Why Won't You Die...Percy?

Prison guard Percy Wetmore comes closer to my "Mrs. Carmody-level hatred" of a movie character than just about anybody else. Mrs. Carmody sets the hate-bar high, but Percy is right up there with her. For starters, I hate spoiled rotten little bastards like this who get off on being a dick just because he's lived an over-privileged life, in this case his being the nephew of the governor. Top that off with the fact that he's nothing but a bully, and he's got that slightly sadistic "likes to torture animals" thing going on, and you've got yourself a recipe for loathing from the very first time he's on the screen.

I could sit here and list all the heinous shit this guy does throughout The Green Mile, but honestly that might take all night. There is not one single redeeming thing about this guy. So let's hit the highlights, as stated he's a bully, and nobody gets it worse than poor Del. I wanted so badly for Del to get some kind of revenge on Percy, but as we know, sadly he never gets the chance. Percy even goes so far as to sabotage Del's execution by not wetting the sponge for the top of his head, which caused him to catch fire during his execution and die agonizingly. And Percy can't even bear to watch what he's done, the pussy actually turns away from the horrific sight. Before the execution though, he commits what is probably one of the cruelest things I have ever witnessed anyone do to another person (and that's saying something, I've seen A Serbian Film), he steps on and kills Del's only friend in the world, his pet mouse Mr. Jingles. Percy, you son of a bitch, you have got to die. Painfully.

Of course he doesn't technically die in the movie, which is why I hesitated initially to do a Percy post, but he does get his and in a pretty bad way. I don't know anybody who doesn't cheer when John Coffey gives Percy the warden's wife's cancerous brain tumor. Enjoy your brain cancer Percy, you despicable bastard.