Why Bad really didn't like Tommy

Hi ccr, for me that artistic reason you mention is valuable, but not strong enough to explain the spite and very personal resentment Bad seemed to display at Tommy´s name. I figured that to him Tommy had been the closest Bad came to "having a son" (Tommy must have been REAL young when touring with Bad, and at that time could have been his heir to real and true country music Bad would have hoped for - and then that kid wanders of to the big corporate music industry? ), and so the disappointment in Tommy letting him down and switching to plastic country and big money must have hit Bad far more than just artistic causes. He felt kind of betrayed. In their scenes together their very personal relation was played out, very subtly at that, and to me it was very much father and son reconciling.

I´ve mentioned that before on here, so sorry for repeating myself...*sigh* But ok, it´s like singing the same song over and over again.

I think he liked Tommy, the person.

He didn't like Tommy's success because it made his own failure all that more obvious. But he needed that contrast, it was part of what helped him to finally decide to turn himself around.

The thing I liked most about this movie is that there was no villain. Tommy was a really nice guy, gracious to his fans, always acknowledged what he owed Bad and was trying to help Bad.

It's a common alcoholic behavior to try to blame their drinking on outside forces, and resenting Tommy's success was probably part of that. It was clear throughout the movie that Bad's problems were only caused by himself. Once Bad decided to own that he was ready to get better.

In the last scene he's at one of Tommy's shows, maybe he opened for him, maybe he was just there. But the resentment was gone, he was happier, and more at peace.

It wasn't about Tommy, it was about Bad trying to have reasons to keep drinking.

I thought that in earlier years, the two were touring together which busted up when Tommy's wife put forth an ultimatum to Tommy about his lifestyle which I assumed she was worried about due to the bad habits of Bad rubbing off on Tommy.

During their talk in the parking lot, we're told the resentment stems from Tommy leaving the band/tour to salvage his marriage. Blake, on the other hand, has always put music first, even above marriage. His guitars are the first thing he asks about after returning to consciousness, etc. Tommy let him down when he chose his family over music.

Near the end of the music, the resentment is gone, because now Bad can understand Tommy putting family first, because Bad has realized what he himself will never have due to his choices.

Bad did like Tommy. He liked him through the course of the entire movie. Watch and listen closely and you will see what I mean.

At times when Tommy is mentioned Bad is angry with himself, with the record people that don't want him doing a song with Tommy, with his manager. He is also a little annoyed with Tommy at times (like when he comes on stage to sing with him), but he never actually dislikes Tommy himself. As a matter of fact he loves Tommy, and Tommy loves him (bro-love only of course).... And even that just makes the situation worse since they are both tough country singers who don't know how to deal with those feelings. So that causes Bad to not want to be around Tommy when the idea of opening for him comes up, but it is also what causes him to ultimately say yes as well.