5 Movie Jerks That Were Lowkey the Good Guys of the Story
While their attitudes can be quite annoying and even appalling, these five had understandable reasons for being such jerks.
Art often imitates life, so even movie protagonists often encounter complete idiots in the course of their stories, who are not necessarily the antagonists.
And yet, no matter how annoying and horrible they may be, sometimes these characters act that way for a reason.
So let's take a look at five movie jerks who actually have a point.
1. Sergeant Hartman — Full Metal Jacket (1987)
For the first half of Stanley Kubrick's iconic war drama, Drill Sergeant Hartman is presented as the villain of the story, who verbally and physically abuses the recruits he trains until Private Leonard snaps and kills him before taking his own life.
However, Hartman knows that these young men will be going off to actual war in a matter of weeks, so he does his best to prepare them.
The system itself is broken, as Private Leonard is not fit to deal with such stress in the first place, which should have been discovered through a proper evaluation.
2. Jake Houseman — Dirty Dancing (1987)
This romantic drama makes Frances Houseman's father, Jake, look like a controlling parent standing in the way of young love.
In reality, he is just protecting his 17-year-old daughter who is being seduced by a 25-year-old dance instructor, which is completely understandable and reasonable.
3. Harry Waters — In Bruges (2008)
Ralph Fiennes is unforgettable as this foul-mouthed and short-tempered criminal who wants to kill Colin Farrell 's Ray.
However, he has a perfect reason to do so, as not only is Ray also a criminal, but he also accidentally killed a child, which goes against Harry's strict moral code, so he just stands by his values until the end.
4. Douglas — Bird Box (2018)
This horror thriller starring Sandra Bullock is set in a world ravaged by some invisible (at least to the viewer) entities that cause people who look at them to kill themselves.
During a flashback sequence that takes place at the beginning of the disaster, John Malkovich's Douglas appears as a selfish old man who is against letting strangers into the house.
The survivors don’t listen to him, even though his cynical attitude makes perfect sense during the literal apocalypse. The others' naive attitude then leads to most of them dying horribly.
5. Caledon Hockley — Titanic ( 1997)
Even though Billy Zane's Caledon Hockley is an arrogant jerk, let's not forget that his soon-to-be wife almost openly starts a relationship with another man during their trip to New York.
His hostility is completely understandable.
