MovieChat Forums > The Green Mile (1999) Discussion > Percy is not nearly as evil as Del

Percy is not nearly as evil as Del

posted 7 years ago by agusmaga93
10 replies | jump to latest

I just love how everyone says "Oh, I hate Percy so much, that little *beep*!" for what he did, and at the same time say "Ohh, poor Del boo hoo hoo", when actually, Del is much worse than Percy. Percy is just an *beep* sure, but the worse thing he did was steping on Mr. Jingles, but Del is pure evil, he raped and killed a girl, and then set a fire to hide his crime, and the fire spread and killed more people. I never get why people sympathise so much with a child rapist and mass murderer like Del but hate a bully like Percy so much. I didn't root for any of them.

[–] strntz 7 years ago

Watch again.

Del was indeed guilty of his crimes and would pay the price to society, but his soul was already reclaimed,and the reclaimed Del is what we see - which is why we feel bad for him (and the same for Arlen Bitterbuck). Wild Bill did pretty much what Del did, but he was unrepentant for the rapes and murders he committed. If we were privy to Del's life before his change or if he never changed at all, we'd be rootin' for Old Sparky and a dry sponge..

Percy was a sadistic piece of sh$t who enjoyed tormenting others. Imagine the damage he could do in a mental hospital where people are pretty much defenseless.

If you want to make an argument that Percy, given enough time, would change like Del did, that's another issue.

Is very bad to steal Jobu's rum. Is very bad.

[–] JR541 7 years ago

Del was of course guilty of his crimes and was punished for committing them. To portray Percy as the "villain" they have to make us feel sympathy for Del which is why they don't talk much about his crimes. Like you said, If we knew what he did then we'd be rooting for old sparky. For a brief few seconds we even root for Wild Bill when he grabs ahold of Percy after he'd scared the crap out of Del.

Making the viewers feel sympathy for killers in prison has been done many times. Shawshank does this. Ever see Dead Man Walking with Sean Penn? When we see him confessing about his guilt and then showing remorse as they're about to execute him. At that moment when we feel some sympathy towards him director Tim Robbins shows us flashbacks to the terrible crimes he and his friend committed to a teenage couple out on a date. A brutal rape and murder in the woods. This was intended by Robbins to tear that sympathy away from us.

He's taking the knife out of the Cheese!
Do you think he wants some cheese?

[–] agusmaga93 7 years ago

I always had a hard time sympathizing with murderers and rapists. The only case where I sypathized with an immate was with Red form Shawshank. Other than that, I never felt any sympathy with Sean Penn in DMW, or with Perry Smith and Dick Hickock in Capote's In Cold Blood, or with Alex in A clockwork orange.

[–] ericachristine 7 years ago

Del is also not 100%. It's obvious he has serious cognitive disabilities, which obviously were never addressed since in those days they just locked them up in an insane asylum until they were an adult, and if they could communicate they were kicked out in the street to fend for themselves. There was no teaching at any time about the difference between good and bad, nor anything else for that matter.

[–] Paynebyname 7 years ago

I thought this was discussing the film, The Green Mile, not the book.

Are Del's crimes detailed in the film because I didn't spot them?

In which case comparing characters in film to those in a book is ridiculous.

Granted it might have been taken from a book but that doesn't mean the universe from the book has been transplanted to the film.

Small moves Ellie, small moves

[–] strntz 7 years ago

That's a fair point but it doesn't really change the discussion.

In the movie, we are shown the crime that John was wrongly convicted of, but it doesn't matter that we aren't shown or told what Del did. Del was on death row and was indeed guilty by everything the movie shows us. Without being shown what it was, we can assume it was a capital crime.

My point above was that whatever it was that Del was guilty of, he was sorry for it, and we are shown that his "soul" is reclaimed. Percy was a predator who would have done a lot of harm to the most defenseless of all humans if he got to that mental institution.

Is very bad to steal Jobu's rum. Is very bad.

[–] agusmaga93 7 years ago

My point above was that whatever it was that Del was guilty of, he was sorry for it, and we are shown that his "soul" is reclaimed.

I think that Del didn't feel bad about his crimes but more of the consecuenses he was suffering from having commited his crimes. I'm pretty sure that, had he gotten his way, he would have done it again. Like what Hannibal Lecter said in one of the books: "I don't regret having commited those crimes, my only complaint is that I'm in prison".

[–] strntz 7 years ago

I think that Del didn't feel bad about his crimes but more of the consecuenses he was suffering from having commited his crimes. I'm pretty sure that, had he gotten his way, he would have done it again. Like what Hannibal Lecter said in one of the books: "I don't regret having commited those crimes, my only complaint is that I'm in prison".

Not every criminal is like Hannibal Lecter (fortunately).

I'm sure there are a lot of criminals who never feel remorse of a crime they've gotten away with, but a lot of criminals eventually start to buck under the weight of their own morality (if they indeed possess any) when given enough time in prison to think about it.

Had Del gotten away with his crime, perhaps he may not have suffered any guilt as you suggest, but maybe he would have. But there are lots of cases where people even give themselves up to the law many years after getting away with the crime when they can no longer deal with their own guilt. It happens.

Is very bad to steal Jobu's rum. Is very bad.

[–] agusmaga93 7 years ago

The movie is quite faithful to the book, with very insignificant differences. Same story, same characters, same message, etc.

[–] MissTexasMcCoy 7 years ago

I agree. Personally I have always thought the most evil person in the story was Wild Bill. The book includes more details that are left out of the film, some for obvious reasons. He pretended to be a normal innocent person seeking work, in order to gain the trust of the family of the two sisters in order to get closer to them and feed his evil pedophile desires. In the book, the reason the two dead sisters have blood in their hair, was that Wild Bill bashed their heads together until it killed them, after he first raped them both. I thought he got off easy by being shot. He should have gotten the dry sponge treatment Del did.

The book makes it not so easy to feel sorry for Del, as it describes his crime and doesn't portray him so much like a remorseful old sap the way the movie does. Del was imprisoned for raping and murdering a young woman, then tried to hide his crime by setting her on fire, which burned down the building she lived in, killing numerous other innocent people, including several children. I have a hard time feeling sorry for that sort of person, remorse or not. Percy was just a spoiled little brat that grew up to be an a$$hole. But in no way do I think he was the most evil person in the story.

Just my opinion.

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George Lassos the Moon

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