MovieChat Forums > Little Children (2007) Discussion > who else felt bad for ronnie?

who else felt bad for ronnie?

posted 12 years ago by rosie-rocks-282-826753
22 replies | jump to latest

i mean, he may have liked kids but he hated himself for his feelings towards them. this film really does show a new light on paedophilia, it shows it as the psycho-sexual disorder it is not just portraying them as men who can't get women their own age. ronnie and no other paedohpile chose to be a paedophile, ronnie himself said he wished he liked older women. i was 14 when i first watched this and am 18 now and i still feel the same. he had a sad life, no-one would chose it.

Well, Clarice, have the lambs stopped screaming? - Hannibal Lecter.

[–] scottieweiss 12 years ago

Sorry Rosie, I have little sympathy for him. I didn't detect much self-recrimination on his part. I've no idea whether paedophiles can choose their feelings towards kids but they can choose to not act on them (he didn't). He was unable to carry on abusing kids as he had been exposed, so he moved on to sexually mistreating a grown woman.

[–] robertolshn 10 years ago

No self-recrimination?.... Couldn't castrating himself be seen as a form of self-recrimination?
Anyway, he was obviously deeply sick mentally. I think its made clear that he has a sickness. I felt sympathy for him as a human being.

[–] sterling0 12 years ago

I actually find it very hard to feel bad for someone who masturbates on the first date, at least wait until the third and to compound my disdain was he new what he was doing was socially unaccepted and threatened the poor lady.

[–] jaf-14 12 years ago

I felt bad for him until he traumatized his poor date by masturbating in the car and threatening her. It was more difficult to feel much sympathy after that, realizing that despite all of his pain he's still a dangerous sociopath.

[–] banders46 12 years ago

Yeah, it's hard to feel bad for him after what he does to that woman in the car. (Not only does he put on a "display," but he also threatens her. Nice first date.) I wasn't too happy with what he did at the pool, either, since somebody in his position ought to know better than to go swimming in a public pool with a face mask on.

This is not to say it's not a great performance by Jackie Earl Haley, though, and he does give us some glimpses of the humanity of this guy, even if you don't exactly "feel bad" for him.

[–] estradajake 12 years ago

No, there is no way to feel bad for him, but he it is a very human disorder, and I do feel people like him should not be allowed to live in normal communities at all. There should be places for people with this sort of illness, because in the end it is an illness, of course he knew it was wrong he was in jail and locked up and told it was a disorder over and over. However, being a a sicko with his social disorder only pushed him so far. The breaking stone was when he lost his mother the only person that really loved him no matter what, and which is why she tried to make sure he would continue being a good boy was writing that letter, and the only way he thought he could do that was cutting himself downstairs.

[–] gmansi 10 years ago

I felt bad for him until he traumatized his poor date by masturbating in the car and threatening her. It was more difficult to feel much sympathy after that, realizing that despite all of his pain he's still a dangerous sociopath.

Right answer in my opinion

[–] venturaa 10 years ago

Ugh, I know!! So disturbing.

Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?

[–] Stenian 8 years ago

I agree with this.

Still felt bad for him when he was on the swing, lamenting about his mother though.

[–] curious_chaos 10 years ago

I felt bad for him. He is, after all, still a human being, and all humans are flawed. Jackie Earle Haley played the character with a depth that made me look past his admittedly disturbing surface to see a very sad and troubled man, which hopefully most people can relate with. Everyone has struggles of their own, and while most don't lust after little children, we all experience sadness at one point or another. That's why I felt a bit of sympathy for him. He's just a human. Nobody's perfect.

[–] gcarras (2727) 4 years ago

I did,too.

[–] la di da 10 years ago

Sympathy? I guess you don't mind Ronnie babysitting your kids or go out on a date with him

History is written by the victors.

[–] marine1137 10 years ago

I felt sorry for his mom more than anything.

[–] Scooby52 10 years ago

I didn't feel bad for him, had some sympathy for him though. It was clear he was suffering from a perverted mental illness which resulted in his paedophilia. It was a great performance from Jackie Earl Haley, much like Kevin Bacon in The Woodsman. So yes I did have sympathy for him because to a certain extent he couldn't help who he was. Though I don't agree with your statement that 'no-one chooses to be a paedophile', I'm sure there's some that do and some that don't, but yes Ronnie came across as someone who wasn't in control of his attractions in this regard. He's a totally different character to say, Stanley Tucci's in The Lovely Bones. That's why I really like this movie, it's an honest portrayal of a taboo subject.

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[–] rinaldi_agustin 10 years ago

my simpathy goes for him only after his mother dies and he cut his own dick