Line #20 YMMV/TheGreenMile


1	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
2	** The look of absolute horror on Percy's face after Coffey pushes the "disease" into his mouth, and the tear that rolls down his face just before he shoots Wharton could theoretically indicate that, rather than John forcing him to shoot Wharton, Coffey used the contact to show Percy everything Wharton had done, and Percy shot him of his own volition. Percy, a small, sniveling, vicious, cowardly man was so broken by seeing true evil that he not only had to seek immediate retribution on Wharton, but spent the rest of his life catatonic from sorrow at just how evil the real bad guys could be. Look at his face during Del's execution. Can he not watch it because of how gruesome it is, or because he honestly didn't think it would be that bad and was having a "MyGodWhatHaveIDone" moment?
3	** The other guards' protectiveness of the inmates, to the point of borderline contempt of anyone wanting to punish them for their crimes. Do they possess so out of a unflappable belief in redemption and forgiveness, or are they desperate men willing to enable murderers just to soften their lonely, miserable jobs? Similarly are the people they ''are'' willing to PayEvilUntoEvil before because they ''don't'' show the same remorse, or simply because they harmed [[ProtagonistCenteredMorality people they cared about]], compared to the anonymous strangers harmed by the inmates they befriend (as observed when Paul's view of Wild Bill alters completely after seeing his actions through Coffey's vision). Or perhaps they are treating them softly, because if they tried to treat them harshly, they might crack and kill ''them''? Or, most likely, is it a bit of all?
4	* AwardSnub:
5	** It was nominated for Best Picture, but Frank Darabont wasn't up for Best Director at the UsefulNotes/{{Academy Award}}s.
6	** Michael Clarke Duncan was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe, and two [=SAG=] awards for Best Supporting Actor for his role as John Coffey. He didn't win any of them.
7	* CatharsisFactor: [[spoiler:John basically killing two birds with one stone by giving Melinda's brain tumor to [[DirtyCoward Percy]] and brainwashing him into killing [[CompleteMonster Wild Bill]].]]
8	* CompleteMonster: In the film adaptation, [[PsychopathicManchild William "Wild Bill" Wharton]] is awaiting execution at the Cold Mountain Penitentiary for murdering three people in an armed robbery, one of whom was a pregnant woman. When he first appears in the prison he manages to convince the guards he's in a drugged stupor, only to attempt to strangle Dean Stanton to death when his guard is down. Failing in that, Wild Bill contents himself with causing as much mischief as he can before his eventual execution. [[spoiler:Eventually it comes to light that Wild Bill's worst known crime was the [[WouldHurtAChild rape and murder of the two little girls]] who John Coffey was accused of killing. In order to stop the girls from calling for help, he told them that if one of them screams, [[IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure it's her sister that he'd kill]].]]
9	* DracoInLeatherPants: Both Delacroix and Percy are often treated this way with mutual exclusivity in comments either overlooking the very legitimate reasons the former was sentenced to death to begin with (not helped by the fact that crimes he committed that led him to being placed on Death Row were never revealed in the film, so anyone who hasn't read the novel or looked up the info online wouldn't know just how horrible Del's actions were), or using said reasons to excuse the latter's blatant cruelty, respectively. To be fair to the former, Delacroix does show genuine remorse for his actions.
10	* EveryoneIsJesusInPurgatory: Everywhere to say the least, not helped considering John Coffey's initials.
11	* FridgeHorror:
12	** Wild Bill has shown himself to be completely depraved and odious by revealing that [[spoiler:he was responsible for raping two innocent young girls and killing them in cold blood.]] You know what's even worse? It's the fact that he might've done that to countless other people (especially minors) before being caught.
13	** If John Coffey's statement that he can feel the ugliness the world over is intended to be taken literally, he can feel [[UsefulNotes/TheHolocaust something very ugly going on in 1935 Germany]]. To say nothing of [[UsefulNotes/JosefStalin Stalin]]'s Russia, the European powers' colonization over the world, and the Empire of Japan's conquest of the Pacific and Southeast Asia. Or he just feels it [[HumansAreFlawed constantly]].
14	** John Coffey made [[spoiler:Mr Jingles a near-immortal by mouse standards]] in an accident, and [[spoiler:quite generously extended Paul's life so much that he's quite fit for a 108-year old man (hell, he's a lot more healthier than even an average ''eighty year old'' person)]]. How old is John exactly? How much of the world's events was he personally witness to? [[spoiler:Possibly why John just goes along with them arresting and sentencing him for execution, as he has grown terribly tired from living very long in this world.]]
15	* HarsherInHindsight: Percy's constant homophobic slurs to Delacroix can be this for people who know that Creator/MichaelJeter was gay in RealLife.
16	* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct:
17	** Portraying John Coffey showed the world just how much range Creator/MichaelClarkeDuncan was capable of.
18	** There are still people who can watch this movie and not [[RetroactiveRecognition recognize]] Creator/SamRockwell as Wild Bill, because that's how well he plays a filthy, obnoxious, sex-crazed [[spoiler:rapist-murderer.]]
19	* HilariousInHindsight:
20	** Doug Hutchinson's Percy Wetmore is last seen [[spoiler:being transferred to the mental institution he wanted to work in, whilst catatonic]]. Much later on, another one of Doug's roles, [[Film/PunisherWarZone Loony Bin Jim]], is introduced very similarly, though in that case he was [[spoiler:housed in a BedlamHouse]].
21	** Creator/MichaelJeter plays Eduard Delacroix, an inmate tormented by a petty and sadistic guard named Percy. One of Jeter's last film roles was in ''Film/OpenRange'', where he played a friendly cowboy named Percy.
22	* JerkassWoobie: Del is slightly more Woobie-ish in the book. As well as the main event, King also describes the minutes before Del's execution. [[spoiler:He hugs Brother Schuster, the priest, who agreed to pray with him in Cajun French. While Del cries throughout the prayer, he's also visibly comforted and by the end, feels that he's right with God. Despite the horrific crime he committed, Del is still one of the more likable characters.]]
23	* JerksAreWorseThanVillains: Percy Wetmore, the [[{{Jerkass}} mean-spirited]] TokenEvilTeammate, is the most hated character in the film. He breaks prisoner Eduard Delacroix's fingers, steps on his pet mouse Mr. Jingles (which is quickly revived by John Coffey), and sabotages his execution to make it more painful by not wetting the sponge. Del, despite committing a crime to warrant being on death row, is more likable due to his childlike demeanor and remorseful actions. Wild Bill Wharton is a [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain racist]] Serial Killer who killed three people (including a pregnant woman) in an armed robbery and [[spoiler:raped and murdered two little girls, leading to John Coffey's execution in his place]], but he also gets points for being [[LaughablyEvil entertaining and over-the-top]].
24	* LoveToHate: Wild Bill is a shit-tier human being, but his actor is just such a riot ([[spoiler:at least before TheReveal]]) that you can't help but enjoy whenever he's on-screen. Fans easily consider him more entertaining than Percy.
25	* MemeticMutation:
26	** "Dead man walking. We got a dead man walking here."
27	** "I'm tired, boss. Dog tired."
28	* MoralEventHorizon:
29	** Percy's sabotage of the first execution he's put in charge of causes the condemned man to die a horrible, agonizing death. The worst part? It was done out of petty revenge just for being embarrassed.
30	** [[spoiler:What Wild Bill did to the two girls, physically and emotionally. ("If you make noise, [[IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure it's your sister I kill, not you.]]")]]
31	* OlderThanTheyThink: Believe it or not, this film (or novel, rather) borrows the plot from the ''Series/AmazingStories'' episode, "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaVQjQxcDFs Life on Death Row]]", except that near the end of that episode [[spoiler:the executed magical inmate is brought BackFromTheDead with help from the friends he has healed]].
32	* OneSceneWonder:
33	** Creator/GarySinise is only in one scene, but the [[Film/ForrestGump obvious]] [[Film/Apollo13 connections]] with Tom Hanks put him in the trailer. His cameo was also in reference to being in ''Series/TheStand1994'', another Creator/StephenKing adaptation.
34	** While Creator/HarryDeanStanton does show up for some other scenes, he only has any real lines in [[LargeHam one scene]], which ends up being a major Crowning Moment of Funny.
35	** Creator/{{Graham Greene\|Actor}} has only one major scene lasting slightly over a minute, but he gives a wrenching monologue that's one of the most moving things in an already very sad movie.
36	* RealismInducedHorror: What makes Wild Bill Wharton such a terrifying villain is that he's completely unrelated to any of the supernatural elements going on in the rest of the story. He's not possessed by a demon, or some inhuman monster taken mortal form–he's just a "[[TheSociopath bad man]]," who did all of those horrible things [[ForTheEvulz because it amused him]].
37	--> '''Wild Bill''': ''"Bad as you want."''
38	* SignatureScene: John Coffey's execution is easily the most iconic scene in the movie and is considered one of, if not ''the'' saddest scene in film history.
39	* {{Squick}}: Paul's urinary tract infection is described in nauseating detail, including him noticing chunks of pus in the toilet.
40	* TheWoobie:
41	** John Coffey. He feels that he lives in a world that is full of too much pain and suffering, [[spoiler:and is perhaps the true ageless person in this movie]]. As such, he considers his inevitable execution to be a MercyKill.
42	** Paul, once the full impact of the epilogue kicks in.
43	** Dean, getting strangled and everything. Then four months after the story takes place, [[spoiler:he gets stabbed to death. He also has two kids who are going to spend the rest of their adolescence without a father.]]
44	** A rare example of a Woobie ''prison warden'', though he's more of an IronWoobie: Hal Moores, who personally disarmed a prisoner with a shank, sees his wife become terminally ill. [[spoiler:When Coffey heals his wife, he breaks down sobbing.]]
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Context YMMV / TheGreenMile