Was the actor playing Vernon a little over the top?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — General Discussion
Geek_XX — 9 years ago(July 12, 2016 03:40 PM)
I was really uncomfortable watching Paul Gleason go ape sh&t as Vernon when he was threatening Bender in the storage room.
I don't know why but I didn't feel they really needed to show it like that.
It was important for Vernon to show Bender as a coward, but the whole scene just made me cringe.
What was everyone else's take on that? -
ttaskmaster — 9 years ago(July 18, 2016 07:36 AM)
I've seen far worse from real life teachers.
So no, that was not OTT in the slightest and if it made you feel uncomfortable, then the actor did his job very well. That was one moment when you should be really identifying with Bender. -
Geek_XX — 9 years ago(July 18, 2016 11:30 AM)
I might have used the wrong word.
I meant uncomfortable as in Cringe-worthy. I found the scene and the dialogue just way too over the top.
Maybe I've never seen a teacher like that in any school I've gone to so it was really odd to see him act that way.
The adrenaline was definitely rushed and I can see a person who's really angry behave that way, but if Vernon's job was to try to straighten Bender up, he could have used it a different way.
I tend to look at it as someone with anger issues. That's a very dangerous thing to have in a school and any teacher would get fired for that. -
ttaskmaster — 9 years ago(July 18, 2016 12:37 PM)
Again, I've known much worse from real life teachers and yes, they did have 'issues' with anger and many other things.
However, that was a long time ago. Most teachers even suspected of anything amiss are out on their arse and/or in court faster than you can blink, these days. That's why there are so few decent ones left and why many schools round here have a shortage that and parents who expect teachers to raise their kids for them! -
deem_bastille — 9 years ago(August 03, 2016 04:46 PM)
back in the 80's and 90's when I was a student, I would really never talk back to a teacher I would only explain why something happened or didn't happen and never sass. cause if I did, my ass would be grass!
this is what we DON'T have today! we don't have parents taking responsibility for their kid's lack of respect or even any discipline measures. and kids today and back then were asstwats. now you have kids actually making sure an innocent teacher loses his or her job and license by lying about sexual things and more. all because we believe every blessed word out of the kid's mouths!
notice how I don't call these kids students. cause they are not. students learn.
Oh God. Fortune
vomits
on my eiderdown once more. -
Woodyanders — 8 years ago(March 19, 2018 08:19 PM)
Vernon was clearly a very bitter and resentful guy who hated how his life turned out after deciding to become a teacher. As Carl the janitor points out, Vernon erroneously thought when he decided to become a teacher that it would be an easy job, but soon learned that being a teacher is hard work and tries to justify the lack of effort he puts into being a principal on the bullshit belief that the kids somehow "turned" on him as he got older and became more resigned about his lackluster lot in life. So Vernon basically projects the anger and hatred he feels about how his life has turned out onto the kids. And with Bender being a surly punk rebel type, that makes him a super easy target for Vernon's rage and wrath.
You've seen Guy Standeven in something because the man was in everything. -
ToastedCheese — 4 years ago(December 20, 2021 03:55 AM)
While the kids were stereotypes of what the schools cliques represented, it worked within the context of the script and message, Vernon was the worst stereotype depicted.
He was just pure Asshole and his methods of handling the students would not be accepted today. Yeah sure, Bender was trouble with a capital T, but he was still a teen kid who came from a crap home and an adult like Bender who has been teaching kids his whole career should have known better.
Norman! What did you put in my tea? -
AnthonySocksss — 1 year ago(December 01, 2024 03:12 AM)
It’s probably the most important scene in the movie, shows that Bender is trapped between his parents and the school system, and no one cares about his predicament.
Vernon is an abusive principal, wielding a position of power over minors, and he takes advantage of that power. and there are plenty of examples like that in real life.
Melton1 Wanted for Pedophilia:
https://i.ibb.co/6cnPmJVr/IMG-0830.jpg
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/Zjxk307CND0 -
WarrenPeace — 1 year ago(December 01, 2024 05:17 AM)
You think kids should get a break and not be accountable for their bad actions?
Maybe Bender needed someone to haul his ass around like that.
He was a future criminal in waiting.
If this movie was made today he would show up on Monday morning with a gun and start blasting away in the classrooms and school halls.
"Please vote to preserve the unique character of Warren…" - Robert Duvall -
AnthonySocksss — 1 year ago(December 01, 2024 05:46 AM)
There’s a fan theory that Bender made up his abusive backstory, his parents are perfectly normal, that Bender burned himself with cigars to keep up the story. But I find the concept of him coming from childhood trauma/abuse more compelling.
My issue isn’t with Vernon disciplining bender, it’s him going on a totally unnecessary rant for some pretty mild hijinx, and threatening to assault a teenager, knowing said kid can’t do anything about it. Later the janitor tells Vernon he’s just too lazy to do his job of teaching kids properly and expects to coast.
Melton1 Wanted for Pedophilia:
https://i.ibb.co/6cnPmJVr/IMG-0830.jpg
https://m.youtube.com/shorts/Zjxk307CND0
