is just heartbreaking.}} The whole scene serves little purpose beyond reinforcing a theme: be a secret agent, and your life will be depressing as hell.

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[[Category:The Woobie]]

[[Category:Film]]

[[Category:Woobie]]

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