One thing I didn't understand (I was 7 when I last watched this movie, I need to rewatch it) however I didn't understand why he did what he did...
can someone explain? and please don't write something like "he's just evil' XD there had to be SOMETHING else...right?
Hey Arnold Jungle Movie Nickelodeon / MTV Networks 1515 Broadway New York NY 10036
Henry is so evil because he's not real.
I mean that quite seriously. He's a fictional character. His existence is dictated by the moviemakers' desire to create an entertaining story.
Almost everybody who's posted on this thread buys into the "Pop Psychology" premise that there are people who are just plain born bad, that they just lack any kind of conscience. Like a person who was born without legs, or something like that.
That makes an entertaining story, all right. The way Macaulay Culkin played the character, I could almost believe it could happen that way in real life. But I don't.
Please realize, there's a world of difference between pop psychology and real psychology. Sure, there are some psychologists and psychiatrists who agree with that theory of psychopathology-- but there are just as many who don't. And even more who say, the jury's still out on that question, and it's likely to be out for a long, long time.
I'm not in any way a psychology/sociology professional, but I've spent a lot of time paying attention to what such people are talking and writing about. I'm strongly inclined to agree with the "jury's still out, and won't be coming back to the courtroom any time soon" camp.
It's kind of an epistemological question to begin with: if there really are people who were "just born without a conscience," how would we know? Just what do we mean by the word "conscience," anyway? Since it's so obviously conceptually related to "consciousness," and since we know that almost anybody can have profound changes in consciousness in a lifetime, for myriads of reasons, who can honestly say that any other person is incapable of ever changing for the better?
"I don't deduce, I observe."
He is exactly the boy version of Rhoda from The BAD Seed. Their sociopathy came from within as the result of genetics somewhere or something inside. Both had great families and were loved but they were just mean. I suggest watching The Bad Seed. Its a 50's movie and the acting is corny but the little girl is creepy as hell. None of the murders are shown but only talked about and described so its not really a horror movie but a mystery thriller. Creepy though.
The scary clown doll is hiding under my bed.
As other people have stated, I think that Henry was just born that way. He does not have any real bonding emotions, but he can fake it in order to fit in and be seen as normal. The scene in which he wears the mask is symbolic, because it showed that every day of his life he was essentially wearing a mask of normalcy, all while quietly manipulating people and engaging in evil acts for his own amusement and gratification.
I've met a handful of people that I thought were inflicted with some kind of personality disorder. There were a couple of them that I thought definitely had narcissistic personality disorder, and then others that I thought had antisocial personality disorder. One of them seemed to have Aspd because of neglect and overall bad treatment in childhood. From observing his behavior and then reflecting back on it, I don't think this individual actually gave a crap about anyone else, but he was good at appearing to care. The other one was just downright creepy, but in a subtle way, and I believe that this individual was more like Henry, born that way, but she was functional and could live her life appearing normal, and not engaging in any behavior that would get her into trouble with the law. But just thinking about her gives me the creeps because I knew something was off about her very early on after meeting her.
There was also a girl that I knew years ago when I was in elementary school, and she was a bully, but when I think back on it, in addition to being a bully, she just seemed sinister, like she was constantly trying to manipulate people. She wasn't just a typical "mean girl" type but actually a sinister person. And another child that I came to the conclusion was off was my aunts daughter. This child was also very manipulative starting at an early age. While I was staying at their house one time, I was in my room and the daughter came in, and observed me while I was putting some things away. Well, the next thing I know, some money of mine was missing. Come to find out that she had taken it from my room, and then acted like she didn't know anything about it. That could just be chalked up to a child misbehaving, but I don't think so, because I onserved her behavior, otherwise, and she just generally seemed off. My sister, who later spent time around the girl, also came to the same conclusion, and this was without me having said anything to her beforehand, about my own observations.
"Stop grinning like a psycho, and get back to work." Doakes, on Dexter
[deleted]
You think every single murderer and violent person has had a bad upbringing?
That is a very limited outlook, it is obviously a combination of both nature and nurture that shapes us.
Killers exist that had wonderful upbringings, this is fact.. I don't get how you can ignore that.
"Almost everybody who's posted on this thread buys into the "Pop Psychology" premise that there are people who are just plain born bad, that they just lack any kind of conscience. Like a person who was born without legs, or something like that. "
Yes people actually exist without empathy, this is known as psychopathy, it is a clinical condition - it isn't some sort of 'mean label.'
he was like the Joker in that way.... no method to his madness, hes just.... MAD
share[deleted]
I actually came in this thread just too answer this question and you sort of said what i was going too, i have always understood it like the death of his brother wasnt truly premeditatedit, and after that he developed into a psychological state feeling as if he was evil since of what he had done and that then lead to everything that we came to see in the movie.
shareThe parents are going through a major loss and that's because of Henry and yes, it was premeditated. This is a kid that was actually jealous of a baby brother who got all his baby toys and drowned him. No one becomes a psychopath just because he got away with murdering his brother, he was always like that. Getting away with it just made him a lot braver.
And also, I think it's kind of insensitive to brush off Susan's feelings about "crying over her dead kid" just because she has two other kids. These aren't objects in a collection, these are her children and they're all special to her. That's why when the truth about Henry was staring her in the face, she didn't want to believe it at first until that split second decision to either save him or Mark from falling, which believe me, wasn't easy for her to do. Don't think that she made that decision lightly.
The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she is treated.
[deleted]
These kids were not even in the same universe of "severely neglected". If you seriously think so, I can direct you to some CPS or DSS cases that would make your head spin if you really want to see some bad parents. First of all, she didn't leave him with Henry, she left to do or get something(I think it was the phone) and Henry stepped into the bathroom when she was gone.
Henry was a sociopath, plain and simple. Nothing Susan, her husband or anyone else could have done differently that would have made him a good kid. Okay, since you are strongly suggesting that it's all his parents' fault for the way he is, then why isn't his sister the same way? I know it's hard for you to think that people can't just be evil for no good reason, but as I said, I can show you some case files that would say otherwise.
Even the most attentive of parents can be manipulated and lied to. How many serial killers have people close to them who had no idea what they were capable of? Even if they watched Henry 24/7, he would have still done what he did because he only cares about himself and what he wants. He doesn't want his parents' love, just what they can do for him, which are two totally different things.
You think just because you keep tossing this word "love" around like a frisbee that it's somehow magical. If only they loved him enough, then he wouldn't be such a bad boy. Please, that's a sickness in and of itself. They call it "The Beauty and the Beast" syndrome and battered women have been using it for years.
Also, why shouldn't she be the one to take Henry out of this world? She was the one that brought him in. If she did drop Mark instead, how would she have explained that to his father? Do you honestly think that saving Henry and giving him her undivided attention would have somehow made him a model citizen? I'll say it again, he doesn't want her love, his parents are just a means to an end as far as getting what he wants. That's it. There's no broken unloved puppy in Henry, just a path of destruction that would have gotten a lot worse had he been allowed to live.
The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she is treated.
[deleted]
Leaving a baby in a tub, even for a second, is bad judgement, but not neglect. You really want to hang her for that? Plus, it wasn't for that long. She was gone for maybe 5 minutes to get rid of whomever was on the phone and it was just enough time for Henry to kill him. Was it a bad call on her part...yes, but she doesn't deserve the worst mother of the year award for it either.
Also, just because siblings don't get along doesn't mean they can't be equally screwed up. The fact that Connie is good solely because she can't stand her brother makes absolutely no sense to me. She's also a content, happy and normal child as far as how she's treated by her parents, so where's the so-called neglect there?
You still insist that Henry would have been a lot better if his parents paid more attention to him. What we were being shown in the film is a snapshot of a family still reeling from a tragedy, not how they were before it. How do you know he was being ignored? And Henry's age really doesn't matter, people with his kind of pathology wouldn't have responded to any extra attention anyway. Not without emotionally holding his parents hostage which would have been no good to any of them... Henry, his parents or Connie.
I see your passion as well, I just think it's directed at a character who is beyond anyone's sympathy. Now, if you really want to see how love and patience saved a dangerously disturbed child, seek out a movie called "Child of Rage". It's really inspirational and actually based on a true story.
The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she is treated.
[deleted]
Beauty and the Beast Syndrome?
SIND SIE DAS ESSEN NEIN WIR SIND DER JÄGER
You know how the story Beauty and the Beast is about how the power of a devoted woman's love changes a monstrous beast into a handsome prince? The term is used to describe how some women, justify staying in abusive relationships thinking their undying love and devotion will change their abusive husbands into the prince charmings they believe they are deep inside.
The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she is treated.
Creepy, white emo kids terrify me. They're the ones most likely to kill their parents and/or shoot up a school or mall. Keep em away!
You have to do research on the profile of serial killers, sociopath and determine that most of them are typically white and from affluent, two-parent homes. It's rather fascinating. Sure, poor people commit crimes but those are generally born of poverty. They don't torture animals and go on mass murder sprees for pleasure. Anyhoo- good movie. Glad the little evil devil died at the end.
"The pain only reminds us that we are alive."
That is really racist, Crystyl! You must have some issues with white people! Did a white person in your past abuse you or something? Is that why you hate white people you *beep*
shareSome people are just born evil and psychopaths are such.
I lived with a psychopath once. She stole from our female friend that helped her get a job and she pitted one immature chick against everyone. We were all nice to her so she had zero reason to do this. When the rest of the housemates were telling her that she had to leave, she showed zero fear and fake cried her way through. She continued to lie throughout the entire time and thought of ways of getting back to us. She shifted her target from one housemate to another.
Psychopaths love to be in control and elicit emotion in others. I have no other explanation as to why she would go out of her way to make things hard for others :S
I post short stories online! :)
http://www.therealandthesurreal.com
He wasn't "evil". Parents probably abused him, didn't love him and/or just didn't listen to him that's why he hated his sister, then his brother. His parents probably gave all their attention to their younger kids ignoring their first child. It's quit common for one child to be violent. It all comes from parents usually, not some magical thinking like "evil".
shareHis parents clearly didn't abuse him. They loved him and wouldn't hear a thing said against him.
He's a classic psychopath i.e. no sense of empathy. He manipulates those around him. When he was younger he was jealous of his younger brother.
Jealousy between young siblings is not uncommon and the lack of empathy meant he didn't hold back from killing his baby brother.
During the film he actually harms his little sister because he cares about his 'new brother'. It's intended as a power-play. When he realises that his new 'brother' isn't going to be friends with him again, he decides to manipulate the new boy to seem as strange as possible, so that he will seem like the more likely culprit if he needs to pin blame on someone and so that any confession from the new boy will seem untrustworthy.
The reason he goes to harm his mother is because he realises that she knows about what happened to his baby brother all those years ago. He wants to keep his current situation and not be sent away or exposed. So he'd rather she died so that he could continue living with his father, rather than have her live and send him away to an institution.
The idea that it's all the parents' fault is just daft. Heck, you could acquit every single murderer if you thought like that.
I immediately thought of THE BAD SEED as well, which features three OSCAR nominated performance; not a bad circa 1950's film. But at least it had more exposition! the theory being some people are born evil, or at least inherit the evil genes of their parents.
"the best that you can do is fall in love"
Since Henry was a fictional character, its difficult to do a psychological study on him, since all you really know is what was in the movie.
Of course, we know that there are real life Henry Evans in the world. But I would have to say that more often than not such behavior as that of Henry can be attributed to some sort of flaw in a home or something traumatic happening. Cases where it seems to happen for no reason are probably rare. But it should be noted that sometimes we just don't see the reason.
I believe subtle things can happen to children as well as adults that may seem like no big deal to outsiders, but can drastically effect a person's personality. I've experienced this in my own life. And because they put on a show and bury them deep down, thus putting on a mask to behave in such a way that is acceptable to those around them, at least on the surface. Therefore, everyone thinks they are fine and these problems are never properly dealt with and as a result begin to fester from within. Sort of a tiny intestinal worm that's planted inside someone that can grow into a monster later. Such things can be a death of someone close to the person, a rejection, a bullying, anything.
It should be noted that these things are not always the fault of bad parenting, though it often is. Sometimes they are just unfortunate occurrences that never get dealt with properly. Not necessarily because no one wanted to, but because no one realized there was a problem till the person was to far gone.
I'm still not 100% convinced people are born evil. Though I think its possible. I do think more often than not other factors of the world contribute to such things.
I always saw it as tons of jealousy. I think because he was the oldest and came along first, he did not like the attention switching from him to his siblings once they came along.
shareThe small answer is jealousy but the big answer is he was just bad. If he was a normal little boy his jealousy would have manifested itself in the normal way for a normal kid who is capable of love. He may have pouted a little when his sister and brother were born and may have teased his sister a little when she was older. But eventually by the age of 12 this jealousy would tamper out anyway because a kid that age is not usually jealous of the things that a little sister has or does. Anyway because Henry was either just wired wrong, had some neurological problem, or suffered or was going through something bad the movie never let on to his normal childhood jealousy was amped up 100 times. He was just plain selfish.
The scary clown doll is hiding under my bed.
Even if all you say is true, Henry still had the choice to be/do good. But he chose to do and be the opposite. A person who has no feeling on a part of their body from birth is brought up being told to not let any harm come to that part of their body, let us say it is their feet. Now, they do not know what it is like to feel pain on their feet, but they do as they are told even though they might not understand why they must. It is the same with children who are born bad, but who are taught how to be good. The little girl from the movie, The Bad Seed was taught by her mother and father how to act properly and even when her mother found her out, she still tried to explain to Rhoda why what she did was bad. Even though Rhoda could not comprehend the feelings her mother was trying to explain was no excuse for her to continue doing bad. She made the choice to do bad.
"Do All Things For God's Glory"-1 Corinthians 10:31
I try doing this with my posts