In an earlier thead that I started, Lizardgirl eluded to the fact that Sulley often seems awkward around Mike and Celia together. I thought this would be a good discussion that deserved its own thread, so why do you think Sulley feels uncomfortable around Monsters Inc’s resident lovebirds?
Well generally he and Mike are best friends but also we do see his face when Celia and Mike are trading names and gushiness vomit inducing sweet talk. Who wouldn’t feel awkward around that? Could be just as simple as that. Plus Sulley might be the type of person who is uncomfortable with ‘romantic’ forms of PDA (a lot of people are).
Of course there could be other things too.
There could even be a touch of jealousy I guess, even if Sulley is happy for his friend. In either direction. (Towards Celia or Mike).
I also thought of another possibility. While Sulley is generally a friendly guy, he perhaps doesn’t know Celia THAT well himself, and most of the things he knows about her come through Mike- and Mike has a big mouth so he perhaps knows far too much about her in second hand terms, far more than he wants to know (if you know what I mean).
I could also see (if they’d ever had an argument), Mike running his face off at Sulley for some reason or when he gets freaked out over something. But Sulley isn’t really impressed it seems even when Mike does it about RANDALL if you look at his face when Mike says he’ll let Sulley teach Randall a lesson. Mike would hold a grudge like anybody’s business, and I think Sulley thinks that kind of drama is fairly rediculous.
(Of course that’s just a possibility there with them arguing, we don’t know how long they’ve been together/ had an argument yet). Perhaps they are even a new couple, and it’s been a while since Mike dated.
Mike also thinks he’s some Casanova, but it wouldn’t surprise me if Sulley knows deep down the guy just got lucky with Celia- most women would hate that kind of talk, or at least the women I know. Also Sulley is the one who got those reservations to the restaurant in the end not Mike. Mike is not above spinning a yarn. Sulley is… a bit more awkward about that sort of thing generally really. He doesn’t seem so guilty over it in the locker room though… perhaps he’s been doing it a while? IDK. But perhaps that could add awkwardness when Celia is THERE.
[i]“Sometimes I’m so romantic I think I should marry myself.”
“Give me a break Mike[/i].”
But I think if Celia and he became friends it could be quite adorable.
Of course it would be a nightmare for Mike maybe. He would never be able to hide ANYTHING from her. Never! Though it would be amusing if they teamed up and discussed the various things about him, perhaps embarrassing him a little.
I can understand Sulley’s awkwardness as that “third wheel”, having been in that situation, where my friend was madly in love with some guy. In that scene where Mike walks up to Celia Mae at the receptionist desk and they are looking all “moon-eyed” at each other, Sulley actually does an eye roll and sorta makes a face, like “Oh, please, SPARE me!” It’s just not his cup of tea. I don’t think it was so much the romantic aspect, as it was the exaggeration. I can only imagine how much he had to listen to Mike go on about what a great romantic he was, how HE was perfect for Celia, and on and on, at home.
pitbulllady
Another consideration…
I highly doubt that Sullivan had anybody in a romatic way in his life at this point…he’s an everyman (albiet a very lucky one), and dedicates himself to his job and his health.
So when he sees Wazowski, who IS good at his job (aside from the fact that his paperwork is notorious for being…well…horrible) and has a rather enlarged ego, in a relationship, he kinda feels awkward.
Sort of the “is THAT how I’m going to be when I find somebody?” feeling might crop up in him.
And believe me, I KNOW. Not personally, but I know. When a person gets into a relationship there is a large possibility of them changing personality without them knowing.
Also, Wazowski claiming Celia is “the one”…well one could picture that Wazowski considers himself a bit of a casanova with the ladies…albiet the ladies he likes. NOT to say he likes ROZ, he just sweet talks to get what he wants. But…a consideration is that Sullivan had seen Wazowski “leave a trail of hearts” as it is, and he might be worried that Celia might get left in the trail herself and that Wazowski is just taking her for a ride.
But mostly I think it’s because Sullivan doesn’t have somebody himself. And now that he’s CEO, he probably won’t. He’d be too overworked to keep MI afloat and not let “another waternoose” take over.
All very good theories.
Personally, I think that in the beginning, maybe Sulley could tolerate their romantic stuff, but now that their relationship has extended and they’re still like that, it’s getting old.
I’ve felt like this before, when one of my friends was in a relationship. Eventually it just gets annoying and repetitive and it’s kind of awkward to be around people like that.
I know you might not get what I’m saying, sometimes I even confuse myself!
Okay, I’m really sorry if this totally interrupts conversation, but… when I saw the name of this thread, I couldn’t help but think of how people do these different shapes or things with their hands and call it ‘awkward’, like… awkward turtle, awkward soldier, etc…
Maybe none of you will know what I’m talking about, but anyways. It made my sister and I think, “What if there were a shape you could make with your hands and call it Awkward Sulley?”
So we came up with one.
He only has one horn. xDD
I’m sorry, please carry on. I just had to post this.
little chef
haha, that made my life, little chef.
I love it!
I would have to say that this possible awkwardness may be there due to the fact that at that time, Sulley didn’t have anyone to himself and whether or not he was the type of guy to date or not could also play a factor…take it from a girl who unfortunately has only dated one guy…when you are there watching all that lovey dovey stuff that your friend and their “better half” does, it just kind of sickens you after awhile, you honestly feel tempted to tell them to get a room and when they use pet names, oh boy, no…no, that could make it just seem even more wrong in your eyes…I’m fortunate enough that none of my friends ever had petnames for their boyfriends or at least none that I knew of but I can’t help but wonder one thing…it’s one thing for Celia to have a pet name for Mike and he for her because they’re dating but why on Earth did she give one to Sulley?! Seriously, I’ve never met a guy or girl who decides to also give pet names to their boyfriend/girlfriend’s friend…now for certain if that doesn’t make him feel awkward, I don’t know what else would…if any of my friend’s boyfriends did that to me, come up with some silly nickname, I would give them a good slap across the face for that because…I mean, come on! If it’s an attempt to make me feel that I’m still important, it certainly isn’t working, it’s just more embarrassing!
Also, that thing with the hand gesture was pretty funny too, lol.
As other members have said, it could be possibly because he’s uncomfortable with their PDAs. I’ve had friends who are a couple, and their romantic gestures come off as annoying to me. Don’t get me wrong, the occasional hand-holding and cuddling is cute and all that, but when you rub shoulders every ten seconds and walk around like preschoolers for the entire day, it starts to get on my nerves. A case of sour grapes, TDIT? Anyway, that’s my two cents, I know how Sulley feels.
The other possible (but highly unlikely) reason is that Sulley may have had dated Celia before and/or has feelings for her. Which would make an interesting love triangle.
Oh, and that’s a nice one, little_chef. Even your hand is blue like Sulley’s!
Lol, I feel kinda bad for intruding on the conversation, but I really had to post that. Glad a few of you could get a laugh out of it! XD
And TDIT, it came out blue from the stupid backlight from my Mac. 
But it does add to the effect, I suppose… xDDD
No seriously guys. Ignore me and carry on… 
little chef
To be honest, it’s one of the things I find quite endearing about Sulley. He’ll put up with it for the sake of his best friend, but at the same time he can’t help but be a bit like, “for goodness sake…” And as several others have said, I share a similar viewpoint to Sulley when it comes to over the top lovey-doveyness.
And LOL, red.
-Sniggers- CeliaXSulley is one of my crack ships really TDIT. Chances of happening are pretty small… but it’s entertaining in its own way.
It would be amusing. And almost cute. If it was at all feasible.
Either way, I’d like them to be friends and embarass the heck out of Mike in some fashion. Sulley almost acts likes a parental figure. And I like to think when his mother isn’t in town to do the job he eventually gets more comfortable around Celia he’d tell/let slip/hint at some embarrassing stories from their childhood. Things are underwraps in the time frame of the movie (she doesn’t know Sulley got the reservations etc.) but I think over time he could become more comfortable around her.
Of course in the sequel, if Mike and Celia are engaged/living together in some fashion (probably married) that could be a source of tension elsewhere.
But either way, I now have an image of Celia, Mike’s mum and Sulley all sitting around the apartment and the pair of them filling Celia in on all the things he did as a kid. (As a best friend from elementary school and a doting mother combined they’d probably know almost everything about his childhood and everything Celia didn’t know about him already!)
And then Mike walks in just as his mother tells them about how he slept in his parents bed till he was ten or how he always got a horrible rash on his hiney until she got a cream to clear it right up. (Or… well whatever!)
But I’d like Celia and Sulley to become friends. Maybe even a confidant for Sulley when he gets stressed over some issues (CEO, Boo issues, among other things). Or near to one anyway. Like he goes to talk to Mike and Celia is there instead. (Say Mike is living with Celia later on).
I’d be awkward around that couple too, well, at least when they use their ridiculous pet names.
I think that this image sums up their relationship nicely
Funny, I always assumed this is exactly how M-O must feel when he’s with WALL•E and EVE.
That is an amazing screencap, Pixar Builder!
Yeah, that screenshot explains for itself I guess.
Well, some people are just like that…I’m one of them.
I always feel pretty awkward whenever I see any couple getting rather intimate around me. I just feel somehow like I’m invading their privacy…even though they are openly being flirty and touchy feely right infront of me so it’s their fault I’m seeing it but I just feel weird about seeing someone elses intimate moments.
Likewise I don’t like to do public displays of affection myself…I always feel odd about so much as holding hands with my boyfriend in public. I do it sometimes but I just feel so awkward about other people seeing our affection.
Also in Mike and Celia’s case…they have those ridiculous mushy names for each other…to me that kind of thing is a total turn-off. XD If some guy started calling me some mushy nickname like that, I’d probably stop dating him. LOL. I can’t stand cheesy stuff.
I do think that Mike does go a bit overboard, but I also think that Sully is just awkward/shy around women.
I thought this could be to that feeling that he’s very much a workaholic, which explains his high-rankings at Monsters, Inc with Waternoose, and the Employee of the Month pictures.