-0-
User Name/Nick: Rei
User LJ: magdaleina
AIM/IM: SchmooeyFoo
E-mail: weirdophreak17@yahoo.com
Other Characters: Morgan Adams, The Marquis de Sade, George Lass, Mozenrath, Frances Owens, and Captain Vidal (to be dropped pending acceptance).
Character Name: Les Grossman
Series: Tropic Thunder
Age: 45
From When?: After the movie, and for the fun of it, after the MTV Movie Awards. There is no canon "moment of death". So I'm going to say that in one of his moments of characteristic ragemongering he screamed himself into a stroke. Because it was bound to happen.
Inmate/Warden: Inmate - Les isn't obviously defined as an antagonist. He's antagonistic, certainly, as a film executive with his own production company who seems to have each of his ten fingers and ten toes in every possible pot in Hollywood and beyond, and he didn't get that kind of grasp with his boyish good looks. He's ruthless, charismatic, and intimidating as all Hell. He gets everything he wants, generally, and he tends to get everything through a healthy mixture of physical and emotional abuse, with a pinch of blatant extortion and pure charisma. What's more, and what makes him Inmate material on top of that, is that he blatantly disregards the safety and the lives of the people that work for him if it means protecting the bottom line. He provokes the drug lords that have captured actor Tugg Speedman, stating he will not negotiate with terrorists and then immediately informing his staff that he will let Tugg die and file an insurance claim, since the royalties would more than cover the losses for the failed production.
Abilities/Powers: No special powers. But he's an impressive dancer for a pudgy white guy.
Personality: Les Grossman is the boss. This really, really can't be stressed enough. It is the dominant facet of his personality. He doesn't just like control -- there is never a moment in his existence where he allows himself to believe he does not have it. He likes to have things a certain way, all things in their own place, and even the slightest deviation tends to incur his wrath.
Of course, being in charge of so much back home makes this understandable, but only people that did not already know him would assume he might be different if he were out of his element. This isn't so. Les is the king of corporate rats, and if the movie industry were to suddenly crumble he would simply conquer the next pile he climbed. Crude and harsh though this man happens to be, he knows people and he knows how a business and various power structures happen to run. With this knowledge and aggressive nature, he can very quickly maneuver his way into a position of dominance. Even when he doesn't know what he's doing he acts as though he does.
Les' explosive temper is something that people at work tend to see quite regularly, as he seems to think the best way to motivate people is to scare the living daylights out of them. To quote Slolom, his assistant, "It's Les Grossman. He throws these words around. Crisis, explosion, not rolling, fired. These are just words." He is never seen physically assaulting anyone in the film, but no one doubts that he could -- he tends to stick to screaming and having bigger, stronger people do the attacking for him. He could defend himself quite easily -- but he pushes himself to the point that most would never give him the opportunity. When he loses it, he goes from agitated and stressed business man to towering inferno of cursing and pulsing veins. His mood swings, their swiftness, and his clear use of them as a method for emotional blackmail, is bordering on the psychotic. He will shift back to something resembling a friendly, playful demeanor at almost the drop of a hat. The good humor in itself is a threat. He's offering his opponant a chance to behave and capitulate, because look how nice he is now? Why would they go back to how it was a moment before?
Though Les' family is never shown, he is married and in supplemental material has admitted to having at least one child, a son. His conversations suggest that he provides well for his family, and mentions this as something significant, which gives the impression that his home life and work life may be somewhat divided. Whether the harsh persona is the one he uses at home doesn't matter -- you never see him at home and it's likely he rarely ever goes home.
The advancement of his company and his projects -- whatever he happens to be focused on -- is paramount. He will pursue his interests at the expense of the happiness, personal comfort, even the lives of the people around him. Any misfortune that comes to them, he can assert that it's pain that they brought upon themselves.
That's not to say that there are not things that hurt Les, or frighten him, but these are things which he carefully guards. He's never allowed himself to be in a position where he wasn't completely untouchable, and it's likely he will continue to insist that that is what he is. Anything that breaks through this view of himself will be quite unsettling for him. It's likely these will be brought out of him during floods and ports. His way of responding to them will be to either isolate himself and brood in private, or he will deal with it by displacing his anger onto completely unrelated, frivolous issues.
Les will not spend a lot of time worrying about his own death or the unreality of the Barge once he comes here. Whether it unsettles him or not there's no way he'd ever betray that level of personal vulnerability to the general onlookers. The Admiral is just a devil he can make a deal with, so he's going to vie for as much control as he can so that he has something to bargain with. He will selectively forget certain details about his presence here, including the notion of redemption, but will likely store away such information about this place to pitch as a movie concept later -- back home he would be the sort to have enough pull that he could get multiple studios backing such a venture and lending their characters. His Warden, rather than a guide, will be treated like a moderately well paid personal assistant. He requires them to interpret situations that are unfamiliar for him, but only long enough for him to get the gist so he can take the reins himself.
Path to Redemption: Actually, what is probably the best way to get through to him is to see him forming relationships with the people he's networking with. Intelligent people, who are quite environmentally aware and know when to just let Les be Les, are going to be the first that he trusts. There's this fine balance between kissing ass and being one's own person without overasserting oneself that makes a person the most noticeable. These are the people that Les will eventually tolerate in private, and the many layers surrounding his inner psyche will slowly and singularly begin to fall away. Those that find themselves in his good graces at this time must tread carefully, as one wrong word will snap him back into his usual demeanor.
What Les needs, especially, is to eventually come to learn that things can flow well enough without him being in complete control of everything, and more importantly he must build a better appreciation for the lives of the other people around him. A Warden's best method, unfortunately, is to let him go but stay close enough that they endear himself to his rather selective sensibilities, that their opinion actually begins to matter to him.
History: Wiki Article
Sample Journal Entry: (ooc: Les' first entry is going to be VERY subdued compared to his usual manner of speaking. For a sample where he's not purposefully assuming a more calm demeanor, I link you to his voice test on Dear Mun.)
[Video]
Slolom is behind this, isn't he? [quiet, patient chuckle] So my vacation starts a little early. The Betty Ford clinic is a little much, but if you can recreate my office suite this accurately, then you really must be worth the money that my people pay for you.
One of you could be a little courteous and explain to me where my bathroom is.
[Locked to Inmates]
[immediate shift in demeanor] Gentlemen. Ladies. Let's cut through the bullshit. If what I've read, heard, and seen is all true, then I'm dead and so are most of you. So I need details, and I need them without the ass kissing and sugar coating that your Wardens will probably give me. Give it to me straight.
My name is Les Grossman. I'm a man that can make things happen, and I do that for people that I work with, that I identify with. There's no reason why we can't help each other, especially since we all appear to be in the same situation.
[slow smile] So who's really in charge here?
Sample RP: Les once overheard Irene remarking to some nobody on the floor about the great OM silhouette that hung on the wall behind his desk. At first, he'd just been impressed that the woman had known what it was. Typically, secretaries couldn't accurately identify the Chinese symbols on their tramp stamp, and given that he had to threaten this particular secretary with physical violence to get her to do her fucking job, it was astounding that her brain connected any coherent thoughts together at all. Not only did she recognize the OM, but she also suggested that it was out of place in his office.
He really needed to fire her when he got home again.
The aged businessman reclined in his chair and lit a cigar. In the dim lights of the room, the plume of smoke that spiralled past his lips after a good drag seemed to glow, like the minimal whisps of a white cloud on the back of an immense blackened thunder head.
Les rather liked the OM, and disagreed that it did not suit him, for the OM was the sound of the universe. And Les Grossman? Knew when to listen to the universe when it was trying to tell him something.
His thumb pressed a button on the remote in his other hand. Somewhere in his office, an intricately placed system responded, and the vast expanse was filled with a somber chord. The executive's eyes fluttered shut as he tapped off the first combination of ashes from his cigar and stood. His first upright steps came perfectly timed with the audible inclusion of a succession of notes -- stoccato'd, creating a definite rhythm -- something hard, determined. He'd already begun to move, hips catching the tempo almost immediately.
Then came the voice, the bass notes chasing.
Look, if you had one shot,
or one opportunity
to seize everything you ever wanted --
One moment.
Would you capture it,
or just let it slip?
He wouldn't have said that he simply slid from a business mind to the most unfettered part of him, the part that was comfortable enough in its own skin to just dance like a fool -- business was pleasure, and he would always be in his element, no matter where the universe brought him.
And the truth was -- that was all hokey philosophical bullshit. But it sounded good. It made you sound enlightened to the people that wanted to believe. It got you blessed by the motherfucking Pope. All symbols. All tools. All at his disposal.
"OM, Plaaaaaaya."
Special Notes: I'll be trading in Vidal for this character.
User LJ: magdaleina
AIM/IM: SchmooeyFoo
E-mail: weirdophreak17@yahoo.com
Other Characters: Morgan Adams, The Marquis de Sade, George Lass, Mozenrath, Frances Owens, and Captain Vidal (to be dropped pending acceptance).
Character Name: Les Grossman
Series: Tropic Thunder
Age: 45
From When?: After the movie, and for the fun of it, after the MTV Movie Awards. There is no canon "moment of death". So I'm going to say that in one of his moments of characteristic ragemongering he screamed himself into a stroke. Because it was bound to happen.
Inmate/Warden: Inmate - Les isn't obviously defined as an antagonist. He's antagonistic, certainly, as a film executive with his own production company who seems to have each of his ten fingers and ten toes in every possible pot in Hollywood and beyond, and he didn't get that kind of grasp with his boyish good looks. He's ruthless, charismatic, and intimidating as all Hell. He gets everything he wants, generally, and he tends to get everything through a healthy mixture of physical and emotional abuse, with a pinch of blatant extortion and pure charisma. What's more, and what makes him Inmate material on top of that, is that he blatantly disregards the safety and the lives of the people that work for him if it means protecting the bottom line. He provokes the drug lords that have captured actor Tugg Speedman, stating he will not negotiate with terrorists and then immediately informing his staff that he will let Tugg die and file an insurance claim, since the royalties would more than cover the losses for the failed production.
Abilities/Powers: No special powers. But he's an impressive dancer for a pudgy white guy.
Personality: Les Grossman is the boss. This really, really can't be stressed enough. It is the dominant facet of his personality. He doesn't just like control -- there is never a moment in his existence where he allows himself to believe he does not have it. He likes to have things a certain way, all things in their own place, and even the slightest deviation tends to incur his wrath.
Of course, being in charge of so much back home makes this understandable, but only people that did not already know him would assume he might be different if he were out of his element. This isn't so. Les is the king of corporate rats, and if the movie industry were to suddenly crumble he would simply conquer the next pile he climbed. Crude and harsh though this man happens to be, he knows people and he knows how a business and various power structures happen to run. With this knowledge and aggressive nature, he can very quickly maneuver his way into a position of dominance. Even when he doesn't know what he's doing he acts as though he does.
Les' explosive temper is something that people at work tend to see quite regularly, as he seems to think the best way to motivate people is to scare the living daylights out of them. To quote Slolom, his assistant, "It's Les Grossman. He throws these words around. Crisis, explosion, not rolling, fired. These are just words." He is never seen physically assaulting anyone in the film, but no one doubts that he could -- he tends to stick to screaming and having bigger, stronger people do the attacking for him. He could defend himself quite easily -- but he pushes himself to the point that most would never give him the opportunity. When he loses it, he goes from agitated and stressed business man to towering inferno of cursing and pulsing veins. His mood swings, their swiftness, and his clear use of them as a method for emotional blackmail, is bordering on the psychotic. He will shift back to something resembling a friendly, playful demeanor at almost the drop of a hat. The good humor in itself is a threat. He's offering his opponant a chance to behave and capitulate, because look how nice he is now? Why would they go back to how it was a moment before?
Though Les' family is never shown, he is married and in supplemental material has admitted to having at least one child, a son. His conversations suggest that he provides well for his family, and mentions this as something significant, which gives the impression that his home life and work life may be somewhat divided. Whether the harsh persona is the one he uses at home doesn't matter -- you never see him at home and it's likely he rarely ever goes home.
The advancement of his company and his projects -- whatever he happens to be focused on -- is paramount. He will pursue his interests at the expense of the happiness, personal comfort, even the lives of the people around him. Any misfortune that comes to them, he can assert that it's pain that they brought upon themselves.
That's not to say that there are not things that hurt Les, or frighten him, but these are things which he carefully guards. He's never allowed himself to be in a position where he wasn't completely untouchable, and it's likely he will continue to insist that that is what he is. Anything that breaks through this view of himself will be quite unsettling for him. It's likely these will be brought out of him during floods and ports. His way of responding to them will be to either isolate himself and brood in private, or he will deal with it by displacing his anger onto completely unrelated, frivolous issues.
Les will not spend a lot of time worrying about his own death or the unreality of the Barge once he comes here. Whether it unsettles him or not there's no way he'd ever betray that level of personal vulnerability to the general onlookers. The Admiral is just a devil he can make a deal with, so he's going to vie for as much control as he can so that he has something to bargain with. He will selectively forget certain details about his presence here, including the notion of redemption, but will likely store away such information about this place to pitch as a movie concept later -- back home he would be the sort to have enough pull that he could get multiple studios backing such a venture and lending their characters. His Warden, rather than a guide, will be treated like a moderately well paid personal assistant. He requires them to interpret situations that are unfamiliar for him, but only long enough for him to get the gist so he can take the reins himself.
Path to Redemption: Actually, what is probably the best way to get through to him is to see him forming relationships with the people he's networking with. Intelligent people, who are quite environmentally aware and know when to just let Les be Les, are going to be the first that he trusts. There's this fine balance between kissing ass and being one's own person without overasserting oneself that makes a person the most noticeable. These are the people that Les will eventually tolerate in private, and the many layers surrounding his inner psyche will slowly and singularly begin to fall away. Those that find themselves in his good graces at this time must tread carefully, as one wrong word will snap him back into his usual demeanor.
What Les needs, especially, is to eventually come to learn that things can flow well enough without him being in complete control of everything, and more importantly he must build a better appreciation for the lives of the other people around him. A Warden's best method, unfortunately, is to let him go but stay close enough that they endear himself to his rather selective sensibilities, that their opinion actually begins to matter to him.
History: Wiki Article
Sample Journal Entry: (ooc: Les' first entry is going to be VERY subdued compared to his usual manner of speaking. For a sample where he's not purposefully assuming a more calm demeanor, I link you to his voice test on Dear Mun.)
[Video]
Slolom is behind this, isn't he? [quiet, patient chuckle] So my vacation starts a little early. The Betty Ford clinic is a little much, but if you can recreate my office suite this accurately, then you really must be worth the money that my people pay for you.
One of you could be a little courteous and explain to me where my bathroom is.
[Locked to Inmates]
[immediate shift in demeanor] Gentlemen. Ladies. Let's cut through the bullshit. If what I've read, heard, and seen is all true, then I'm dead and so are most of you. So I need details, and I need them without the ass kissing and sugar coating that your Wardens will probably give me. Give it to me straight.
My name is Les Grossman. I'm a man that can make things happen, and I do that for people that I work with, that I identify with. There's no reason why we can't help each other, especially since we all appear to be in the same situation.
[slow smile] So who's really in charge here?
Sample RP: Les once overheard Irene remarking to some nobody on the floor about the great OM silhouette that hung on the wall behind his desk. At first, he'd just been impressed that the woman had known what it was. Typically, secretaries couldn't accurately identify the Chinese symbols on their tramp stamp, and given that he had to threaten this particular secretary with physical violence to get her to do her fucking job, it was astounding that her brain connected any coherent thoughts together at all. Not only did she recognize the OM, but she also suggested that it was out of place in his office.
He really needed to fire her when he got home again.
The aged businessman reclined in his chair and lit a cigar. In the dim lights of the room, the plume of smoke that spiralled past his lips after a good drag seemed to glow, like the minimal whisps of a white cloud on the back of an immense blackened thunder head.
Les rather liked the OM, and disagreed that it did not suit him, for the OM was the sound of the universe. And Les Grossman? Knew when to listen to the universe when it was trying to tell him something.
His thumb pressed a button on the remote in his other hand. Somewhere in his office, an intricately placed system responded, and the vast expanse was filled with a somber chord. The executive's eyes fluttered shut as he tapped off the first combination of ashes from his cigar and stood. His first upright steps came perfectly timed with the audible inclusion of a succession of notes -- stoccato'd, creating a definite rhythm -- something hard, determined. He'd already begun to move, hips catching the tempo almost immediately.
Then came the voice, the bass notes chasing.
Look, if you had one shot,
or one opportunity
to seize everything you ever wanted --
One moment.
Would you capture it,
or just let it slip?
He wouldn't have said that he simply slid from a business mind to the most unfettered part of him, the part that was comfortable enough in its own skin to just dance like a fool -- business was pleasure, and he would always be in his element, no matter where the universe brought him.
And the truth was -- that was all hokey philosophical bullshit. But it sounded good. It made you sound enlightened to the people that wanted to believe. It got you blessed by the motherfucking Pope. All symbols. All tools. All at his disposal.
"OM, Plaaaaaaya."
Special Notes: I'll be trading in Vidal for this character.