WORST OUT OF CHARACTER MOMENTS IN FILM (OR TV)

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

In Aliens just after the heroes escape the first attack with the Xenomorphs then the dropship crashed and explodes leaving the characters up shit creek wandering around in the dark with wind blowing and they know it's all Apocalypse time and they are all gonna die and they're all shitting themselves Hudson asks "What are we gonna do now?" like a typical US Marine weakling.

When Burke replies "Maybe we can all build a fire. Sing a couple of songs" I think is just SO wrong and totally the opposite of how he would react. When you are terrified that you're gonna die you don't come out with something that stupid and badly attempted at humour that you know is just gonna get you a slap. Say all you want about the actor being a comedian but Burke is not like that, he doesn't try to be funny or lighten a situation, he's a weasely American coward.

That response for me is the most shocking out of character moment I can think of in a film, and just really pulls me out of Aliens.

Another is in Jaws 2, which even as a kid had me questioning the moment. When a young blonde teenage bit of US slutty stuff is running along the beach playing kisschase she comes across a gory site of a massive Killer Whale with a huge chunk bitten out of it by a White Shark, and there is blood and guts to be seen. But she doesn't scream. She just stops and says "Yugh" like a "Eeew typical American dumb teenage girl. Again, out of character.

1. In real life you would scream, and 2. for dramatic purposes in a film this girl would scream, especially as she screamed in hysterics later in the film when that same shark killed her partner on the boat like all teenage American girls do in films.

So for her not to scream in that Killer Whale scene I think is out of character for her and like with Burke, a miscalculation on behalf of the actor and director.

So you get how this game is played now don't you? Chime in with out of character moments you've seen in a film or tv show and discuss the significance of this and why you think this is a mistake.

Cue people instead disagreeing with what I wrote here or this thread being buried in 3...2... oh hi TheButcher!

[Ribbons]

This isn't a great example because nobody has seen this TV show, but it's the first one I could think of off the top of my head because I'm watching it right now. On The 4400, Mahershala Ali plays a member of... well, the 4400, who is promoted to a leadership position after the current head of the organization funds a lunatic fringe of the group that turn out to be terrorists. Lots of finger-waggings and tongue-lashings ensue about how stupid that decision was and how he would never do anything like that. Anyway, cut to a handful of episodes later and Mahershala decides to use his resources help break these terrorists out of prison deliberately so they can continue wreaking havoc on humanity. When asked why he made this choice, he says something like "The 4400 have been at war with humanity ever since we came back, so we might as well make it official." Basically the exact opposite of his position earlier. Cut to a couple episodes after THAT, and Mahershala defies the group because he says he doesn't want anybody to get hurt, so they beat him up and physically restrain him. All this time there's no hint of character development or conflict, he just does one thing and then does something completely different based on where the writers want the story to go. It's pretty terrible.

[Peven]

Han Solo coming back to save Luke in Star Wars: A New Hope. the established character is a smuggler, a career criminal, who looks out for #1, and is ruthless to the point of shooting first when he needs to. shooting to kill. there is nothing during the movie that would affect him in any significant way to change his existential view. his motivation was always self-serving, even on the Death Star it was just about escape to save himself. the only reason he goes along with saving Leia is the promise of her being wealthy and getting a big $$ reward. Luke didn't save his life in some dramatic fashion to create a sense of loyalty or that he owed Luke anything, Han didn't experience the power of the force in some personal way that affected him, and even if he thought Leia was cute we're talking about a guy who had bedded chicks across the galaxy, not one to be overwhelmed by a pretty face at first fight, especially one that was bossing him around. but, instead of taking off safe and sound with all the money he needed set things right in his world he decides to turn back and risk his life, a very high risk considering the realistic outlook of the battle, for what....? what does Han care about the Republic/rebellion? he is a criminal to their government just the same as he is to the Empire. nothing had been shown at all up to that point indicating Han ever had any aspirations above and beyond being a successful smuggler. why throw it all away and with a high risk of death for a long shot effort that would do nothing to realize any of his life's ambitions up to that point? lazy writing and character development, but then we're talking George Lucas. who has a childlike mind when it comes to story construction....

[TheBaxter]

This isn't a great example because nobody has seen this TV show, but it's the first one I could think of off the top of my head because I'm watching it right now. On The 4400, Mahershala Ali plays a member of... well, the 4400, who is promoted to a leadership position after the current head of the organization funds a lunatic fringe of the group that turn out to be terrorists. Lots of finger-waggings and tongue-lashings ensue about how stupid that decision was and how he would never do anything like that. Anyway, cut to a handful of episodes later and Mahershala decides to use his resources help break these terrorists out of prison deliberately so they can continue wreaking havoc on humanity. When asked why he made this choice, he says something like "The 4400 have been at war with humanity ever since we came back, so we might as well make it official." Basically the exact opposite of his position earlier. Cut to a couple episodes after THAT, and Mahershala defies the group because he says he doesn't want anybody to get hurt, so they beat him up and physically restrain him. All this time there's no hint of character development or conflict, he just does one thing and then does something completely different based on where the writers want the story to go. It's pretty terrible.

ha, i remember that show! i don't actually remember any of the characters or plot points, but i remember that it was a show and that it existed.

i'm tempted to bring up The Walking Dead, but if i tried to list every time a character on that show acted 'out of character' it would probably be easier to just cut and paste the scripts of every episode since the series began.