YES! YES! That's what I'm trying to say! Like when a boy his age, Mac, doesn't AT LEAST pass out from an air bag in "Bus the Two of Us". He could of DIED just from that.

That's why little children aren't aloud in the front seat. :D

Foul Larry's a highly competetive gangsta basketball friend. This doesn't make him particularly evil, although he obviously has a mean streak and probably doesn't play fair all the time.

His "change to good?" He's been on the street for years, and now he's getting a chance to fulfill his purpose by having a kid to be his friend again. For an Imaginary Friend, that's like having a religious experience. Dude won't have to sit on the sidewalk for the rest of his life.

Hadn't thought of it that way-good point! It was pretty obvious that he'd been living homeless on the streets(and the streets of Charleston are some of the toughest-especially when a hurricane blows in), probably having been abandoned by his kid not long after that infamous basketball game. After all, he was more or less created for one purpose-to defeat Wilt. Having accomplished that, he probably became a burden on his kid and his kid's family pretty quickly.

I still can't help but wonder though-HOW did Wilt manage to reach Larry by phone, if Larry was living on the streets, and better yet, how did Wilt know which number to call? Even if Larry had a cell(and I have seen lots of homeless people with cell phones and pre-paid cards), how would Wilt have been able to track him down?

pitbulllady

You know I've given that a lot of thought since yesterday and I'm still drawing blanks. We'll just have to assume he's either more resourceful than he looks or Foul Larry himself kept in touch to continue to taunt Wilt into a re-match because as you pointed out, FL was created for the purpose of defeating him.

We have already seen that Wilt can be VERY resourceful, but we haven't seen enough of Larry to access his IQ. It's easier to believe that Wilt tracked him down, rather than the other way around. Larry would have no way of knowing that Wilt had ended up at Foster's, all the way across the continent, or for that matter, even knowing that Foster's existed, or that Wilt was still alive and hadn't just crawled off to die like an injured animal somewhere after that game. Wilt, on the other hand, would have at least had a starting point to go on in tracking Larry down, by assuming that he still lived in their old hometown, somewhere. Wilt, at least, had access to a valuable tool in locating someone-the internet. If Larry had any sort of public record, such as any run-ins with the police, or had applied for any sort of public assistance, or had a listed cell phone number, Wilt would have been able to track him down online. As we saw in "Make Believe It Or Not", Wilt is pretty computer literate, and he's had a long time and lots of patience to locate his erstwhile opponent, and we also know that Wilt is a very persistent and determined individual once he makes up his mind about something. Larry probably has had far less opportunities to use technology to locate Wilt.

pitbulllady

Man, I did a whole character review for Larry (which I now realise repeats most of the sentiments in this thread, that he's not all bad) in the Good Wilt Hunting review thread, not knowing this one even existed. Man, I'm sorry!:herriman:

I personally like the way he contrasts so starkly against the lean, "skinny" and almost defenseless Wilt. I still scream a bit with outrage/glee/OMG whenever Larry does his "Scared, Shorty?" line because NO ONE CALLS WILT SHORTY. NO ONE. XDDD

I do agree that his "reformity" at the end was very... cheap. :/ It wasn't convincing, I mean, what the heck, I'm not buying it. XD; You have a guy who was made to be a bully, who beat Wilt's behind into the dust TWICE and didn't regret it, and suddenly he's this weepy sappy guy by the end of the game. Prolly just a way to make it a "happy" ending and all the characters get to go off the Foster's to get adopted, whoopie.

There are several inconsistencies as well - Wilt called Larry out for the game. How the heck did he even manage to reach Larry? O_o; It's clear by the end of the show that Larry was a "stray", and probably was for a damn long time. I highly doubt he was carrying a handphone around. XD;

Then again this is just me over-analysing everything to death. XD; The characters were just written to fit what the main message said anyway.

But honestly? I think Larry and Wilt could be pretty great friends once they get past the whole "YOU RUINED MY ARM AND EYE AND LIFE D: " thing and Larry stops being a jerk. They both love basketball, they'd be pretty good basketball buddies I think, while Larry is waiting out his time at the house.

I've always thought that since Larry fulfilled his purpose to his creator, (as he WAS created from JEALOUSY, you know) he was abandoned soon afterward, and became a "bully" to the other friends in the 'hood, that is, until Wilt returns to his hometown in GWH.

Another way to look at Foul Larry after the game between him and Wilt is that his creator kept him around for a while (how long I couldn't guess). Considering that FL tanned Wilt's hide even if it was by cheating, the no-good little--! Sorry, had a moment there..., that means that FL would have secured Wilt and Jordan's role as the best basketball players in the neighborhood. Of course, this relaization wouldn't be lost on his creator, so he keeps FL around, to tan the hides of other people who want to be the best and to intimidate the other players. Eventually, his creator would get bored with him and then toss him out, but not right after the game with Wilt.

As for his "change"... I imagine that it was genuine, but I have little doubt that given the opportunity, he'd play a little hardball.

One of my most hated characters.>:(