Alternative Character Interpretation / Beavis and Butt-Head

Alternative Character Interpretation in Beavis and Butt-Head.

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• Interesting in the case of Buzzcut. Although he is one of the main antagonists of the show, one could also argue that he is kind of a Hero Antagonist, because Beavis and Butt-Head are often extremely unpleasant in any situation. Although this is challenged a bit by his aggressive behavior, tendency to threaten anyone with bodily harm, and him turning a bunch of students onto a new student in "Young, Gifted and Crude".
• Similar to the Van Driessen theory below, is Buzzcut just using a jerkass facade to instill order in his students? Out of all the people who have expressed hatred for the duo in "It's a Miserable Life", he is noticeably absent, he defended the duo from Mr. Candy, and is a proud patriot. It's possible too he may be similar to Major Payne in that his harsh military background has left him totally unable to properly care for children no matter what his intentions actually are.
• Buzzcut's hatred for the duo. Does he hate them because of all the trouble they cause? Or does he hate them because they don't fear him despite his efforts to intimidate them into obeying him? This is supported by Beavis & Butt-head Are Dead, where his flashback montage showed moments of him antagonizing them rather than the other way around.
• Also, Beavis. There are numerous hints dropped throughout the original series that Beavis, despite being outrageously perverted and a borderline sociopath, actually has a heart in there somewhere, but Butt-Head is too much of an abusive bad influence for him to even remotely realize that potential. He even makes an effort to be polite to people, despite his lack of social skills ("Hey how's it goin'?"), such as actually saying thanks and sorry to people on occasion. Notably the Christmas Special, which shows a world where Butt-Head was never born, features a very kindhearted and well-adjusted (but still dumb as a pile of gravel) Beavis who is genuine friends with Stewart, volunteers at the homeless shelter, and enjoys things like Winger and non-alcoholic eggnog: it takes only one meeting with Butt-Head to corrupt him into talking about bungholes, so he may just be an Extreme Doormat level follower who just emulates the behavior of whichever friend he latches onto. Beavis and Butt-Head Do the Universe in 2022 lends even more credence to this interpretation.
  • The episode, "Nice Butt-Head" complicates matters, as Beavis is extremely bothered by Butt-Head newfound behavior as a result of the medication, down to giving him a Swirlie and the Heimlich to force out the pills. Is Beavis really a good person deep down given his actions? Or does he not know how to adapt to change? Or is the issue that Butt-Head took too many pills?
    • Speaking of, what would've happened had Butt-Head took the medicine the twice a day as the psychiatrist said? Would there be any change to his behavior? Would he be the same, but calmer? Or something else altogether?
• The duo themselves. Are they a pair of morons who do not realize that their antics put others in danger because they are too stupid to realize their actions or are they sociopaths who realize what are they doing is wrong, but don't care? There have been times, mostly during music video segments, where they are smarter than usual.
• In the revival, there's a one-off sketch called Cinema Classics with Butt-Head, in which the duo, apparently adults, taller and dressed in slightly more formal clothing, do a satirical review of The Human Centipede. If taken at face value/interpreted as being canon, it could mean that Beavis and Butt-Head eventually became successful film/media critics later in their adult lives.
• Does Van Driessen actually care about the boys, or does he only pretend to tolerate them out of a sense of self righteousness? There have been some moments that imply the latter, such as declaring he'll "kill those little jerks" for destroying his 8-Track collection in "Cleaning House," and being one of the people to ask God to kill them in "It's a Miserable Life". Other moments like in "Beavis and Butt-Head Are Dead" show he at least still cares enough to actually grieve for them, when all the other teachers waste no time in throwing a party.
• Why the Burger World manager tolerates the boys despite all the damage they cause is up to interpretation. One way of looking at him is that Beavis and Butt-head completely ruined Burger World's reputation and the reason he doesn't fire them is because he's utterly desperate and can't find any other help. On the other hand, he could be seen as genuinely sympathizing with the boys despite being frustrated with them all the time since in the Christmas episode, he at least takes the time to try to instill in Beavis the values of hard work and dedication. And of course, a third and equally valid interpretation of the manager is that he's not the most competent or intelligent person himself and the fact he's rarely seen working the front or the grill alongside the duo (unless of course they screw things up to the point he has no choice but to go out there and calm down angry customers) lends some credibility to this.
• Are Beavis and Butt-Head really as sexist as we are led to believe? Perhaps they are simply just too stupid to realise how offensive they come across? There’s also their complete lack of social skills...
• One has to wonder why Daria went out of her way to hang out with Beavis and Butt-head even though most other women hated their guts. One way of viewing her is that she looked down upon them, wanted to get some cheap amusement from their idiocy, and knew she was safe from any harassment since they weren't attracted to her. However, another way of interpreting her is that considering how she wouldn't be shown having any close friends like Jane or much of a semi-active social life until her own spinoff show, one could see Daria as being an outcast herself who was genuinely lonely and considered Beavis and Butt-head the closest thing she had to real friends before she moved to Lawndale.
• Just what kind of a person is Shirley Beavis? According to the realtor, she was devastated by her son's supposed death, only to blow through the settlement NASA gave her. However, many of Beavis and Butt-Head's comments paint a different story. Was Shirley really an absentee mother who did care for her son but simply was never around? Did she feign her sorrow as an excuse to sue NASA? Or did she really have a JerkassRealization and sued NASA out of grief? Not helping is how Beavis has likely made zero attempt to contact her and in the movie itself, was too preoccupied playing with the garbage disposal to hear the realtor's story.
  • Similarly, where is Butt-Head's mother? While Shirley is frequently mentioned, Mrs. Head has barely been mentioned. Is she still around or did she die or take off?
• Does Stewart insist on being "friends" with Beavis and Butt-head because he's seriously delusional and believes they're great buddies or does he deep down realize he's hated by the pair but still insists on hanging out with them because of his extremely low self-esteem and not being able to make other friends? Many episodes hint to Stewart being seriously delusional due to the duo consistently insulting him, ruining his day, and making him uncomfortable with their schemes but Stewart still seeks to be their friend. But there are other episodes like "Kidney" which, despite taking place in an alternate universe where B&B never time traveled, shows Stewart having moments where he seems to be well aware of just how much contempt Beavis and Butt-head truly have for him, such as the moment when Beavis insulted him in a really nasty manner on the operating table and Stewart started to show second thoughts about the kidney transfer, as if he'd just realized he's giving up a part of his body for an Ungrateful Bastard with no humanity or goodness in him.
• Does Cody really hate Beavis and Butt-Head? Or did he invite them over to his house because he secretly wants to be friends with them? Throughout Sleepover, he was shown to be more annoyed by his Amazingly Embarrassing Parents than by Beavis and Butt-Head's antics. If he does like the duo, then why does he act like a Jerkass to them? Is it because of poor social skills? Or, since he's aware that the duo don't like him, he thinks acting like a jerk will make him look more cool to them?
• In "Weird Girl", did Glennis purposefully burn down the honor's trailer in order to get Beavis's attention, or did she merely start a small fire that spiraled out of control?
• Did Tom Anderson just have a case of really Skewed Priorities during the wars he fought in by focusing on minor maintenance issues instead of the actual battles, or was he deliberately using them as excuses so he could avoid taking part in battles that he would've definitely been killed in whilst also not getting court marshalled?