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Back to School : Biggest Bullies in Cinema · HEEL HAVOC

• GATOR: Alright, welcome back to another edition of Heel Havoc. I know, I know, I was late a week. This is your boy Gator. I always show up and I do like to make an entrance sometimes. But it's been a rough two weeks between the ⁓ mic that I had breaking down, me having to borrow this one just so I could do this show, and then back to school. Every parent out there knows the back to school always happens and hits you at the worst possible time. So That gave me an idea though. In this history of cinema, there has always been some great bullies and mean old teachers. So yes, I decided to do a two-part series on this. Because and we are going to start with the greatest bullies in movie history. I do not condone bullies at all, but that does not change the fact that they are out there and they were bullying. Made so guys like me could stand up to them. But were they born mean or made that way in the movies? So back to school season usually celebrates the heroes. But like I said, today we're talking about the people that made school miserable. Bullies. Some became villains. Some alternate, did a 180, became the hero. Some were simply products of their environment. The question is. Were these characters actually evil? Or were they crying out some for some much needed hug me more attention? Because every school had one. The kid everyone feared, the one who made your stomach drop when you saw him in the hallway. Movies have given us some unforgettable bullies. But what if some of them weren't the real villains? Yes, we're gonna ask that question today because that's how I do it. You're right on heel havoc. So let's start off with. I am sure if you have not seen this movie, you must be living on some kind of a rock with your parents and everybody you know. Because Biff Tannan. Back to the future. Yes, we're gonna start right there with him. Why is he iconic? And that is because if bullies had a Mount Rushmore, Biff would be on it. He's physically intimidating, tall, muscular, not to mention arrogant. thinks he is God's gift to everyone around him, but also selfish. Thinks that again, everything is his in this world, as well as being entitled. I mean he bullies George McFly for decades because George never fights back. I mean we saw that. Spoiler if you are one of the eight people that have not seen this movie. ⁓ whenever George actually fights back Is whenever Biff stops, that's when we know that his as a he his bullliness comes with limitations. So let's talk with why Biff became a bully. Biff doesn't respect kindness at all, he respects strength. And that showed when George McFly actually knocks him back and out, everything, including his future, changes. I mean think about it. We saw in Back to the Future too, we saw how Biff w w could be put on a completely different path where he never changes. He is always the bully. He's always picking on people that have less or do less or ha or are less than him. So he was humbled in that moment. And that might have changed some things in his life, probably for the better overall, but not better for him, because that changed his whole world. So was Biff always a bully? Or did everyone around him allow him to become one? Just from plain fear? Think about it. I mean, nobody stood up to him at all until George McFly. What if somebody had stood up to him a long time ago, wanted changed his whole outlook on it? Except for the principal, because that mean Jack Wagon was mean to everybody. But no. As far as villain and bully score, I think Biff is a five star villain because God bless him, he made life interesting during those movies. So let's go to a part two, segment two. Johnny Lawrence. The karate kid, yes, I'm talking about that Johnny Lawrence, Mr. William Zapka himself. Here's where things get interesting. For ye I mean this is for years. Johnny was viewed as the villain. And ⁓ karate kid, but then Cobra Kai comes out and it completely changed the conversation. Johnny isn't I mean he lost his father, he found identity through Cobra Kai, was manipulated by John Creese, who became the father figure in his life. Suddenly he's not just the bully, he's another victim. I mean, if you look at it, Daniel LaRusso really change and like alter Johnny's ways and life altogether. Even on the beach, Johnny was walking away, then LaRusso gets up, throws sand in his face, and gets a cheap punch in there. Then Johnny has to finish it because he knows it's not going to end. So and Johnny's world where we learn that he has not only taken into this ⁓ he was just another LaRusso type character, but he instead of going in and trying to change everybody around him He adapted and made his life a part of that. I mean, he blended, he adapted, he became part of that society. He didn't just accept it and say, hey, this is who I am, change or else, I don't care. No, he he adapted, tried to fit in with everybody. So what did Cobra Kai do for him? I mean, it was a strike first, strike hard, no mercy. Cobra Kai. That's how life worked, I mean in the Cobra Kai Dojo, because that's exactly what he was taught. So did Johnny bully Daniel? Or was he just repeating everything he learned? In my opinion, he was not bullying Daniel. He was defending his way of life and he was being ruined by Daniel. So, yes, I think that that was the true case of the matter. I don't think Johnny was a villain. I don't think he was I think he was part of the solution. And Daniel just threw a massive wrench in it, even in Gober Kai. We see Daniel's trying to get cheap shots on Johnny whenever Johnny just wants to walk away and leave. If you look at it from a completely different point of view, Daniel LaRusso made Johnny's life a living hell. From the beginning to current day, even whenever he Johnny was trying to get his life on on track and starting his own dojo, the only thing LaRusso could do was stop it. That's all he wanted to do was stop the dojo. Kill it before it even began. Because that's all he knows is how to destroy, not build. Now, eventually, Johnny shows him the way, and that's a good thing. So let's go by the next one. In my opinion, though, Johnny was not a bully at all, he was just guided the wrong direction. So let's go with our my third bully, Ace Merrill. Now, this is an old 80s movie. Stand by me. If you haven't seen it, it's a great one. ⁓ highly recommend it. But ⁓ the Ace Merrill. Character is played by a young keeper Sutherland. That's twenty guy that was lead actor in 24, in case you didn't know. But what we find out is Ace isn't just a bully. That man is terrifying. Because unlike Biff, Ace enjoys the fear. Biff uses fear, but Ace enjoys it. He wants to push it. And this leads to the gang going through intimidation, violence, control. I mean, it's one of Stephen King's most realistic villains because there are no superpowers, just cruelty. I mean, if you haven't seen it, it's about a ⁓ missing kid and these four friends go to find him. And like I said, Ace is just the torture guy that follows him trying to take credit because he wants the reward money. But like I said, man, this guy was liter torture. And a great quote from that is some monsters never need a mask. That's never been more true for Ace, 'cause man he just lived to make everybody kind of ⁓ uncomfortable and scared to even do things. But let's dial it back to some Christmas time. In fact to Christmas story. Scoot Farkas Yes, I'm talking about the yellow eye Coonskip cap wearing, and of course that awkward laugh. I mean he was like childhood, bullied, feared, personified. I mean, think about it. Anybody that's seen that, who would not be intimidated or scared of him if you were a like eight, nine year old? Man, you'd be terrified of that. But here's what's fascinating. This movie never explains why he was that way. It he's simply the neighborhood terror. So let me ask you something. As we discussed with Johnny, we didn't know his backstory until later on. So should audiences know why villains became villains or is the mystery scarier using your imagination? Cause personally, I think having a little backstory kind of gives it a little mm. Like ⁓ Freddie Krueger, for instance, has like Jason Boorhees. I mean they yeah, terrifying killers, but now we know why they are killers. As they after we got a little backstory, a little prequel action ⁓ going on. But Farkas, I mean, he was a neighborhood terror again until they stood up to him, then he got caught running off. Showing that all bullies have their breaking point. I was like, and it just takes a group or sometimes one person to stand up and knock them off their pedestal as they put them on. Now my fifth one is a little different because there's two different ones. Now we have the Flash Thompson. Yes, I'm talking about that Flash from Spider Man. ⁓ but you have to consider two different ones because you have the original Toby Maguire Flash Thompson and then you have the new brand new day Flash Thompson, but you have two different kinds of bullies on this one. Now, the Toby Maguire, the original trilogy, that Flash was more of a I'm gonna beat you up. You are gonna I'm gonna push you around. You are mine to do what I want with. While the Flash Thompson in the Spider Man w ⁓ brand new days, I was like, is he just mocks him? And makes fun of him and thinks he's a nothing. I mean he's no bully at all. He's just more of a verbal bully versus a ⁓ I'm gonna beat you up bully. Two different kinds of bullies in that, but I mean let me know which one y'all think was a bigger bully in that one. But ⁓ I mean he's one of the greatest redemption stories. Because originally Flash constantly bullied Peter Parker. Why? Because Peter looked weak. And years later, Flash joins the military, becomes Agent Venom, risks his life to protect others. Biggest transformation and one of, or at least one of Marvel's biggest transformations, he is ⁓ what does a 180 on everything. Even on Spider-Man number one back in 1963, Flash openly mocks Peter while idolizing Spider-Man. The irony is not lost on me on that one. His greatest hero is Peter Parker, the guy that he is bullying. So man, how does like y'all's interpretation of Flash come out? Which one, which Flash bully did you like the most? Did you like the original trilogy or I was like the ⁓ news flash? Let me know in the comments. So now we got let's get to no more pushing around, no more bullying, beating up. Let's get to pure psychological bullying, which I think is the worst because it sticks around the longest. Regina George. The mean girl. She is not a use the fist, slap, punch, trip, all that. She uses popularity, manipulation, rumors, exclusion. And Regina proves emotional bullying can hurt just as much as physical bullying. In my opinion, it hurts more because it sticks around longer. So in y'all's personal and y'all's opinion, ⁓ comment in this. I'd love to know y'all's opinion. What's more dangerous the bully who punches you or the bully who convinces everyone else to hate you? Because you have two different kinds of bullies, the psychological that in my opinion is worse because it sticks around for years and it's harder to get over. Or the physical, which can hurt you mentally as well, because you'll always look yourself as weak. It's a hard question. I would love to know y'all's opinion on it. So let's get into a little animation domination as we ⁓ talk about Yes, had to get into Nelson Munz. He is a bully from the Simpsons. I gotta say that everybody's knows ⁓ Nelson. The famous laugh, ha ha but later reveals Nelson comes from poverty, neglect, and abandonment. Suddenly his bullying becomes understandable, not excusable, but understandable. Because he's just looking for some kind of attention. Now Nelson kind of Does not rank extremely high on my list because we see the nice side of him, even the protecting side of him, ⁓ whenever, especially whenever he's dating like Lisa and things like that. So ⁓ I think that that is a big like it you don't know which ⁓ Nelson you're gonna get the nice, funny, understandable, or the flat out bully. But let's get to one of my favorites. Cause I do not believe in the bulliness of Draco Malfoy. Harry Potter. Yes, we're gonna dip into some Harry Potterness on this as cause Draco begins as spoiled, arrogant, prejudiced, to say the least. But by the final books, he becomes something tragic. A scared teenager trapped by family expectations. He isn't Voldemort. He's a kid who realizes too late That hatred has consequences. Because Draco, in my opinion, is a complete victim on this. Now, not at the beginning, straight up bullying, because that's what he's been taught by his parents, by his father, especially. But he I think has more to learn than everybody else because gauging some of I guess you could say hatred towards somebody for any reason only is. Tough. So is Draco a bully or another victim of generational hate? Because generational hate is how only way hate gets spread. You don't wake up one day and hate someone because of ⁓ what they like, who they are, color of their skin. That is all taught to you. And until we learn how to unteach that and We are never going to move forward as a society no longer in the movies as well. This is a great one because it shows you how someone can change their expectations and not want to be somewhere just because they are taught that way from an early age. But the older someone gets the more they realize how wrong it is. So one of my favorite bullies because of that reason, he learns a little too late, but he does. Now let's get into this. ⁓ I doubt a lot of people haven't seen this. This is Buddy Ravel, three o'clock high. Now, if you haven't seen this, it's about a guy who gets challenged by a bully at a fight at three o'clock and he's going through the day trying to get out of it, trying to hire other people to fight for him through no avail. It wasn't working. But Buddy is one of the most intimidating school bullies ever put on film. He barely speaks and he doesn't need to. He just has that mild stare at you. I was like, and his reputation terrifies the entire school. The movie brilliantly explores how fear spreads long before violence does. Because no hardly anybody had seen him fight. And he just lived up to the expectation. He even cheated a little bit to make sure people believed him. But he let the, I guess you can say The character he was playing go too far. No other good way of saying it, but for the last bully, because I think this is a little bit of all, it's John Creese. Yes, we're going back to Karate Kid slash Cobra Kai. He's the man behind the bullies. This is his teachings. No mercy. He doesn't create students, he creates soldiers. Soldiers that follow orders and do things the way he expects ⁓ Without Crease, Johnny Lawrence never becomes a bully. Probably not. So Creese instills all this because that's how he looks at life. Even whenever it comes to him and Mr. Miyagi, it's straight up well, let's not talk. And he treats him like he's lesser than human, not because of any other reason, because he thinks his karate is weak. And that's all he knows is strength to go through it until he punches a couple windows out and bloodies his knuckles. Yeah, but everybody has their breaking point, don't they? So In y'all's opinion, 'cause this is mine, ⁓ the scariest bully isn't the kid in the hallway. It's the adult who taught him that's how the world works or the adults that lose or look the other way when they see someone being bullied. ⁓ don't know if y'all share that ⁓ little thought, but ⁓ that's mine. So let's get into my favorite portion of the psychological of bullies. Why do most bullies have what do most and bullies have in common? They want control, attention, respect, and power. Because they're often missing one of those things themselves. Not always, but often. Either they don't control an aspect of their life, they don't get enough attention at home, they don't are not shown respect, or they feel they don't have the power that they deserved. Every bully out there is a bully for some reason because they're not given something. It's finding out what that something is to understand the bully more. So a real life lesson is movies often simplify bullying. In reality, bullies can come from many different backgrounds. And there isn't one single cause. Some may model behavior they've experienced, some seek status or control. Others act out because of insecurity or peer pressure. Understanding those influences can help address bullying. But it doesn't excuse. Harming others at any time. But if you can understand it, maybe you can fix it or help it ⁓ get past there. So the little twist I like to throw out Who's the real villain? The bully? Or the adult who ignored it? Think about it. How many movie bullies continue because teachers took away, parents enable them, friends laugh, victims stay silent. Especially that last one. If you experience something, there always someone that's going to listen. You just gotta find the right person. And if if you're laughing at someone being beat up or made fun of, there's a difference between laughing with someone and laughing at them. You should know the difference. And parents and teachers, if you're enabling or allowing it, you are worse than the bully because you know better. And bullies rarely operate alone. So, my top five bullies. Now that we went through ten of them, I got you ten. I'm gonna give you my top five. Let's start out. Number five. We are gonna go ooh I'm gonna say Draco Malfoy. Not because of his later life, but because of his early portion, where he just in even his own fellow Slytherin, he w were not above him picking on. But I gotta give it up to Draco as far as bullying and early. Now the late last two two or three books y he started to change, but I'm definitely giving a strong ⁓ upper hand to those first few. Then number four. Gotta go with Flash Thompson. And like he is a solid one. I'm like because no matter how you look at it, whether it be verbal, physical, Flash likes to pick on Peter. Number three, Regina George, she definitely was landing on this top five because I'm sorry you are one of them people that ⁓ man, if you with psychological things like that, you can t tear up a person's life and not even realize you've done it. It is horrible. Number two, just this because he is pure intimidation ace maryl. Yes, terrifying ace. If y'all haven't watched Stand By Me, you need to watch it, then you'll understand. But the number one, the gold standard of bullies in cinema. Still influencing pop culture. Forty years later, Biff Tannan. Yes, he is the gold standard in bullies because that's what he is. No more, no less. He is not a friend. He is not a ⁓ sports ⁓ Addict. He is just a plain out I'm gonna beat you up because you're different. You're gonna do things the way I said because I'm bigger. He is a straight up bully. Now, as I said earlier, bullies are typically not born. They're created some way, form, or fashion. They're not born wearing leather jackets or varsity jackets shaped they're shaped by choices. They're own and people around them. The greatest school villains didn't just make life miserable, they forced heroes to stand up for themselves. And sometimes they That's where the real story begins. ⁓ man. So who deserves the title of the greatest school bully in movie history and who had the best redemption arc? Leave your ⁓ comment or leave your comment in the comments and I'd love to talk about him next time. Now, like I said, this is a two-part. We got the bullies this week. Now next week we're gonna have the teachers. Yes, the people that everybody's got that one teacher that just burns them the wrong way. I know I had one. I mean I most of my teachers love me, but I had that one teacher who no matter how nice I was, how sweet I could be, or how perfect I acted, did not like me. We're gonna go over the worst teachers next week to finish it up, but if you haven't already like, subscribe and follow because here on Hill Havoc, you gotta tune in because here it's good to be bad.