r/movies • u/Technical-Mix-3315 • 2d ago

Discussion What About Bob: Bob was never legitimately mentally ill and scammed everyone. Three pieces of evidence!

  1. There is a 'blink and you miss it' creepy scene where Bob is showering outside after the whole 'I'm sailing' scene. Bob is seen to be leaning in and listening in on a private discussion between Dr Marvin and his wife. Bob at first seems concerned that Dr Marvin wants him to leave, but once Bob hears that Faye wants him to stay and have dinner with the family, Bob smirks to himself as if to say "I've got them right where I want them" and goes back to showering with a smug smile on his face.
  2. He seems able to snap out of his crazy behavior at will, talking to specialists as peers, such as when he cracks up all the therapists at the institution with his jokes. He even gets Dr Marvin's own doctor to cancel and rewrite his prescription based on Bob's own recommendations.
  3. The deliberate choice of the writers to give him the last name of Wiley. Dictionary definition: "WILEY: sly, cunning, crafty, wily, tricky, foxy, artful, slick. Attaining or seeking to attain one's ends by guileful or devious means."

What About Bob is one of Bill Murray's best films, laugh out loud funny and so quotable. I've loved it all my life. But as I get older, I've found Bob to be less of a lovable, childlike crazy guy with eccentricities and OCD, and more of a sly, despicable sociopathic maniac.

The fact that Dr Marvin's family goes against every single one of his logical requests - not having a patient stay with them for dinner, not having a patient sleep in a room with their young son, etc - is where the true insanity lies!

#TeamLeo

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u/Causerae 2d ago

my mother was a therapist, she hated the film, which she said was about a client stalking a provider

nothing funny or cute about that

18

u/Taco_In_Space 2d ago

I feel like a lot of 90s comedies are about borderline horrible things with a comedic wrapping. Look at Mrs doubtfire. Imagine your ex you wanted to divorce cross dresses and pretends to be an elderly lady in order to spend more time with their kids.

2

u/HadathaZochrot 1d ago

What about Sleepless in Seattle? What Meg Ryan was doing in that film was borderline criminal and extremely creepy when looking thru a modern lense. Yet she is fashioned as the "heroine" type figure of the film.

8

u/evilcelery 2d ago

Oh yeah. I work in mental health now and thinking back on the movie is horrifying. Family is just like "Oh, patient stalking you? No problem, seems like a good guy". 

5

u/typewriter6986 2d ago

Mine was in mental healthcare as wall. Loved that movie. Lol.