Walter Hobbs Is A True Elf Hero, He Never Belongs To A Ridiculous List

Posted by Joshua Tyler | Published 10 seconds ago

This is Will Ferrell's place The Elf is the most watched Christmas movie of the modern era and one of the best holiday movies of all time. It's a simple story told in such a straightforward way that Buddy Elf's father, Walter Hobbs, is the only figure with a character arc.

We are told right from the start that Walter Hobbs (played by James Caan) is on the naughty list. When Buddy meets him, everything seems designed to make sure he deserves to be there. It's Walter's character that drives the story, not Buddy's. Buddy is the same person at the end of the movie as he was at the beginning. But Walter is said to make the transition from being a criminal to a loving father who embraces the spirit of Christmas.

Otherwise it is not possible at all. Walter Hobbs was never a bad person. He shouldn't have been on the naughty list. He is a real hero The Elfand I will prove it.

We will begin by taking each example of Scrooge-like behavior one at a time.

Walter Hobbs Only Cares About His Job

In the beginning, we are introduced to Walter Hobbs as a workaholic who spends all his time at work and neglects his family. At one point, his son belittles him, accusing him of only caring about money. His wife also attacks him accusing him of neglecting his son.

However, that's not what happens on screen. The Walter Hobbs we see in it The Elf he's home at dinner time every night. Indeed, one time, after he had a really hard day, he wanted to eat in his man's cave. The boy was very depressed. Apparently, that's not normal as his son reacts to his decision to eat alone as if it's a new thing by asking if he can imitate his father's behavior.

One night eating alone does not make Walter Hobbs the devil.

In fact, it's clear that Hobbs doesn't care about his job at all. His work quality is absolute rubbish. He was caught deliberately signing in bad print, which is a clear sign that he doesn't care and hates working there.

Every time we see him at his desk, Walter seems to want to die.

So why is he there? Someone has to pay the bills.

Walter Hobbs wakes up every day to a job he hates to support his family. He is home every night for dinner, which is obviously always at the table with his family. What a monster.

Walter Hobbs Doesn't Welcome Buddy

When Buddy Elf arrives at Walter's office, he is understandably confused. He took Buddy out a few times because of the shock of it all. He has no reason to believe him. The boy is dressed as an Elf and talks about Santa. Apparently, he's some kind of mentally ill crackpot. Any reasonable person would have thought that he might be dangerous.

To make matters worse, Buddy's way of convincing Walter that he is his son is to send him sexy underwear. This must have made Walter wonder if Buddy's true intention might have a more sinister meaning to sex. Almost anyone else would have called the police, but not good-hearted Walter Hobbs. Instead, he decides to give Buddy a chance.

Walter bails Buddy out of jail, takes him to the clinic, and checks him out. It's a reasonable thing to do when a 40-year-old man you've never met comes to your door, claiming to be a close relative. When the test proves that Buddy is his son, Walter makes an about-face and invites this person, who he doesn't know at all, to his home.

All this happened while Buddy continued to behave in such a strange way that, if he had wanted someone as gentle and compassionate as his father, he might have made him surrender. It's not Buddy's fault, of course. You mean well, but Walter has no way of knowing that.

Despite Buddy's awkwardness, Walter sees through the man inside and decides to trust him with his family. Walter is so forgiving that, aside from joking about how much Buddy loves snow, he doesn't even blink when Buddy starts destroying his house.

His solution to Buddy's destruction isn't to get rid of him, it's to find a way to take care of him. He asks his wife to stay at home with him and look after him. When he can't, Walter Hobbs takes his oldest son to work.

Walter Sticks A Friend In The Mail Room

Buddy Elf is an unemployed old man with no place to live and no hope. He needs a job, so Walter Hobbs uses his company's influence to get him one.

Buddy has no work history and no experience, which means he is unfit to work anywhere other than in the mailroom. Walter gets him a job there.

In a way, it's a success. Buddy has a great time in the mail room, makes new friends and gets paid. However, he embarrasses his father by getting drunk and dancing on tables.

Walter is not exaggerating. He puts his head down and continues to live life to the best of his ability.

Walter Crying for Buddy

Walter's career is in trouble, and he knows it. He's been stuck in a thankless job for years in an industry he's clearly not suited for, and it's starting to take its toll.

Walter's employees are useless and lazy, but he has a solution. At great expense, he brings in a crack author to give them the pitch they need to write a bestseller.

Buddy, who was busy working at the post office earning his own if he hadn't been drunk, suddenly walked in at the worst possible time. Then, for no reason, Walter realizes, he starts insulting Walter's guest. It quickly goes beyond yelling and into a full-on physical confrontation. All Walter can do is stand and stare in shock.

Walter's pitch meeting went awry, his son was involved in an attack on the company, and it all happened in front of his employees. Add another workplace humiliation to his situation.

It was only then, after days of shame, abuse, and lust for an old man he didn't know, that Walter Hobbs finally went mad. He cries for Buddy to get out, and after Buddy leaves, he tries to find a way to save his reputation and his job.

Walter Hobbs Works on Christmas Eve

Okay, but what about his dislike of Christmas? Things really fall apart when Walter goes to work on Christmas Eve.

Besides, Walter never wanted to be there. When his boss tells him he has to work on Christmas Eve, Walter immediately refuses. He tries to refuse, but his boss threatens to fire him. Her choice is to enter the workforce or roll the dice on being able to find another job to support her child. No one wants to be out of work for Christmas, so do your job. That's not offensive behavior, that's being a responsible adult.

It was then that his youngest burst out, crying that Buddy Elf was running away. Despite being embarrassed in front of his boss, Walter remains calm. He defends his son when his boss speaks to him disrespectfully.

Meanwhile, Buddy Elf has grown up. A grown man who has proven he can take care of himself by literally walking all the way from the North Pole to New York. He's out roaming New York again, for the fifth or sixth time he's done it in a movie, and there's no reason to think he's in danger.

The kid is overeating, and Walter knows it. He also understands that his son is worried, so he tells him that he will take care of him and calmly asks him to wait outside until he finishes. His son refuses to listen to his father and starts yelling at him, adding yet another disgrace to his career.

Any other parent would have kicked his son out of the room and grounded him for a year after that tantrum, but sympathetic Walter agrees. He realizes that his family doesn't seem to care about him or his work, and after weeks and weeks of being humiliated and humiliated by them, he gives up trying to make ends meet and quits.

Real Elf Villains

Walter Hobbs is not a criminal. He is an introvert who doesn't have his feelings, but that doesn't make him a bad person.

Walter Hobbs is abused and humiliated, yelled at, and inappropriately touched by an old man in tights who decides to give him an unwanted penis. Walter never broke up. He keeps it together with the soldiers. He has a small eruption after weeks of abuse and immediately tries to make amends.

The Elf it's full of horrible people. Miles Finch is a delusional egomaniac. Walter's crack writing team are lazy sycophants. His secretary is a psychopath who kills a kitten. His boss is crazy.

And then there's Santa, who knew who Buddy's father was all along but brought him down to be raised by an Elf instead of telling Walter Hobbs that he had a son. Adding insult to injury, Santa puts Walter on the naughty list and spends several decades letting the Elves trick Buddy into thinking he's one of them while putting lumps of coal under Walter's tree every year.

There are villains The Elf. Walter Hobbs is not one of them.