In the Mind of William "D-FENS" Foster | Character Analysis

hey everyone in this Century we'll be taking a look at William defense Foster the anti-villain from the 1993 classic film falling down a volatile unstable and distressed man Williams actions in the film are disturbing but yet he remains a character that audiences cannot help but empathize with in some small measure due to his relatability surely we can all identify with the pain of facing higher prices from inflation from being stuck in traffic or from being a victim of false advertising and while hopefully none of us would react the way he did we can't help but root for him until his villainous Epiphany at the end throughout the film Williams acts of aggression are in retaliation to people who were first nasty to him so in a way they had it coming although William's responses are unjustified and in no way endorsed being way out of proportion to the inciting offense at face value William is a mentally ill person whose fuse has blown on the fateful day of the film's events a man who has had enough of being on the wrong side of life and decides to unleash his frustration via a solo Rampage across the streets of LA but beyond what we see on the surface William represents an obsolete era of time that has no place in today's society the film is Rife with imagery that help exemplify its subtle themes on the deteriorating state of society to quote the screenwriter William represents the old Power structure of the U.S that has now become archaic and hopelessly lost perhaps this is somewhat alluded to in the moment of William scuffle with the Korean store owner where they inadvertently knocked down a bunch of flags that fall onto the floor specifically William represents the bygone era of the 1950s and 60s his hairstyle and his attire is a nod to that time along with his briefcase an accessory which is already considered old-fashioned in the current setting of the 90s at the scene in the Mini Mart where William gripes about the rising costs from inflation he specifically drops a line about rolling back prices to 1965. later on in the film William's mother mentions that he's keeping the country safe from Communists which is again another reference to the Past era that William embodies so essentially William is a Man Out of Time one who feels trapped in contemporary Society this feeling of being trapped is exemplified by two visual references in the film at the start there is a fly trapped in William's car that lands on him momentarily later in the basement of the army surplus store in a noticeable shot Williams stares at a fly that has been trapped inside a fly trapper in one of the immediate scenes we get this shot of William speaking over the phone with what looks to be an overlay of a net over him and further down in the film in a quick moment that's easy to miss there is the sound of a fly when detective Prendergast pays a visit to William's home so effectively the fly is a visual cue of William's feeling of being trapped not only in those specific situations of his car the Army store or at home but in the overall scope of society as well a recurring theme in the film is William's mention of going home this statement appears straightforward but it certainly has a deeper meaning Williams residential address is with his mother yet his mission is to arrive at his ex-wife's house for his daughter's birthday party for all purposes the phrase going home likely represents William's desire to return to simpler times like those in the 60s to quote Prendergast at the end everybody has their own idea of what Paradise is for William it's a time when he is still useful to a society that hasn't been battered by inflation and plagued by the presence of gangs and immigrants this trait of William is another reason that makes him relatable perhaps there are many of us who just like William see the past with Nostalgia and long for the good old days beyond that there is also the feeling of being left behind in society William is a man who has become obsolete in terms of his employment and this has no doubt been a huge blow to his mental health it's obvious that William is a man who gathers much self-esteem from his work which we see at the end when he tells Prendergast that he helped to protect America but of course the greatest display of this self-esteem is seen by his car plate inscription which signifies him identifying as a Defender the loss of this identity was a major stepping stone to William's eventual meltdown if he already felt out of place in society before this was the final nail in the coffin coincidentally it also leads to William's one moment of compassion in the film The One involving the man arrested during his protest about not being economically viable Williams dissatisfaction with the current state of society correlates to one of his key traits his anger and his volatile nature up to this point his anger has been slowly simmering but it's only at the film's events that they reach boiling point coincidentally it happens on a day with sweltering hot weather but this anger that has been gradually simmering is perhaps referenced to by the hole in William's shoe such a hole does not appear overnight but as the result of wear and tear over a long period of time before William attempts to cover the hole with newspaper it's noteworthy that he first looks at the streets of LA through it so in a sense William's view of the world is filtered through the lens of his anger later on in the film this distorted view of society is hammered home visually by the visible crack on his spectacles as a result of this distorted view Williams perspective is faulty to say the least for starters he blames his mother for the failure of his marriage to put it plainly he is a hypocrite one who can only point out the mistakes of others yet being blind to the fact that he himself commits those same errors looking at his behavior William expresses contempt for the fascist military store owner for his Prejudice but yet earlier on he stretched off the difference between a Korean and a Chinese and chided the store owner for not being able to speak grammatically correct English he also stands up for his rights as a consumer and defends his choice to disagree out of freedom of speech but yet he doesn't extend that same courtesy to others whether it's trashing the Mini Mart for its higher prices or demanding to be made an exception just so that he can have some breakfast think of all the other people's rights that he trampled on for his own self-interest as a consumer he does have rights but so do the business owners who also have the right to refuse service to anyone they deem unfit but William's anger with society and feeling out of place wouldn't fully account for his unstable Behavior after all many of us have gripes with the current state of the world but none of us would take a fast food restaurant hostage for not serving us breakfast past 11 30. as hinted in the latter portion of the film Williams one man Rampage is caused by certain disorders in his personality most likely arising from his childhood not much is known about his upbringing but from what is revealed we can infer three things one William does not remember his childhood fondly two this unpleasant childhood was caused by his father's upbringing and three this upbringing was cultivated in a strict and harsh environment it's suggestible that William does not remember his childhood fondly as seen by the empty walls on his home which could appear to formally hold pictures of him with his parents if they were indeed family pictures it's more likely that it was William who took them down instead of his mother this is because William's mother till date has a dedicated Shrine for her husband's military exploits so we can conclude that she has no qualms about having a remembrance of her husband given the fact that William's mother has a docile personality and is now living in fear of her son it's likely that his father William Foster senior was the one responsible for the unpleasant childhood memories that defense Foster does not wish to reminisce about at first glance it might seem that defense Foster was the one who conferred the purple heart but upon closer inspection we find that it cannot be the case the award was conferred in 1952 and given that defense Foster is in his late 30s in the film's current setting of the 90s he would have been just a baby at the time therefore the name on the certificate is William Foster senior his father again we can only speculate as to the relationship that senior and Junior Foster had but however it was it was a negative one that contributed greatly to William's current mental state this mental state is expressed in several ways not the least of which is what appears to be some level of compulsive disorder in the form of cleanliness we see this in the pristine condition of his room when Prendergast visits the Foster's house and remarks on how unbelievably clean the room is also William's mother is afraid to enter his room and as anyone who lives with OCD will tell you a person suffering from that disorder will be naturally very territorial over their space Williams room also provides some insight Beyond his compulsive disorder there is an apparent lack of personal expression in his room despite him living there for an extended period of time in its current state the room could even pass off as unoccupied so even at his own home William does not feel secure enough to be truly himself or even worse he has no means of expressing himself and instead keeps it all bottled in beyond the painting of a Navy ship the only ornaments we can see in the room are three military brushes neatly arranged on top of his cabinet this is odd given that defense was not in the military his lack of proficiency with weapons and his lack of Trigger Discipline supports that notion perhaps those brushes could be a reference as to how William's father gave him a strict military-like upbringing which contributed to his state maybe William's father who is a very accomplished military man wanted to reproduce his own traits in his son hence naming him with the same name as himself and giving him a very regimented and disciplined childhood if that were so then it's likely that William's father was overly harsh on him and his youth leading to his stunted emotional development and the hostility that William Bears towards his childhood home a father and son relationship should never just resemble that of a soldier and Commander and although William didn't join the military he eventually found a way to play a part in the defense of the nation by working at no-tech a choice that may have been influenced by his father beyond the OCD and the lack of expression we see that William's upbringing also has its effects on his social relationships namely his ability to empathize no example is clearer than the one we see in his family video where William turns a deaf ear to the cries of his daughter and the pleas of his wife and disturbingly insist that she be put on the horse since it was his gift to her interestingly for his daughter's current birthday William decides to get her a snow globe containing a unicorn which is another horse-like creature could this be a sign that William hasn't learned from the experience in the home video perhaps so William's interactions with his mother aren't much better given that she recounts him being so quiet at the dinner table to the point that she spits her food out from nervousness for a visual representation of this think of the woman at the whammy Burger who spat out her food out of fear before she's labeled a Critic Williams interactions at the whammy Burger provide further insight as to his psyche specifically the instance where he tells Rick and Sheila that he doesn't feel comfortable calling them by their first names that is a reasonable sentiment as calling a Stranger by their first name can be awkward for some but what happens next reveals what makes him comfortable in social situations namely the feeling of being in power and in control after he brandishes his weapon and gets everyone's attention Rick the manager becomes fearful and submissive it is at this point that William mentions that he is now okay with addressing him by his first name in light of all that they've been through of course they've been through nothing in that short span of time save for the fact that Rick has lost his passive aggressiveness and has become paralyzed with fear this cowering is what makes William comfortable to call him by his first name for a confirmation of this William continues to address Sheila as Miss Folsom since she exhibits none of the submissive behavior that her manager did in closing what makes William defense Foster a villain if we're taking a look at the actual crimes committed there are definitely other movie villains with a more impressive rap sheet of all of William's committed crimes only one can be counted as a murder but then again it was done in self-defense against a repulsive man whom society would not shed a tear for the rest of his crimes would amount to manslaughter at most combined with the property damage at the construction site but the greatest display of his evil occurs at the end and for that we would need to revisit his concept of going home at the Midway portion of the film a pivotal change occurs for William which is also demonstrated to us symbolically his outfit changes from white to full black signifying the classic Descent of morality and before that William also gives up his briefcase in favor of a gym bag full of military weapons saying that he doesn't need the briefcase anymore as previously mentioned the briefcase which is an old-fashioned accessory from a bygone era represents his desire to return to the good old days in reconciling this with his concept of going home William tells his wife that he is past the point of no return where it would take longer to go back to where he came from than simply continuing down his current path so in essence William giving up his briefcase and holding on to the gym bag of weapons symbolizes the exchange of his Nostalgia for his current trend of Destruction in light of this William's concept of going home is his most disturbing element namely the untimely demise of himself and his family it's pretty clear that William would have no qualms about eliminating his wife giving his resentment towards her and especially in light of his earlier threat to her about the legality of the act in South America but as for his daughter the only semblance of a threat to her comes in the form of his monologue at the Mansion earlier where he reminisces of the three of them sleeping together perhaps that was a foreshadowing of his final intention one that Prendergast was right to assume before his end William faces the harsh truth that he has become the bad guy he might have been a victim of his upbringing and the hero of his own story but when all said and done he played the part of the villain as well in a sense this Revelation disarms him leaving him with nothing but a harmless water gun before his decision to terminate himself so what do you think of William defense Foster from falling down folks let me know in the comments thanks for watching and take care

Channel: In The Mind of A Villain

Views: 9,493

Keywords: In The Mind Of A Villain, character analysis, video essay, analyzing villains

Id: TkxDpWctbAg

Length: 17min 23sec (1043 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 16 2023