Although I am basing some of this partially on what someone has told me about certain canon material that is not in the movie (the employee hand book)- being a scarer is a pretty stressful job. Basically because they are doing something which is essentially negative in nature, being witness to screams of children (granted, even though they view humans as animals more or less from what we see, this would still be pretty stressful- imagine if you had to terrify various animals, even dangerous animals into screaming for energy and you get what I mean). Not to mention it is considered dangerous.

Yes, the job of the scarer could be considered pretty stressful. So who is the person a Scarer must work with closer than anyone, who is the one turn to if things get ‘too much’, who is the person who must make sure they snap out of any freak out and “keep it together man”, who is the one who must encourage them through it all, who must prepare them for their viewed-as-dangerous job?

Their assistants!

Assistants, it seems to me, are not merely the ones to set up a door or do the paper work, but also it seems have some form of psychological importance to the Scarers themselves. Whether this is part of the original job discription or not, this seems an important part of the job- perhaps the most important one an assistant has to do.

Even Mike, for all his faults- on the scare floor is incredibly encouraging of Sulley as they work:

“You’re the boss, you’re the boss you’re the big hairy boss”

Sure during TRAINING he’s all with the harsh talk like in the military almost, but sometimes that’s necessary perhaps in some cases- Assistants have to be both caregivers but also occasionally do the ‘tough love’ bit it seems if things get out of hand (like one being slapped by his assistant). They have to also it seems make sure Scarers are safe and don’t drag anything out with them from the child’s bedroom- calling out if there IS something wrong. They have to as mentioned make sure the Scarer is safe. Both physically AND mentally perhaps.

In my opinion, perhaps assistants are a bit underappreciated in terms of their work? It seems like a more important job then some people might give it credit for. Even if they’re not the ones technically directly earning all the screams- effectively both Scarer and assistant must work as a team, so in a round about way, the Scarer’s screams are also the Assistant’s. How well the monster they are assisting does reflects on them too, not completely and not all the time, but on some level it does sometimes. In a way, since they consider their work dangerous, there has to be trust, brotherhood and all that sort of sappy stuff if both in the job are able to work through it and do well.

This also drives another question relating to FUNGUS too, I have to wonder really how long that guy was an assistant as mentioned- it seems unlikely he was in on the scream extractor from the beginning, he doesn’t really seem particulary encouraging (plus no ‘tough love’ from him!, he doesn’t know the best way of dealing with Randall at all:

“You’re still behind Randall…”

Yeah… not the best thing to say Fungus in this situation. Plus it is kind of odd that two monsters with good mechanical abilities were on the same Scarer-assistant deal. Very odd.

So was Fungus made Randall’s assistant after he found out about the scream extractor and joined up or what? Or was it just a way for Waternoose to keep an eye on good potential candidates for his meddlings by putting them on the same ‘team’ or at least scare floor?

So yeah, this thread is basically to discuss Scare assistants, their possible importance, as well as anything relating to them- but I’m also interested in your thoughts on Fungus in particular.

Supposedly, Scare Assitants have just a tough a job as the Scarers. Remember that while Scarers DO go into the human world, 98% think kids are toxic. So while the Assistants are “on the battlefield” sorta speak, it is essentially a team effort to keep them up.
folds arms Lets look at comparisions. There are about…hm. Four I guess we could look at.

First Ward. Anybody remember him? The guy who got slapped by his own assistant. folds arms Well first off, he’s second lowest on the board so evidently he’s kinda new (or ain’t very good at his job). He might look confident, but coming up against the possibility of being touched by a human and “dying”, he freaks out. Needless to say he needed his assistant’s slap. So it’s sorta a balance. Ward needs an assistant that can help him “keep it together” in more ways than one.

Now George and his assistant, amptly named, Snitch. George is…happy-go-lucky type…though without the luck. Snitch seems to show confidence in George (who is ahead of Ward in numbers, actually of a couple). Though once a 23-19 comes up, BOOM, hammer drops. Given “accidents” at Monsters Inc., and Geroge’s unluckyness, I would think this ain’t his first experience. And I guess Snitch has the initiative to call the shots on the matter quickly and perhaps a bit emotionless. So while George is a nice guy, and Snitch encourages him…he’s not about to get himself killed over George.

folds arms As much as I hate to say it…Wazowski ranks as perhaps Monster Inc.'s top assistants, if not, the best. Though…chuckles it’s not like he had aspirations of wanting to be a Scarer previously or was with Sullivan completely…
Anyway. While Sullivan is at heart a nice guy, and Wazowski does show some confidence in him…the two…at least in the job, balance each other out. shrugs Maybe it’s because they consider each other friends and live in the same apartment. Have that sorta bond I guess.

As for Randall and Fungus…folds arms To be honest, when Fungus took over as Randall’s assistant, I’m surprised Randall could deal with it day-in-day-out. Although they both are mechanical experts, they are not the type to work together…Randall’s got himself a temper of course, and a person who comments on him with negative criticism while what he’d need is encouragement, is not very good for him.

I’m going to enjoy this topic, for once there is no character bashing of any kind …I do feel that sometimes scare assistants are a little underappreaciated simply due to the fact that they don’t do any of the stuff on the front lines but instead are on the sidelines and this can lead to thoughts such as “what’s the big deal, they really don’t do anything” but they do more then just the paperwork, that is for certain…scare assistants are there when needed and although for some, what may help could be friendship that either forms while working on the job or even before the job even began…there are some scare assistants that you can tell that to them, it’s just a job but for others, it’s more than that…Mike and Sulley for me is a perfect example of a Scarer and scare assistant relationship that was made easier due to their friendship and while some aren’t quite as close such as Randall and Fungus, this isn’t to say that those times of glory and sorrow aren’t shared by both…if I remember correctily, when Randall had passed Sulley’s score and became new scare leader on the board, Fungus believe it or not, did feel some joy for him as his assistant, you could see it in his eyes and by the expression on his face but when Sulley reclaimed his title back, and those “fans” ran flocking to whomever was on top, he did share in some of Randall’s jealousy, Fungus did for a few seconds hold within his eyes a look that speaks to me is a look of resent and jealousy…he, like Randall, was bothered by this as well…it’s those kind of assistants that differ from the rest which would include the little “fan” base that all they did was flock to whomever was scoring the highest and for what, because they represent to me what’s typical of that sort of fame, those group of monsters who first cheered Randall but immediately switched gears for Sulley are only one type of fan, they are the kind that will cheer you on when on top but once you go into second place, what happens, you’re old news and they move on to the next person…with fans like that, is it really worth it, I ask you…

Nexas/: Also the ‘slapper’ even slapped him during the company play… which was odd but yeah, perhaps this shows a lack of time having been on the job- and being new? I think assistants ARE important, but I’m betting that sometimes people turned their noses up at assistants, which is kind of sad. It’s STILL important I feel- they have the second most ‘dangerous’ job perhaps in the whole thing next to the scarers themselves in the factory (or at least they see it as dangerous)- plus have to DEAL and LOOK AFTER the physical and mental health on some level of those who ARE doing the most ‘dangerous’ job - that could result in bucket loads of stress if you don’t know how to handle them yourself, handling someone ELSE who is extremely stressed and whatever. In a way, yes Mike acted like a ‘soccer mom’ (always found that term amusing), but in a way, an assistant has to act like a very driving parent/sibling as they work. There has to be ultimately TRUST involved.

Basically though, all scarers are different- so I feel they need different people to be their assistants- they need different amounts of praise/tough love, some need more or less of one or the other.

Randall needs more encouragement I feel, though DP did point out Fungus seemed happy when Randall got top position, which was true. But I feel Fungus was’t really the best personaity to mesh with Randall’s who yeah, needs a bit more positive encouragement then what he was getting. It’s not exactly that Fungus is a bad assistant- he’s just possibly a bad assistant for RANDALL specifically. The Assistant-Scarer relationship has to work.

Mike is VERY good at his job (bad habits on paperwork aside). On the scare floor he encourages and bigs up Sulley and praises him, partially because yeah, he sees the good work as being reflective of his OWN good work- someone who recognises this link in preformance and the reflection on their own job will try hard, and Mike knows Sulley well.

Having MIKE as Randall’s assistant would be bizarre (but I have read a fanfic on that which was amusing…), but oddly I think Randall might benefit from someone who gave praise as much as Mike did to Sulley, or even someone who was just generally encouraging when he was still stuck in 2nd and didn’t give too much of a reaction to him yelling- in a sot of “Pfft come on, I know you’re upset but you know you’re great at your job, we all know it, just screw those other guys, we can make this work, just keep focused man, no-one stays top forever, let’s give them a run for their money!”

I feel DP that competition was encouraged a lot myself in scaring and maybe too much in some cases- of course, although there is something to be gained from that, there is also something which can be lost from such an extremely competitive environment- it’s all about the trade offs sometimes you can get with that- in competition you can sometimes drive people to be better, but you can also lose companionship and friendship and ‘pulling together in a crisis’ between scarers which can also be a benefit just in terms of business.

(Granted, it seems Sulley did try to do this with Randall, but Randall was having none of it. Alas, the things which can be lost in extreme stressful situations -being a scarer AND having to do a very complicated ‘project’- combined with petty office rivalries instigated or increased by either the relationships with other workers or higher ups etc.).

But yeah, some of the workes were pretty shallow- but it seems that assistants get along okay with each OTHER even if they are on different ‘teams’:

“Hey Wazowski, nice job, those numbers are pretty sweet…”

Assistants seem to know that they have a part to play with the numbers themselves, even if other people might not appreciate it. The difference is however, we don’t really see assistant vs assistant rivalry. Heck it could be argued the mian rivalry is between Mike and RANDALL. An assistant vs Scarer thing.

Personally, I think some assistants, whether subconciously or not, have found some kind of system of praise and encouragement and relationships which works between each other on a more friendly (albeit with still some likely competition which would be needed), unlike unfortunatly with some Scarers, where the competition is probably a bit more… eh.

Hard to describe really.

But yeah. I think assistants, good ones anyway, probably deserve more appreciation then they likely have. Sure, in terms of work positions- they are a step ‘below’ the Scarers, but this doesn’t negate their WORTH. Often you can only reach your fullest potential if you have the best support you can- and assistants are suppossed to offer scarers that support.

You make a very good point about Randall and Fungus…just because Fungus didn’t do the best job he could as Randall’s assistant didn’t necesarilly mean that he was a bad assistant period, he just wasn’t the right type of assistant for Randall…the type of character that Randall is would be one of these type of monsters that does need that encouragement there and i think for Fungus, he seemed like the type of monster who wasn’t sure exactly how to encourage him or didn’t know exactly what to say…sometimes the passing of time could help with these sort of things and sometimes, well, it doesn’t…maybe a few years down the road, Fungus would be able to read Randall well enough to know what he needed to say or how to act around him but at that time and place of the movie, depending on how long both Randall and Fungus worked at MI, it seemed that this was something he didn’t know well enough. …I also feel that this whole thing of competition was very encouraged throughout the workplace as well, mentalguru, and for some jobs, it is like that…at the Goodwill store that I work at, they expect the cashiers to do the best that they can but what bothers me is that they expect the managers to praise the ones doing well and the ones that aren’t, to take them out back and beat them (not literally but you get my point). I personally see no point to that as neither did one of my previous managers due to the fact that there will always be someone making the most money and always someone making the least, scolding employees won’t change that really and like you said, in times such as the scream shortage where the last thing that you need is the scarers competing against each other, it still happened due to the fact that before, this kind of competition was encouraged…in the workplace, they are always talking about how everyone has to act like a team but how can you do that if employers are always saying “do the best and there’s a prize in store for you, guaranteed”.

I have noticed that there really isn’t any assistant vs assistant rivarily, possibly due to the fact that since they don’t do the scares but the ones they are assisting do, it could be that they see no point in fighting amongst themselves…shrugs maybe the work world is different through their eyes as compared to the eyes of the scarers…

Of course I think Scare Assistants are able to make suggestions to what “techniques” a Scarer could do…Wazowski himself is knowledgeable on many of them…aside from one I would guess considering that it was from someone he hated, despite it making it in the Handbook.

I think Fungus, like Randall, knew something was up with Sullivan’s scores and luck. Though it might not be in Randall’s favor, I think, like Randall, he dislikes someone cheating to get ahead, especially when it’s them themselves being cheated.

Actually I think Wragglers get the least respect. They are the lowest entry-level Monsters Inc. has. Though they probably got more respect in the past when they had to hand carry doors.

nods Which is one of the reason why I dislike when Fungus seems innocent. Funny enough, safety regulations refer to conditions known as “Permanent Scowl” and “Hoarse Voice”. Needless to say you’d think an Assistant would recognize these conditions and act accordingly in goodwill toward their scarer, and themselves. Unsure, but along with the Scream Extractor, maybe Randall himself got some of these conditions and Fungus well…wasn’t really doing his job.

Scarers are matched up to Kids and Assistants to Scarers. Though like said…Sullivan and Wazowski of a good example of this working…though Randall and Fungus might not be.

Maybe Fungus WAS a good assitant back when Randall WAS Top Scarer. At the time he might have had that encouragement. But then…well it just wasn’t what Randall needed himself.

Which is one thing I wonder why Wazowski always strives for more and aims to demote anyone he dislikes. I mean he’s probably M.I.'s best Assistant. Yet he still tries to ride Sullivan’s coattails…though probably stems from the fact he himself is not Scarer material.

raises brow and grins Intersting wouldn’t it if the former Top Scarer had a top assitant wouldn’t it? Hmm hmm hmmm hehehehe.

There is some competitiveness, an effect to make Scarers work harder, aim for a goal other than power for the public. Of course Top Scarer comes with bonuses and perks…

Of course for that, Randall was under the thought Sullivan was cheating. Can’t really blame him for thinking it, considering the numbers are rigged. Sullivan’s not a cheater either…shakes head That web…

Though they might not be praised for what they do, Scare Assitants are acknowledged as those who keep them together. Afterall, if a scarer went completely nuts and lost it, they might get fired or lose their scareing talent. We ALMOST see this with George. Too many decontaiminations and the guy was near loosing it. But a little encouragement from Snitch…and he gathers the courage to do it…though when Snitch even starts another decontamination, he gets soak to the throat but ehh…

I would think on off-work hours (or in the locker room)…if there were assistants Mike disliked, he wouldn’t miss the chance to deliver some insult. He managed it to Randall, but that was more personal.