MovieChat Forums > Heavyweights (1995) Discussion > I kind of feel sorry for Tony

I kind of feel sorry for Tony

posted 15 years ago by discostu2214
13 replies | jump to latest

When I was a kid, I thought Tony was nothing but evil.

But watching this movie years later, I have found compassion for Tony. While his acts were unacceptable and cruel most of the time, all Tony really wanted to do is have these kids lose weight, and all these kids would not even try. When it was time to weigh-in on the scale, notice how Tony was really excited to see the progress these kids made and instead they all gained weight. All Tony had was a vision of was kids losing weight, but these kids would not even try. Of course he is going to be a little mad.

[–] mylo_dude 15 years ago

While I do see what you mean about him wanting the kids to lose weight, you have to take into account that his whole purpose was trying to sell a video on how to lose weight.

So while the results he wanted were good(kids getting healthy), his whole motivation was for purely financial gain.

[–] stevenackerman69 11 years ago

Tony was too strict. He didn't want the kids to just lose weight, he was doing it for his stupid infomercial because he owed money to people. The idea of summer camp is to have fun, not just exercise. This wasn't boot camp.

[–] novastar_6 11 years ago

Even BOOT CAMP isn't THAT bad.

[–] stevenackerman69 11 years ago

Ever been there? You have these sargents screaming in your face.

[–] novastar_6 11 years ago

Yeah but they don't say you're all gonna be laying on a bed of spikes having an ice block smashed on your gut by the end of the stay at camp.

[–] BigBadDolemite 11 years ago

yeah at least at boot camps they feed you.

[–] novastar_6 11 years ago

Yeah REALLY! 'No lunch, no dinner, no breakfast, how's that grab ya?', the guy's not human.

[–] tom718 11 years ago

I agree with the OP. Tony was once an overweight kid himself, with "low self-esteem and no self-respect". He knows from experience that the only way to get the kids to lose weight is to enforce strict discipline. If he goes easy on them, they'll just revert back to their old habits and never lose weight. They have to completely change their mindset. The Bushkins tried the nice-guy approach for 32 years, and see how well that worked.

Tony knows that to be physically fit is extremely rewarding in both mind and body. See how he relishes the simple joys of going for a morning jog, or performing gymnastics on a mountaintop. He wants the kids to share that joy, but the only way to get them there is through hard work.

Yes, it's true that financial gain is one of his goals, but come on, the guy has to make a living. He should be praised for choosing a career path that is in line with his passions, and for trying to make a positive difference in the world, rather than being another mindless 9-5 office drone.

[–] novastar_6 11 years ago

You're a nut and he is the queen macadamia nuts over the cuckoo's nest.

[–] Darwinskid 10 years ago

Please, Tony only cared about making trying to sell a good video to attract more people into his heavily flawed weight loss program. He didn't give a damn about the kids, he treated them like crap and didn't even treat them with any amount of respect. Not only that but the man was clearly unstable.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] gcarras 9 years ago

TOny Perkis was a real psycho just like later Ben Stiller characters like Zoolander (who this year had a sequel). He was mercany and a charlatan to sell his damn *beep* videos. Did you even SEE the "jumping" on tree thing? Hangs himself like a *beep* katydid or grasshopper clinging to the tree. A six foot 'hopper at that, mocking the fat kids.(the hiking by a cliff sequence.)

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[–] BrightLitStar 8 years ago

Yep, Tony was the good guy.

But this movie was aimed at Fat America to increase its probability at gaining sales via viewers / purchases.

Tony was trying to elevate these chumps health by having them rotate their unhealthy lifestyle into something else but they wanted to remain fat. They wanted to remain fat because they were lazy/weak and had no self-esteem. They enjoyed the comfort of being fat because they could always use that as an excuse for their failures.

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