Line #6 YMMV/WhatAboutBob


1	* AlternateCharacterInterpretation:
2	** The story could easily be seen as Bob the {{Jerkass}} tormenting the stressed-out Dr. Marvin while everyone is too stupid to realize Bob is actually not as wonderful as they say he is. On the other hand, Dr. Marvin has legitimately pissed off a lot of people and screwed up his own family well before Bob ever showed up, and Bob is clearly a pretty nice and well-meaning guy underneath his mental issues.
3	*** Most fans seem to view Leo's family as dysfunctional, but much of the tension therein is relatively healthy. It's true that neither of the children trust their father, for instance, but their rebellion is quite understandable with regard to their age; Ana is creating emotional distance as to prepare herself for adulthood, while Sigmund is approaching adolescence with a typical amount of skepticism and anxiety. Leo and Fay, meanwhile, seem to be happily married, and the family shows definite concern for one another in moments of crisis. Arguably, the family's dysfunction is much more situational than default: when Bob enters the picture, Leo's obsessive protectiveness becomes quite apparent, and creates a sudden rift between himself and his loved ones.
4	*** Except there has clearly been much more distance for some time. Siggy seems to be carrying a grudge from the previous times his father has tried to force his own likes on him (such as diving). Ana seems to object to her father over-analyzing things and causing the same behavior in herself.
5	*** It could also be argued that it works both ways; the family's dysfunction is merely situational and could be easily resolved, but is instead exacerbated by Leo's rather cold nature and inept handling of things by approaching his family as if they were psychological problems to be solved rather than, well, his family.
6	** Given his narcissism, his poor relationship with his family and borderline sociopathic tendencies, such as him being apathetic when learning that Bob had killed himself (not knowing he was faking it at the time), there's a possibility that Dr. Marvin already had severe mental problems [[spoiler:prior to his SanitySlippage in the third act]].
7	* HilariousInHindsight: The relationship between Dr. Marvin and Bob is almost beat-for-beat the exact same relationship between [[WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants Squidward Tentacles and Spongebob Squarepants]] in several episodes of that show. Give Squidward a family and make him a psychiatrist, and the plot writes itself.
8	** There’s also a resemblance to {{Film/Elf}}. A stressed out career man being followed by a hopelessly devoted AdultChild played by an SNL alum who’s loved by the kids and mom but hated by the dad.
9	* InformedWrongness: Dr. Leo Marvin may not be the nicest man, but it is his house, his family and his vacation, and Bob, intentionally or not, is invading his privacy. He's not exactly wrong to be annoyed about Bob forcing his way into his private life.
10	** We're supposed to think that Leo telling his family to stay away from Bob is just Leo being a jerk, but think about all Bob did to reach him. Bob is a patient with multiple mental issues who repetitively lied and manipulated people to get to Leo, up to faking his own death and impersonating an officer of the law to get Leo's location (both of these things are illegal) all because Leo wasn't available to see him. This is a [[StalkerWithoutACrush stalking level of obsession]], and can be ''very'' scary. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZzHblfAYPa0 This]] recut trailer does a very good job of framing the film this way.
11	** Leo is also absolutely correct in stating that the lengths Bob goes to contact him is an amazing violation of the doctor-patient relationship.
12	* JerkassWoobie: Dr. Marvin may be an obnoxious {{Jerkass}}, but one can't help but feel sorry for him considering everything he suffers at Bob's hands over the course of the story.
13	** If you go for AlternateCharacterInterpretation, Bob applies as well. He is obnoxious enough to drive you straight to the looney bin, but Heaven only knows what he has suffered in life to become as much of a basket case as he was at the beginning of the film (one detail that ''is'' mentioned is that his wife left him, but the film doesn't say if she left him because he was losing it or if he lost it because she left). Given all of his conditions, it was likely a little of both.
14	* MoralEventHorizon: Leo crosses it when he [[spoiler:tries to kill Bob by blowing him up.]] It's PlayedForLaughs, but he was being serious.
15	** If one buys the AlternateCharacterInterpretation concerning Bob then him driving Leo towards the brink of insanity could be this.
16	* ParanoiaFuel: The plot is every psychiatrist's worst nightmare; a basket case of a patient stalks and harasses you to the point of crossing state lines and invades upon every aspect of your life. The only reason this film works as a comedy and not a psychological horror film is that Dr. Marvin is an arrogant jerkass who deserves to be taken down a peg.
17	* TheWoobie: Bob. Honestly, he doesn't necessarily mean to drive other people crazy because of his craziness. And you have to wonder what happened to the poor guy to make him so unbalanced and phobic in the first place.

Context YMMV / WhatAboutBob