MovieChat Forums > Harsh Times (2006) Discussion > Why Was Christian Bale's Character Such ...

Why Was Christian Bale's Character Such A Jerk??


So seriously, how come they made his character such a jerk? I mean he is a great friend to his sidekick buddy, but otherwise, he does everything from force himself into a woman's home to bully that Asian law forcement candidate, to steal, etc...I mean they could have done the film without him necessarilly being such a jerk.

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The point is that if you're frontline soldier like he is, the conditions and pressure in a long run make you like that.

What clichés? Thats a word the wannabe critics use when they want to whinge.

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Yeah I mean the guy has like pretty much no feelings anymore besides anger. War messes you up especially if you're chopping people up and stuff like that.

"The saddest thing in life is wasted talent." ~ A Bronx Tale (1993)

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He felt invincible and the thirst for violence got to him. As you can see he had no care in the world but himself.

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I do not believe being a war veteran makes a person into someone like that. There are plenty of war veterans who are not messed up, and plenty who are messed up, who are still not jerks in the way Bale's character was.

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To me, his jerkiness was probably a huge part of who he was to begin with, or his upbringing. He was clearly like this pre-war, as his friends at home didn't seem to think he had changed, until he really started going off the deep end. So they've seen him do this kind of thing before, (and clearly Mike was down with most of the stuff going on) and it's not new.

The war probably made him more crazy, but he was already likely on his way.

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because he was crazy and had BAD PTSD, that's why.

Cult Leader my mind's frightening, I drink blood from a human skull like a Viking

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First off Jim was an OG crooked mother *beep* who grew up in the barrio (mexican neighborhood) and the war gave him BAD PTSD. So Jim was beyond *beep* up

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