Do you see the Grinch as the bad guy?

[The Arizonan]

This thread was inspired by reading an article by Maddox about the Grinch.

I don't see the Grinch as a bad guy, but as a tragic figure that just snapped.

There's a fan theory out there stating that the people of Whoville killed off most of the Grinch's species (whatever they may be).

[Sprouts Farmers Market ✘]

Imo, if only one of the women of Whoville would've given in to him, they wouldn't have been terrorized and had all their possessions stolen. jao

[°Leprechaun]

I think that he was just trying to teach them that Christmas isn't about getting gifts.
All this crass commercialism. I don't know if they got it, however.

Also, if he snapped, who can blame him? The brutal darkness and cold gets to a lot of people.

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

Are you talking about that Jim Carrey movie? If so, that Grinch has every right to steal their Christmas.

The original, however, is just a cranky monster who hates Christmas. No different from Christopher Hitchens if the latter had green skin and was willing enough to steal decorations.

[The Arizonan]

Are you talking about that Jim Carry movie? If so, that Grinch has every right to steal their Christmas.

The original, however, is just a cranky monster who hates Christmas. No different from Christopher Hitchens if the latter had green skin and was willing enough to steal decorations.

I was talking about the cartoon movie, but the Jim Carrey movie is fair game for this thread. I haven't seen the Jim Carrey movie.

[°Leprechaun]

Jim Carrey was a cool God, don't you think?

[Hillary pays minimum wage]

No and Dr. Seuss was in my fraternity.

[bagelman]

Spoiler warning

In the Jim Carey movie the Grinch was adopted by a loving Whovian couple, only to be relentlessly bullied in school by both the students and adults for growing a beard at such a young age. The ringleader of the bullies is the future Mayor, a complete d-bag who becomes the "real" villian of the movie later on. The Grinch is forced out of town - as a child - to a barren cave that becomes his adult home.

His motivations are completely understandable and relatable. He's not the bad guy in the movie nor is he really supposed to be.

[Hillary pays minimum wage]

In the cartoon version he starts out as the bad guy but in the movie he's a good guy and comical.

[SWE]

The original, however, is just a cranky monster who hates Christmas. No different from Christopher Hitchens if the latter had green skin and was willing enough to steal decorations.

No, it's made pretty clear that he's just pissed that his neighbors are inconsiderate dicks, and he finally snaps after 63 years.

[The Arizonan]

The original, however, is just a cranky monster who hates Christmas. No different from Christopher Hitchens if the latter had green skin and was willing enough to steal decorations.

No, it's made pretty clear that he's just pissed that his neighbors are inconsiderate dicks, and he finally snaps after 63 years.

I think that is what Maddox was alluding to in his article about the Grinch.

[Atlas Has Shrugged]

Imo, if only one of the women of Whoville would've given in to him, they wouldn't have been terrorized and had all their possessions stolen. jao

Yeah, if only that old lady in the movie just nailed him when he was like ten. Then Christmas wouldn't be ruined.

[bedstuy]

He's obviously the bad guy, but has a redemption moment at the end of the story.  If you don't get that, you're riddled with asperger's.

[RFayette]

He's obviously the bad guy, but has a redemption moment at the end of the story.  If you don't get that, you're riddled with asperger's.

Yeah.  How is an alternative interpretation even possible? 

[The Arizonan]

He's obviously the bad guy, but has a redemption moment at the end of the story.  If you don't get that, you're riddled with asperger's.

From a general standpoint, he's the bad guy. He's the "protagonist" if you can call him that.

[bagelman]

He's obviously the bad guy, but has a redemption moment at the end of the story.  If you don't get that, you just might be a hackish hollywood film producer.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

I wouldn't call him the bad guy; he was just horribly misguided.  I just wish we could see the Chuck Jones cartoon on TV again instead of the crappy Jim Carrey version that stinks to high heaven.

Whether he's the bad guy or not, he's definitely the protagonist.  Protagonists aren't always "good guys."

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

In modern parlance, he's a likeable antihero,
tho older folks would label him a zero.

We understand what makes him snap,
but what he does is still crap.
 
He should have let that sled topple from the top of Mount Crumpet
rather than be seduced by Cindy Lou Who, the Whoville strumpet. (j/k)

[Leinad]

He's obviously the bad guy, but has a redemption moment at the end of the story.  If you don't get that, you just might be a hackish hollywood film producer.

As someone with Asperger's who kind of wants to be a hackish hollywood film producer, I'll weigh in with my opinion: the grinch is your typical antihero. More bad than good, but we can relate to him, and he's protagonist (central charactor to the story). To go into hackish writer mode, good characters aren't all good or all bad (similar, I would say, to people). That's what makes them interesting. Which side will win out? What caused the bad traits? Will their positive traits be used to solve whatever problem their negative traits get them into? This is what stories are made of, an intriguing narrative.

That and gratuitous sex and violence, of course.

[angus]

I don't see the Grinch as a bad guy, but as a tragic figure that just snapped.

You're like the little friend of Ralph Phillips in the adventures of the Road Runner.  The one who says, "Sometimes I feel sorry for the Coyote" and Ralph replies, "You should see a Pss-sychiatrist."

Grinch was a bad dude.  Takes pleasure in harming others.  Ted Kaczynski, but with out a PhD in mathematics.  Very anti-christmas as well.  Like Scrooge, he seemed to have turned over a new leaf one fine christmas morning be he's still a bad guy.  A bad banana with a greasy black peel. 

[The Arizonan]

I don't see the Grinch as a bad guy, but as a tragic figure that just snapped.

You're like the little friend of Ralph Phillips in the adventures of the Road Runner.  The one who says, "Sometimes I feel sorry for the Coyote" and Ralph replies, "You should see a Pss-sychiatrist."

Grinch was a bad dude.  Takes pleasure in harming others.  Ted Kaczynski, but with out a PhD in mathematics.  Very anti-christmas as well.  Like Scrooge, he seemed to have turned over a new leaf one fine christmas morning be he's still a bad guy.  A bad banana with a greasy black peel. 

It's funny that you should say that because I wanted to see the Coyote catch the Roadrunner.

[Oldiesfreak1854]

He should have let that sled topple from the top of Mount Crumpet
rather than be seduced by Cindy Lou Who, the Whoville strumpet. (j/k)

He wasn't seduced by Cindy Lou Who--he brought the sled back when he heard the Whos singing.  Remember how it said that his heart grew when he heard that?

[Oldiesfreak1854]

I don't see the Grinch as a bad guy, but as a tragic figure that just snapped.

You're like the little friend of Ralph Phillips in the adventures of the Road Runner.  The one who says, "Sometimes I feel sorry for the Coyote" and Ralph replies, "You should see a Pss-sychiatrist."

Grinch was a bad dude.  Takes pleasure in harming others.  Ted Kaczynski, but with out a PhD in mathematics.  Very anti-christmas as well.  Like Scrooge, he seemed to have turned over a new leaf one fine christmas morning be he's still a bad guy.  A bad banana with a greasy black peel. 

I wouldn't call Scrooge anti-Christmas.  He was more of a misanthrope who just hated people in general.

[Dancing with Myself]

Depends on which version you like the best.

The book/cartoon always left it vague besides the fact he hated Christmas and he was douche. That simple. He was okay with the little girl (more  of a smart reaction to a situation where he could have been caught.) But besides that he had no goodness in him until he got the point and manned up. He was fine after that at least for that book/cartoon.

The movie added a point to it.  The who's were such jerks to him as kids that they drove him to the deep end, especially in how over silly their reactions were to his shaving.  That jerk of a mayor was the worst. Even the teacher was laughing, who would do that? You can't help feel sorry for little Timmy, I mean little grinch.

It just depends. I always loved the Carrey movie so shame on me I guess.

[/]

He's merely an opponent of the socially conservative cultural hegemony manifested in Whoville.

History is always written by the winners.

Gosh.