After the first battle with Megamind, Hal would've killed him if things worked out different. And why? Because he got tricked with Space Dad etc. Well boo hoo. You got superpowers you idiot. And if you weren't such a dumbass, maybe you wouldn't have been fooled.
And then the 3 different times he fully intended to kill Roxanne. Hal got off way too easy at the end. He should've died.
I agree, he definitely has deep issues. He's emotionally immature, as he simply kills anyone who ticks him off like Roxanne. Also, the scene where he tells Roxanne "There's no easter bunny, there's no tooth fairy," might signal a troubled childhood.
shareHe felt like a fairly realistic character, because of all this.
shareI don't think that was the point of the line. It finishes with "There is no Queen of England". It's just to get a gag and to show Hal's stupidity.
Panzer vor!
Well, technically Hal is correct since "being royal" is as fictional as me proclaiming myself king of the atmosphere.
"Need" is just a fiction. As is "should", "must", "value" and "importance".
I think Hal sort of snapped at the end (after the space dad reveal and truth that Megamind was Bernard). However, there were signs prior that he was capable of violence (the way he was lasering the Megamind's dummy face in). Also he clearly didn't have a strong moral code. He tried to avert robbers to his neighbor's apartment, and stole a bunch of stuff after he gained powers. I think Hal's transformation was a combination of never actually being a good guy (we saw he was jealous and possessive already), and being corrupted by the sudden accumulation of power. In the end he is even willing to kill Roxanne because if he can't have her, he doesn't want anyone else to.
shareI'm not exactly trying to make excuses for Hal, but I think a lot of what made him the way he was is that he was the guy who could never get the girl. Before he gets superpowers he's constantly trying to get Roxanne to go out with him, only to have her always give him the cold shoulder. I do believe Hal was ready to be a hero, right up to the point where he saw Roxanne in the restaurant with Megamind, and that for Hal was the last straw.
Hal was definitely wrong for doing what he did, but I don't think he was a psychopath or anything, he was just the type of guy who just can't get anyone to be his friend, and then he thought,"Why help anyone else if no one else cares about me?" Although I don't really root for him when I watch the movie, I do feel sorry for him.
Agreed. And the sad thing is, what you just described is true for so many real persons out there. Constant rejection starts a vicious cycle of becoming creepier which results in more rejections.
shareSomething about Hal's character was just...too creepy and I'm sure, quite familiar to many female viewers.
Not saying the movie condones that kind of behvior and yes its a cartoon, but I felt like its a serious issue that was taken kind of lightly by the characters. I mean, I in real life I would ask someone like Hal to not contact me again if they wouldn't stop.
That's very true.
share>>>I'm not exactly trying to make excuses for Hal, but I think a lot of what made him the way he was is that he was the guy who could never get the girl. Before he gets superpowers he's constantly trying to get Roxanne to go out with him, only to have her always give him the cold shoulder. <<<
Stalking and harassment, two criminal offences before Megamind even got his hands on the guy. It hardly bodes well for his future development...
This. And I can't believe no one mentioned his obvious anger issues before his transformation. Remember him going postal and hitting the truck after she said no to the bouncy house date? The guy had deep issues. His transformation simply allowed him to let go of his inhibitions and explore them.
He who makes a beast of himself gets rid of the pain of being a man.
I sort of got a Columbine vibe from the guy. An angry loser who's constantly rejected by women and bullied by the cool kids and the rich "dweebs" (who also get all the girls), and suddenly decides turnabout if fair play when he gets a gun in his hands. And Hal got the ultimate gun. Like Hal said to Roxanne, he never WAS a good guy, he was just probably too scared and weak to ever do what he wanted before.
shareI concur.
He had entitlement issues too.
Deep down he thought nobody appreciates his "greatness". He didn't analyze how people perceived his actions nor did he really care. He spoke to people in manner that clearly indicated he didn't care what they said. He wanted vapid adoration.
I would definitely say he's a sociopath. He doesn't want to talk to people he wants them to listen to his monologue. And he goes off when people don't recognize how cool he is. The only he hadn't done anything before because he didn't think he could. Once he had power which was affirmation of his coolness he became angry because he was denied the adoration he felt he deserved.
He's a sociopath with low social skills so his off putting mannerisms drive people away. No one stays around him long enough to put up with his crap. His presence evokes rejection or hostility. The non-confrontational reject by being elsewhere. The confrontational tell him to piss off. But sociopaths crave adoration so being around people is the only way to achieve that. They can't stand being alone unless they know people are talking about them which feeds their narcissism.
I kind of think the terms 'sociopath', 'psychotic' and 'narcissist' are thrown around a little TOO often. Its a weird little habit our society has gotten into in which anyone behaving in a way that we don't necessary approve us is deemed 'mentally ill' and promptly classified. "After all", people exclaim, "everyone wants to be 'normal' and so anyone who isn't behaving that way must be sick." And that is just plain bull. I, myself, prefer the simple and non-medical term 'Ass-hxle" and just tend to leave it at that.
The theme to this film is, "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely." I have many friends, some of whom I love dearly, and yet I don't think I know a single man (or woman for that mater) that I would trust with the kind of power displayed in this film. Does this mean I know nothing but sociopaths? NO...I tend to think that this is because I can more honestly appraise my friends and accept their weaknesses knowing that, with unlimited power stripping off the veneer of social constraints, I would fear them.
Has anyone else ever known a bullied child who, through some change in events, became a bully him/herself? Typically these people are FAR worse bullies than they were ever bulled. Its a dangerous and cyclical phenomenon where pent up range and frustration are turned against others as a means of justifying their abuse.
Also, socially awkward men become very resentful at women, whom they desperately desire but find unable to connect with. This isn't a justification for violence or other 'creepy' behavior, its just a way to understand why someone would become angry and resentful. If your powerless, you repress those feelings or come to terms with them (like normal people do) while others allow it to overwhelm their better judgement. If your the type whose repressed those feeling out of fear of societal retribution, suddenly having Metro Man's powers would be like uncorking a terrible genie.
I'm not saying that everyone you know who fits this bill would go batshxx crazy and attempt to destroy the city...but I think there are more angry little people out there than you can possibly imagine. Its hardly a stretch to say that we all know someone who would abuse the crap out of that kind of power and most people would, to varying degrees, abuse it a little.
Hal is a frustrated, socially awkward failure of a little man who has spent his whole life following the lines because he lacks the power and understanding to cross over them. Power gave him the ability to do so with impunity. He knows its wrong...he comes right out and says it himself. He also understands he is hurting other people...because he wants them to feel pain. And this desire doesn't make him a 'sadist' either...his anger and frustration just pushes him to seek retribution for the injustices he feels he has suffered and any pain and loss by others is justified (in his mind) because he feels he is just paying back what he has suffered for years.
In other words...he's an ass-hxle.
And the sad and terrifying truth is, with tremendous power and no consequences for your actions, the distance between bully and brutal murder it tissue paper thin. Its not mental illness, its human nature.
----------
There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who get binary and those who don't.
I guess for me I took it as it only magnified what you already were.
Hal was a creep before he had power. But for me what makes me think there is fundamentally something wrong with him is that he didn't actually want a connection with others. He wanted to smother others with his own feelings.
To me social awkward is you want to communicate but not sure how but you genuinely want an exchange. Hal never wanted that from what was shown.
I tend to think that his personality wasn't altered one little bit...he was a jerk before he got powers, he was jerk after that and he was still a jerk once his powers were taken away.
His "story arc" doesn't so much go through alterations as much as it comes to realizations. He starts following Megamind's suggestions that he be a hero but, once he finds out that superpowers will not actually get him the girl he wants, he starts to realize he really doesn't want to be a hero. Power has just given him the ability to ignore the rules and once he figures that out he starts becoming more and more destructive the angrier he gets.
Its like speeding...if your alone on a country road with no police around, your tempted to speed. If you KNOW you can't get caught, most people will speed while a very few will not.
----------
There are 10 kinds of people in the world, those who get binary and those who don't.