MovieChat Forums > Carriers (2009) Discussion > No sympathy for Bobby

No sympathy for Bobby

posted 13 years ago by android_movie
9 replies | jump to latest

First, I felt sorry for her. But after thinking about it more, I feel no sympathy for her. Here's why:

1) She HID the fact that she was infected, thereby endangering EVERYONE.
2) She continued to LIE even up to the last minute - all trust in relationship had disappeared with it.
3) She was being stupid far too many times - almost caused an accident hitting the driver, not taking proper precautions with the little girl
4) Finally, she too readily dismissed her bf's serious warnings.

Show me the holes!

[–] vicky_lc2001-1 11 years ago

I have to agree. Pine was an ass and kept provoking the father, Bobby getting angry was understandable, but hitting the driver and continuously doing it while the car was swerving was beyond stupid. Her not wearing the mask over head was the stupidest thing though. In that situation, you would be paranoid about infection and yet these people were so careless, strolling and playing around like stupid teenagers. Bobby clearly did not love Brian, not telling him or anyone about her infection endangered everyone.

[–] ciro_1809 11 years ago

People do stupid things, get scared and frequently live in denial of major problems until it's too late. I could relate to Bobby a lot and I wouldn't send her off that way. On the other hand, I could also understand the others' point of view, so... IDK. I guess I'm just not that kind of a person.

[–] bottleshock34 11 years ago

I agree with all of you
1: she was stupid to hit brian while he was driveing she nearly got them all killed at least wait until the car is stoped first before hitting him. There are other ways to tell your BF off and not endanger anyone else.

2: she was stupid to not use precaustion's around the girl but i'll give her a break with this one the little girl had trouble breathing. I would think any good hearted person would help a child that could not breath. Dispite how sick that child is and dispite the fact that you yourself will get infected.

3: not telling anyone i would say anyone in her shoes proberly would of done the samething she was scared.
Scared that she would be kicked out of the car.
Scared she will die.
Scared to die alone and in pain.
But she did try to stay as far away from contact with brian which dose make her nog telling him wrong. He does' nt know that shes infected so his just being a typical BF
I see both sides hers and the rest of the group

[–] Kagetsukai84 11 years ago

I still felt sorry for her. I think she showed great empathy and compassion, so much so that it turned out to be her demise. It clouded her better judgement regarding the danger of helping the little girl and how to go about it without compromising safety.

I don't believe she didn't care about infecting her friends, I rather think she was so ridden with denial and then overwhelming fear of what was in store for her that she lost her focus. Perhaps she still hoped for something, that she might not yet be condemned: either that she were not really infected or that it wouldn't progress, or that a cure would emerge in the meantime.
It seemed she was more about feeling than thinking, and that she was terrified. I can imagine a great deal of people might react in the same pattern, particularly 'feeling-over-thinking' people. For those especially, the instict to remain alive and hold on to a sense of normality might be too strong and prevail over logical thinking in such an extreme situation.

But yes, it was very wrong not to tell the others seeing as it would do nothing but condemn them as well. She should have left the group, or taken her own life, or asked her friends to help her do it as an act of mercy. If she had been open and honest with them from the moment she suspected she had been infected they might have made arrangements for her so she wouldn't suffer, instead of leaving her the way they did.

"So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their ending."

[–] bottleshock34 11 years ago

You make some good points I know that she tried to prevent Brian from getting to close to her but she should of told him. But I do understand her fear I would probably be the same scared it is a normal human reaction.

[–] tabbycat 10 years ago

You don't make any good points.
Bobby was stupid, period.
The end.

I hate apologists who use the "I can understand how she felt" line to justify any behavior, even the kind that will get everyone killed.

[–] bottleshock34 10 years ago

Well how would you react in that situation?
And be realistic

🇺🇸 🇳🇿 🇬🇧 🇦🇺

[–] Kagetsukai84 10 years ago

OK, I get that you wanted to post to say "you don't make any good points - character A is stupid, period - I hate this or that yada-yada". Very insightful, thank you. But you're entirely mistaken about my post. Keeping in mind that the movie deals with the issue of how humans might react in a very extreme, dystopian scenario, the points being made were not meant to justify (by way of excusing) Bobby's behavior, they are meant to possibly explain it. But even so it's fair to point out that Bobby's character was not the most flawed or unlikable considering that in spite of the horrific scenario she still demonstrated at least one redeeming, noble, admirable human quality which is compassion. Contrastingly, the same cannot be said of the unsympathetic 2D-ish other girl who seemed more of a space filler, or also of Bobby's boyfriend who put his very own brother in danger by deliberately ommiting his condition and [unlike Bobby] making no effort whatsoever to keep a safe distance when his brother moved to tend to his gunshot wound.

So in conclusion, if you define Bobby as simplistically as "stupid", maybe that just means stupid is a very broad/all-encompassing notion... for you, that is. One can only guess.
By the way I noticed the other user I was talking to challenged you to give a realistic idea of how you yourself might react faced with the same situation. So, I too was wondering if maybe you could offer some "good points" of your own to help expand everyone's knowledge of human behavior in all its complexity (or simplicity...) and, who knows, maybe even inspire us with what you think your behavior would be in comparison to Bobby's.

"So comes snow after fire, and even dragons have their ending."

[–] umiryuzaki26 10 years ago

Bobby fatal flaw was believing herself to be "above" the disease. You know, the typical "everyone gets cancer, sure, but it won't happen to me" human mindset... Daniel, Kate and Brian shared it too, and it eventually brought about their own demise. The very reality of it only hits her (like it later does to Danny, when they discover Bobby is infected, and Brian, when he himself gets sick) when the little girl coughs up blood all over her face. And her reaction is entirely too human, to the point it would have been hard for me to suspend disbelief had she actually told them about it while Brian ditched the father and her dying child in the ghost town.

Besides, she didn't knew for sure if she was infected or not (remember Brian telling them over and over his little story about being neck deep in rotting corpses without catching a cold); it was easier to believe she had a stronger resistance to the virus, like Brian and the rest of them (all in contact with sick people, all still sane), or that it would take more than a few drops of blood to get one sick). What she did know what that Brian would dump her ass if he found out, and she was probably too terrified to even entertain the possibility of being left behind, to suffer and die completely alone. She took all the precautions she could without dragging too much attention to herself, constantly searching for any signs of the disease.

Can't hardly blame her for that when it was a pure, selfless act what put her in that position in the first place.