Headscratchers / One Hour Photo

• Why did Bill freak out so much when he fired Sy? Obviously, the audience knows what Sy had been up to but Bill didn't. Up until that point, Sy was a model employee that had been with the company for years. On the surface, it seems Sy was just making a lot of innocent mistakes over the years that caused the company enough money that they would have to let him go. Bill had no way of knowing Sy was unstable. When Sy shows up to "shop," Bill threatens him with a security guard. It's as if Bill suspects Sy of being a crazy stalker even though he wouldn't have evidence to believe such a thing and even if he was suspicious, why not tell the police right away as opposed to waiting until Sy showed him pictures of his daughter?
  • Sy may have been with the store for years, but calling him a model employee is a little bit of a stretch. Bill already knows Sy is off and has seen him space out on the job, take long breaks, and even yell at the photo printer repairman in front of customers. Furthermore, Bill was pretty tame when he fires Sy, starting by telling him calmly that he's letting him go, and only getting snippy when he warns Sy not to "fuck up" customers' prints as a way to get even for being fired (something Bill has reason to believe Sy would do after seeing his temperament.) Then it's Sy who lunges at Bill to argue that he wouldn't do this, in a manner that could almost indicate he's about to get physical. It's only then that Bill is really on edge. But after all that, it has to be weird seeing an ex-employee, who you've already known to lash out when agitated, show up at the store he was fired from, and Bill had every reason to believe Sy might be there to cause trouble.
    • It's possible the whole store knows that Sy isn't right in the head. After finding out he's fired, Yoshi thanks Sy for showing him the ropes. He may have been sincere, but it's also possible he wanted to leave Sy with a good impression in case he went postal.
  • Bill's also aware of some of Sy's behavior: extra prints for one family, and free (and expensive!) gifts for their son. It's not enough evidence for suit, but from the outside, it looks like Sy might have been grooming the boy.
  • Of course it's likely Bill fired Sy to cover his own ass for incompetent management. Either not noticing all this over the years and thus doing nothing about it, or noticing it all and issuing Sy no warnings up until his public argument with a repairman.

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