Character Review: Troy from Fences Movie

photo credit:  shadowandact.com

Troy 

(Denzel Washington's character in "Fences" movie)

Perspective #1: 

Troy didn't hold down the finances.  He would not even have had a roof over his head if not for siphoning off the bulk of his brother's disability settlement.   He manipulated the younger son's situation. He changed and limited the entire course of his son's life.  He required the son to work so he didn't have to support even his own basic needs anymore. He had children by three different women that he could not afford. He tasked Rose with the bill paying because he didn't want any extra adult responsibilities. Troy didn't want his brother committed to an institution because doing so would mean the brother's disability payouts would have gone to the institution, rather than to Troy's pockets. Troy would rather let his brother starve on the street than miss out on those payments.

Protecting his girlfriend as a youngster from being raped by his father likely had as much to do with his competitive relationship with his father than it did with the girl's plight.  It is not like he turned his father in.  He completely abandoned his oldest child letting him back in his life as an adult only at Rose's insistence and only to then berate him to the point where the grown child turned to crime. Then Troy guilt-tripped his wife- the one whose only meager request in life was to not have half and step children --into raising the illegitimate child he sired while married.

It is sickening to think the "Troy's" of the world continue to exist in this carnation, routinely using and ruining the lives around them to their own convenience, because some people prefer to dismiss it all as "nobody's perfect" and "men will be men."  There is a whole spectrum between "decent" human being and "perfect" and he and his kind don't even fall anywhere along it.

Perspective #2:

Troy held down his household. He could have gambled his brother's settlement away, but he didn't.  He was appreciative and put it to good use.  He always gave Rose most of his paycheck.  He bailed his brother out over and over again knowing the system was milking him.  He fought for a better job position even if he was not qualified.  He was committed to Rose and committed to providing a home to his "love child" despite the mistress's death from childbirth. He protected his girlfriend from being raped by his own father.  Troy also visited and fed his brother while he was in the hospital.  Troy had a good heart.  When the trumpet sounded at the end of the movie, we know that Troy entered into heaven.  He was not a perfect man with his indiscretions, but there was only one perfect man that ever walked this Earth. That perfect man was Jesus, and He died for our sins so that we may have a chance at eternal life.

This article was inspired by an actual debate.  Any other perspectives?