NellyTheWitch
Randall's Skivvy (0-299)
The shy and gentle witch
Posts: 60
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Post by NellyTheWitch on Oct 11, 2009 15:07:56 GMT -5
Every Randall's fan thinks his childhood in different way....I like your version,but I think: Why Randall hates so much Sullivan?it's possible When they were children that Sullivan was his schoolmate,so Randall was joked by him and his friend Mike.Did you see "The Grinch"?I think Randall had a childhood like him....but with the parents.His dad left the mother....and his mum was die some years later....
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Post by pitbulllady on Oct 11, 2009 15:20:39 GMT -5
Every Randall's fan thinks his childhood in different way....I like your version,but I think: Why Randall hates so much Sullivan?it's possible When they were children that Sullivan was his schoolmate,so Randall was joked by him and his friend Mike.Did you see "The Grinch"?I think Randall had a childhood like him....but with the parents.His dad left the mother....and his mum was die some years later.... The big problem with Sullivan and Randall being schoolmates is that there is actually a BIG difference in their ages! Randall is, by "canon", only 25 at the time of the movie(2001), while Sulley and Mike are "forty-something", which means that Sulley is really old enough to be Randall's father, not a classmate. Sulley and Mike ACT like forty-something guys, especially Mike with his Mid-Life Crisis, while Randall acts very much like a typical stressed-out twenty-something, not quite ready to stop being a kid himself. pitbulllady
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Post by RandallBoggs on Oct 11, 2009 18:25:06 GMT -5
I'd imagine that Sullivan was a bit of a jerk, jock, in his starting days in school. Which garnered his "popular persona". Eventually he came to realize that he was being that jerk and straightened himself up, studying more to get good grades and eventually get into scareing. Wazowski...well we all know how his paperwork is even when he has a job. I would think he was riding Sullivan's popularity train since the beginning of course...and probably cheated when he could, seeing as Sullivan was a fairly good student. Put a "good apple" next to a bad one and it's a shameful combination. I've seen it myself, students cheating when the teacher's head is down. In fact, they sort of flaunted it as if getting caught didn't exist. Now Randall's smart, and a studyer. In fact, wouldn't surprise me if he skipped a grade or two.
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Post by mekkatorqueen on Sept 2, 2013 13:57:43 GMT -5
Ooook, here's my personal version... After the second movie(a prequel, to be correct) I think about a possible presence of a mother, not so necessary evil, (well a lil' evil yes, but not soooooe evil) but whit an absent-icy/cold personality who doesen't care so mutch about him. For example, she doesen't care what he did at scool today or about his feelings. I imagined his mother as a failed writer whit a temporanely work as a dancer in a night club...oh, right: the father! I assumed that his dad abandoned his mom after discovering that she's pregnant. Year by year, his mother started to loose his mind-healt sliding in a depressive-lonely status dat bring her to dothing but writing, drinking and occasionally eating...al the cores are done by the young Randy and this could explayn his cooking skills (cucakes, yay!!!). After his mother's suicide (after his graduation at the MU) he begin to acquire his mom's cold personality (also increased by Mike's lost...as a friend) and he start to adopt a don't-care life style. Yeah....I'm evil, sorry.
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Post by pitbulllady on Sept 2, 2013 16:35:55 GMT -5
I agree that Randall was probably raised by a female caregiver, but I don't think it was his mother. MU Randall was obviously raised in relative isolation from kids his own age, thus he really has had little socializing. He doesn't know the trendy "lingo", he doesn't know what kids his age consider cool or trendy. Randall uses old, outdated words, like "chum" and "pal", which indicates that he probably was raised by an elderly person, a grandparent or aunt, who was the person that taught him how to bake. That person probably also provided those old-fashioned luggage, stereo, tv and books that Randall has in the dorm, his few belongings. Randall gives off a VERY rural/country vibe, and out in the country, in the Midwest or South, it is a tradition to greet new neighbors by baking something to take to their house. That would explain where Randall got the notion that baking cupcakes would be a great way to "break the ice" at a fraternity/sorority Rush party. I do NOT get the impression-and understand that I taught school for 28 years and have LOTS of experience working with young people and their families-that Randall's caregiver was cold and unfeeling. In fact, she was probably almost TOO caring and protective, and didn't really allow Randall the opportunity to experience life before he went off to college. That's one of the reasons why he is so naive and clueless and easy to take advantage of. Randall later develops that "cold", distant behavior as part of what is clinically known as an "Avoidant Personality Disorder". He's NOT emulating or copying anyone else. He is subconsciously behaving in ways that keep others at a distance because he's become afraid of trying to get close to anyone, emotionally, due to repeated rejections, and we see that pattern of repeated rejections, as well as others using Randall and taking advantage of him, established in MU. Randall cannot take the pain of rejections any more, so he acts like an ass to keep others at an emotional distance. He is afraid that letting someone get close will result in another rejection and/or public humiliation. What Randall did NOT have is a strong father figure while growing up. Either his father was dead, or had left home for whatever reasons, or was just a lousy parent who was not at all involved in his son's life, but I really think that he was dead. A BIG part of Randall's relationship with Waternoose is due to him trying to impress this older guy as son tries to impress his father, and that also plays a part in his resentment of Sulley, whom he no doubt still thinks is cheating and getting all his success unethically. Randall's right about that, but it's not Sulley who is doing unethical things to keep the Sulley/Mike team on top. It's Waternoose. In either case, by the time that the events in MI take place, I really, really do not think that Randall had any surviving family, or at least, none that he was still in contact with. Having a family to stick by you makes a huge difference in how well you can cope with a situation like he found himself in, and I know this from personal experiences. I'd probably be in prison now had I not had a supportive family and one good friend many years ago. No, scratch that-I'd be DEAD.
pitbulllady
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Post by mekkatorqueen on Sept 9, 2013 7:46:07 GMT -5
Totally agree whit the fact "What Randall didn't have is a strong and male figure as a father". But I still don't know haow he developped his personality from "little geek/nerd shy and kind" to "icy and cold evil personality" Personally, I don't think that the MU events are enough to explain this... there would be something that had cracked inside his soul...dunno
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Post by pitbulllady on Sept 9, 2013 9:47:22 GMT -5
Totally agree whit the fact "What Randall didn't have is a strong and male figure as a father". But I still don't know haow he developped his personality from "little geek/nerd shy and kind" to "icy and cold evil personality" Personally, I don't think that the MU events are enough to explain this... there would be something that had cracked inside his soul...dunno Randall DIDN'T have an "evil" personality. Randall was actually experiencing an mental and emotional breakdown by the time we see him in MI. A LOT Of that hostility and aggression is due to the stress he HAD to have been under building that machine. Roz states that the CDA knew that SOMETHING had been going on in the factory for 2 1/2 years, which means that Randall would have been working on the Scream Extractor for AT LEAST that long. Now, Randall is also working a full-time, regular job. He's reporting to work on time Monday through Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. When does that leave to work on the machine? Nights, weekends, holidays, vacations, even through his lunch breaks, as we see in the movie, in other word, the times that Randall SHOULD be asleep or resting or doing fun things or catching up on real life things like paying bills, doctor's visits, etc. Google "effects of sleep deprivation on behavior" and see what you come up with. I bet most of it will be very familiar when you consider how Randall acted in MI. Not only is he dealing with long-term sleep deprivation, but he's also spending his time down in a dark basement, surrounded by electromagnetic equipment that change the energy in children's screams to electricity, deprived of sunlight and fresh air. THAT, too-both the exposure to electromagnetism and the lack of sunlight, can have a profound effect on behavior. He's only got Fungus to talk to, as if you can even get a word in edgewise with THAT guy! He's got Waternoose to deal with, too, who is NOT the most patient or forgiving of bosses. All that in and of itself is enough to drive anyone over the edge, BUT you also have to consider that over the years since his freshman year at MU, Randall has developed what Psychologists refer to as an "Avoidant Personality Disorder". People suffering from this tend to be distant and withdrawn from social situations and can react with hostility- acting like jerks, douche-bags, whatever you want to call them-if someone else gets too much into their "personal space". They tend to reject offers of friendship, as we see when Randall refuses to shake Sulley's hand, and either move away or react with hostility when dealing with others. This condition is due to the individual having experienced either repeated or very traumatic rejections from others over the years, and we actually do see that happening in MU, to, as Steve Buscemi stated, "plant the seeds of the Randall we see in MI". Randall has learned that trying to make friends and be nice to others only results in HIM being hurt and rejected, and this has simply become too painful for him to deal with, so he goes on the offensive and keeps others at a distance, behaving in ways that would not make most people even want to be near him. It's his shell, his emotional fortress. Each rejection we saw in MU, from Mike preferring to study over hanging out with Randall, to the huge embarrassment of the cupcake incident, to how ROR treated him following his loss to Sulley, become, as Pink Floyd so eloquently put it, "just another brick in the wall." pitbulllady
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Post by pitvipersnake on Oct 1, 2013 15:59:11 GMT -5
I agree with all of that. I know very well what sleep deprivation and stress does to behaviour. I also agree that Randall didn't have anyone who cared for him because no one wonders where he's gone or goes looking for him when he disappears. I always assumed Randall did have parents, they just didn't care for him very much when he was young and that he had lost contact with them by the time of MI. Although, now that you mention it is also plausible that he was raised by a grandmother who has since died. It always seemed to me that for whatever reason Randall thought of himself as 'not good enough' and he thought that being Top Scarer or succeeding with the Scream Extractor would change that.
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Post by pitbulllady on Oct 1, 2013 16:58:29 GMT -5
I agree with all of that. I know very well what sleep deprivation and stress does to behaviour. I also agree that Randall didn't have anyone who cared for him because no one wonders where he's gone or goes looking for him when he disappears. I always assumed Randall did have parents, they just didn't care for him very much when he was young and that he had lost contact with them by the time of MI. Although, now that you mention it is also plausible that he was raised by a grandmother who has since died. It always seemed to me that for whatever reason Randall thought of himself as 'not good enough' and he thought that being Top Scarer or succeeding with the Scream Extractor would change that. It wasn't even about becoming Top Scarer so much as it was the fact that someone who was A)a college drop-out, B)a known cheater, C)from a famous family name, and D)close friends with the company's CEO WAS Top Scarer, and not only that, but had been named "Employee of the Month" for 11 months straight, out of THOUSANDS of just Scarers, not even counting all the other employees at that factory, AND was being awarded more points than Randall when EACH of them filled their respective Scream canisters! NO one will ever be able to convince me, not after I've seen such nepotism and cronyism played out with my own eyes in the workplace, that there wasn't something very unethical and unfair going on with Sulley's phenomenal "success". The thing is, Sulley probably had nothing to do with that whatsoever, and wasn't even thinking about it at all, while Mike was simply basking in the glory that he was living out his lifelong dream, albeit through someone else and as part of that team rather than by himself. Randall, though, would have no way to know this, since I'm sure whoever really WAS behind it, *cough*Waternoose*cough*, had carefully covered his tracks. It would be to his advantage to set things up that way, after all, to take advantage of the concerns that ANY intelligent person would have had over someone like Sulley having this amazing success just sorta fall into his lap, so to speak. Randall abhors a cheater, and still believes, based on what happened with the Scare Games, than Sullivan is a cheater, period. Why would he NOT think that Sulley is still up to something no good, and getting by with it? There's just no logical way that anyone is THAT good at their job, that they're gonna have all this success and glory on their own merits, and Randall knows that. He saw how everyone treated Sulley like some quasi-rock star even back in college just because of who his father was, and how Sulley took Scaring talent and learning for granted, so naturally he's going to assume that nothing has changed. I honestly do not think it would have mattered as much to Randall who managed to beat Sulley, as long as SOMEONE beat him, just to prove that he wasn't really all that, to prove that his family name and connections with the CEO could only take him so far. Randall just wanted to be recognized for his own hard work and efforts, not to be ignored and treated like he was, well, invisible, that he didn't matter, at least not for more than a few seconds. He has a deep inferiority complex, which we really see in MU, and he needs to have frequent positive feedback from his peers and superiors, and he was not getting it. If he did, as we see in that all-too-brief instant when he tops the Scare Board, it is rather forced and artificial and lasts only as long as it takes for the Golden Child to rise to the top yet again. We see Waternoose, when he arrives on the floor, make a big deal of congratulating Sulley, but he doesn't say a word to Randall about HIS accomplishments. The only time we hear him speak to Randall, it's in an impatient, angry tone of voice, like a parent belittling a child who has spilled milk on the floor, unfavorably comparing that child to an older sibling. Waternoose knows exactly what he's doing, how this affects Randall. He's known all along that he had to create this very tense and frustrating situation between Randall and Sulley on the Scare Floor, to give Randall the desperate motive to even agree to something as risky and illegal as bringing in "toxic" human children to test that new technology, to ensure that no matter how exhausted and sleep-deprived Randall was, he's still keep at it, to try to earn that recognition and approval that he did honestly deserve. Waternoose knew that he was driving Randall over the edge of sanity, too, and he didn't care. Randall was no more to him than a plastic fork at a picnic, something to be used and then discarded. From Randall's perspective, though, it was more about earning Waternoose's approval than anything else, as he actually saw the old CEO as a father figure. In a way, Waternoose had deliberately created and fostered a sort of "sibling rivalry" between Randall and Sulley, treating the latter like his own son, all the while KNOWING that Randall was the one who actually wanted his "fatherly" approval. That really reinforces my long-held belief that Randall probably grew up without a male role model, that his father was either totally absent for much of his childhood, perhaps even dead, or that IF his father was around, he had very little direct and positive involvement in his son's life. He was either a dead-beat dad, or traveled and was away from home most of the time, or alcoholic, or perhaps even physically abusive, but in any case he wasn't really a father except in a biological sense. I see guys like Randall all too often as a teacher, kids who lack a male role model growing up, just a succession of boyfriends that their mom brings in, and those kids are so desperate for a father figure that they easily fall into gangs and other groups that offer them that false sense of protection and family that they couldn't get at home. Johnny picked up on that in MU, and Waternoose picked up on it in MI. pitbulllady
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Post by pitvipersnake on Oct 2, 2013 2:14:26 GMT -5
I don't disagree with any of that. There's definitely an argument that Waternoose was cheating in Sulley's favour and he is definitely manipulative enough to do all of that to keep Randall working on that illegal project. I do also think that Randall was blaming Sulley to try and avoid blaming himself. As you said, Randall has a deep inferiority complex. I don't think he realises this, he just knows he feels like a failure and he thinks that that feeling would go away if he either beat Sulley on the Scare Floor or impresses Waternoose. he doesn't realise the inferiority complex would always make him feel like a failure no matter how successful he was.
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Post by randallsnape7 on Feb 25, 2014 5:18:07 GMT -5
Aside from that video on YouTube depicting that Randall and his mother were close, I have absolutely NO doubt in my mind that Randall had a neglectful, irresponsible, and possibly abusive dad. I can imagine Randall's dad having a high temper and yelling and screaming at his mother on a regular basis, while Randall cries helplessly in a corner. He possibly endured cruel discipline at his dad's hands whenever he did the smallest wrong thing, and he was probably verbally belittled by his dad at least or twice once a year. Children who endure all of that usually have a tendency to keep to themselves, because they reach an age where they realize that their dad is not a person they can ever confide in, or turn to for emotional support. Once that tie is broken, it usually scars the child for life. To me, Randall's characteristics eerily match that of an adolescent boy who had no father figure in his life at all. I say this partially from personal experience, actually.
Randall's dad almost certainly died first, which would explain his absence in the "When She Loved Me" illustration video. Randall's goodness, as shown in Monsters University indicates to me that he indeed had a loving mother, who was possibly the ONLY positive influence in his life. As the video shows, the mother dies. So now, Randall has no one... until Henry J. Waternoose comes along. Under those particular circumstances, Randall could essentially still be good while working for Waternoose, because emotionally, Waternoose would have seemingly filled that 'father figure' gap for a time. Waternoose strikes me as the kind of Machiavellian villain that butters both sides of his bread: I think he developed a surrogate father/son relationship with BOTH Randall and Sullivan, while at the same time, manipulating both to do his dirty work for him.
I think when Waternoose was alone with Randall, he would tell him he's the best scarer, and he needs to do the best he can to outdo Sullivan. Then, when he's with Sullivan, he would tell him HE'S the best scarer and would encourage him to work as hard as he can to outdo Randall, which probably only fanned the flames of their already existing rivalry. He basically had two Teacher's Pets, and he WANTED them to stay at odds with each other, which would make HIM look like Mr. Nice Guy.
But yeah... after that, now that Waternoose is gone, Randall is just in need of some warm fuzzies, now. He needs a lot of love...
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Post by pitbulllady on Feb 25, 2014 13:28:34 GMT -5
I'm more and more of the opinion that Randall's dad wasn't abusive, just absent, for whatever reasons. He might have been dead, or Randall's parents could have been divorced. Actually, in spite of the video, which is wonderful, I don't think that either of Randall's biological parents were alive, either that, or he was one of those "late surprise" babies who came along rather late in his mom's life. From watching MU, I get the very strong impression that Randall was raised by, and most influenced by, someone much older than a typical parent would have been, and that he has spent most of his life in the company of rather elderly individuals. I still, as I always have, get the impression that Randall is from very rural or small-town roots. Randall uses outdated words, like "chum" and "pal", that no one his age uses. He thinks that baking cupcakes to take to a fraternity party is the best way to break the ice and make friends. That's the sort of thing that country folk do, or at least USED to do, when new neighbors move in "down the road" or "across the holler". Randall is from a Midwestern, Monster-World version of Mayberry, basically. Those were the values and social customs he grew up with, so very different from "the cool kids'" values and how things were done in the big city, so he was ill-prepared for what he'd encounter out in the Real World.
pitbulllady
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Post by randallsnape7 on Jun 2, 2014 17:25:20 GMT -5
I still think Randall was raised by his mother, and that his mother was a simple farmer.
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Post by randallsnape7 on Jul 25, 2014 21:58:12 GMT -5
Oh, dear.... NOW you've got me heartbroken, Pitbullady. Mike and Sulley are in their 40s something and Randall is 25, almost 15 to 20 years younger? SHAME... ON... THEM.
It always devastates me when some injustice befalls a young person, especially at the hands of an older person, and you're right: Randall DOES act much younger, and he basically is still a kid himself. He's got his whole life ahead of him, and look where he currently is at the age of 25! Getting beaten up by humans! Mike and Sulley should have known better than they did if they were in their 40s, and that just makes their banishment of Randall all the worse (as if it wasn't heart-wrenching enough).
Basically, in my eyes, Mike and Sulley stopped being good guys once they endangered Randall's life. SHAME... ON... THEM.
Hmm... I think I know how those two monsters would answer for or 'confess' before the company their heinous crime against Randall.... like KARL TORINI (from "Mr. Monk and the Magician"). LOL!
MIKE: "Well... if you're just going to catch us anyway.... we might as well confess! In FACT... I'll even put it in writing:
(Gets out a pen and trick paper and gloats haughtily.)
MIKE: (writing) "We hereby confess.... to the ff... <smart-ass> BANISHMENT... of Randall..... (OTHER CHARACTER: 'BOGGS'.) ...Boggs, thank you! Signed: Mike Wazowski.... and James..... P. ....... (sets pen down smugly) .....Sullivan."
(Folds up the paper, and hands it to those who care about Randall with a sneer on his face.)
MIKE: "There you are! Congratulations..."
BOOM!!! (The paper ignites in flames!)
MIKE: (jeeringly) "Abracadabra, Randall Boggs fans."
LOL!
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Post by pitbulllady on Jul 26, 2014 12:06:11 GMT -5
Oh, dear.... NOW you've got me heartbroken, Pitbullady. Mike and Sulley are in their 40s something and Randall is 25, almost 15 to 20 years younger? SHAME... ON... THEM.
It always devastates me when some injustice befalls a young person, especially at the hands of an older person, and you're right: Randall DOES act much younger, and he basically is still a kid himself. He's got his whole life ahead of him, and look where he currently is at the age of 25! Getting beaten up by humans! Mike and Sulley should have known better than they did if they were in their 40s, and that just makes their banishment of Randall all the worse (as if it wasn't heart-wrenching enough).
Basically, in my eyes, Mike and Sulley stopped being good guys once they endangered Randall's life. SHAME... ON... THEM.
Hmm... I think I know how those two monsters would answer for or 'confess' before the company their heinous crime against Randall.... like KARL TORINI (from "Mr. Monk and the Magician"). LOL!
MIKE: "Well... if you're just going to catch us anyway.... we might as well confess! In FACT... I'll even put it in writing:
(Gets out a pen and trick paper and gloats haughtily.)
MIKE: (writing) "We hereby confess.... to the ff... <smart-ass> BANISHMENT... of Randall..... (OTHER CHARACTER: 'BOGGS'.) ...Boggs, thank you! Signed: Mike Wazowski.... and James..... P. ....... (sets pen down smugly) .....Sullivan."
(Folds up the paper, and hands it to those who care about Randall with a sneer on his face.)
MIKE: "There you are! Congratulations..."
BOOM!!! (The paper ignites in flames!)
MIKE: (jeeringly) "Abracadabra, Randall Boggs fans."
LOL!
Well, no, actually thanks to MU we now know that Randall, Mike and Sulley are all the same age, and all were in the 27-28 year range in age during MI. pitbulllady
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