Batman Begins Question about Earl in Batman Begins.

[Ness]

I'm curious about one scene in the movie. When Earl and Lucius are talking and Earl requested all data on the microwave emitter. Lucius made a wisecrack and Earl wants to fire Fox for what we later find out is because he was "asking too many questions". So I'm curious to why he was fired. Is it because Lucius said the usage of the emitter was illegal? Earl simply asked about it, why would he feel threatened by inquiries of Fox? Was he afraid Fox would uncover something? What am I missing here? Earl wouldn't have been doing anything illegal right?

 

[El Payaso]

I think it was because they tried to make Earle something of a villiain. So suddenly he was against our beloved Lucius. That way we can hate him.

But that came up pretty gratuitously.

 

[Knight Rise]

Earle just wants his hands on everything in Wayne Enterprises

 

[Unmasked]

I'm curious about one scene in the movie. When Earl and Lucius are talking and Earl requested all data on the microwave emitter. Lucius made a wisecrack and Earl wants to fire Fox for what we later find out is because he was "asking too many questions". So I'm curious to why he was fired. Is it because Lucius said the usage of the emitter was illegal? Earl simply asked about it, why would he feel threatened by inquiries of Fox? Was he afraid Fox would uncover something? What am I missing here? Earl wouldn't have been doing anything illegal right?

lol firefox t:

Anyway, I rewatched BB last week, and there is a Batman villain in the comics who was part of Wayne entps or somthing like that and hated Bruce

I don't think he's gonna be that villain in TDKR though


OR


Remember Ras AL Ghul said they the LOS had infiltrated GOtham in every level of its infrastructure

I guess he was working for RAS

 

[thebatandthecat]

I just always assumed he felt threatened by Lucius...at that point he had already removed him from the board and he was basically exiled down to Applied Sciences...I think he probably just saw this as a way to finally get rid of him!

 

[PSYLENTGuardian]

Remember Ras AL Ghul said they the LOS had infiltrated GOtham in every level of its infrastructure

I guess he was working for RAS

That's assuming way too much. In my opinion, Earle was just the corporate anti-Wayne employee made for us to hate; kinda like Reese in TDK.

 

[El Payaso]

I just always assumed he felt threatened by Lucius...at that point he had already removed him from the board and he was basically exiled down to Applied Sciences...I think he probably just saw this as a way to finally get rid of him!

That's the thing. The at contradiction.

Earle cast Fox where he couldn't be a threat. He basically locked him in a room where nobody would go, a "dead end," as Luicius called it himself. And as we could see, Fox could do little in that place, and Earle certainly had nothing to fear from him.

Nevertheless, one morning Earle just woke up and, all of a sudden, decided to fire Fox. One has to ask... why?

 

[Ness]

^ Right. I'm wondering why he didn't just fired him in the first place years ago...instead of regulating him to another area of Wayne Enterprises.

 

[Knight Rise]

Unless Earle had an in with Ras...

 

[El Payaso]

Unless Earle had an in with Ras...

Not in the movie.

 

[Knight Rise]

Not in the movie.

Not that anyone knows or I supposed to know. It's your Inception ending in a Batman world

 

[El Payaso]

Not that anyone knows or I supposed to know. It's your Inception ending in a Batman world

No. Nothing even suggested that Earle and Ra's had any kind of connection. It simply didn't happen. And even if it did, it was Nolan fault not having shown it so the Fox's firing hadn't been such a gratuitous and vacuous narrative twist.


That said, you avatar is the best.

 

[Knight Rise]

gracias lol

 

[El Payaso]

de nada.

 

[the dmg]

Nevertheless, one morning Earle just woke up and, all of a sudden, decided to fire Fox. One has to ask... why?

Remember, Earle turned Wayne Enterprises into a different entity than it was when Thomas Wayne was running things. He was involved in Military contracts and such, so when the microwave emitter was stolen, he wanted to keep it hush hush, hence firing Fox and shutting down Applied Sciences to remove that connection from "his" company.

 

[Nevincer]

I think it was because they tried to make Earle something of a villiain. So suddenly he was against our beloved Lucius. That way we can hate him.

But that came up pretty gratuitously.

You hit the nail right on the head

 

[babbage]

Remember, Earle turned Wayne Enterprises into a different entity than it was when Thomas Wayne was running things. He was involved in Military contracts and such, so when the microwave emitter was stolen, he wanted to keep it hush hush, hence firing Fox and shutting down Applied Sciences to remove that connection from "his" company.

That's a good one. I also figured Earle didn't like Lucius having Bruce's ear.

 

[TomPiltoff]

Just watched Begins last night after not having seen it in forever.

The way I interpret that scene is that Earle wants all the files on the microwave emitter so he can delete them and cover the companies ass for having lost it. If I remember correctly he specifically mentions the backup files.

When the first thing out of Fox's mouth is 'you lose one?', Earle knows he needs to get rid of Fox asap.

 

[El Payaso]

Remember, Earle turned Wayne Enterprises into a different entity than it was when Thomas Wayne was running things. He was involved in Military contracts and such, so when the microwave emitter was stolen, he wanted to keep it hush hush, hence firing Fox and shutting down Applied Sciences to remove that connection from "his" company.

Yeah, that will stop Fox from going to the media and tell that story, ruining Earl's repuitation.

 

[GothamAlleys]

I see Im not the only one who didnt get that scene. It was very surprising because I was very much championing for Earl. He was a very likeable character for me, in large part cause he was played by one of my all time favorite actors Rutger Hauer. And you know, he was a good guy, he was honest with Bruce about wanting to take the company public and seemed very genuine when telling Bruce that this is his place. The hes suddenly a bad guy and Im really taken aback.

The idea of firing Lucius cause he was askin too many questions about the emitter makes no sense. He just asked if they lost one. Other guys in the company apparently knew it was stolen, yet they werent fired or anything. And Lucius didnt ask too many questions, he just asked if they lost it. And Earl didnt just fire him, he also gave him that Ahole line with 'dint you get the memo'? Thats on thing from BB I just dont get

 

[noonelovesrobin]

I see Im not the only one who didnt get that scene. It was very surprising because I was very much championing for Earl. He was a very likeable character for me, in large part cause he was played by one of my all time favorite actors Rutger Hauer. And you know, he was a good guy, he was honest with Bruce about wanting to take the company public and seemed very genuine when telling Bruce that this is his place. The hes suddenly a bad guy and Im really taken aback.

The idea of firing Lucius cause he was askin too many questions about the emitter makes no sense. He just asked if they lost one. Other guys in the company apparently knew it was stolen, yet they werent fired or anything. And Lucius didnt ask too many questions, he just asked if they lost it. And Earl didnt just fire him, he also gave him that Ahole line with 'dint you get the memo'? Thats on thing from BB I just dont get

He wasn't a good guy in first place.He was smart,sneaky,manipulative businessman.He wanted to take total control of company from Waynes to make it public.He was "too nice" to Bruce Wayne because he could be a problem.He is the only son of Wayne's after all.He is the real owner.

Also after Thomas Wayne's death he send his best man Fox to crappy position in company.He had cocky&creepy attitude when a board member saying what would Wayne do if he was alive. (meeting scene before Bruce's comeback to company)

He fired Fox because microwave emitter was illegal and stolen and Fox figured out it is lost.Earl wanted to erase datas of that machine.

 

[Bathead]

I think it's likely, since Earle knows Fox is an honorable man and a potential fly in his ointment, and since Earle had put him in Applied Sciences to get him out of the way in the first place becasue of that, he fired him simply because he knew if Fox figured out about the M.E. (which it looked like he already had), Fox would raise a stink, so Earle fired him as a precaution. Bad guys like Ealre are often quite paranoid and will sometimes act precipitously if they beleive someone to be a possible future threat.

 

[GothamAlleys]

He wasn't a good guy in first place.He was smart,sneaky,manipulative businessman.He wanted to take total control of company from Waynes to make it public.He was "too nice" to Bruce Wayne because he could be a problem.He is the only son of Wayne's after all.He is the real owner.

But I didnt get any evilness in him. We first see him when he tells Bruce that the company will be waiting for him. Then pushing for the company to go public in best interest for the company. And we know that manufacturing arms hasnt been done by WE only because of the moral code that Thomas Wayne believed in, even tho it was good for the company. And Earl was open about it and I never got any malevolance in the way he pushed for going public. Then he explained to Bruce that its already happening and sincerely (or so I felt) told him that this is his place and welcomed him

Also after Thomas Wayne's death he send his best man Fox to crappy position in company.He had cocky&creepy attitude when a board member saying what would Wayne do if he was alive. (meeting scene before Bruce's comeback to company)

Yeah, I know they didnt agree much, but that still didnt make Earl a bad guy in my eyes, just a guy whose more about financial good for the company rather than someone leading the company with morals

He fired Fox because microwave emitter was illegal and stolen and Fox figured out it is lost.Earl wanted to erase datas of that machine.

It still makes no sense. So why didnt he fire the guy who told him about loosing it? Why not just tell Fox that they didnt lose it or that the reason is classified? Why fire him after only one matter of fact question? And most importantly, why the sudden dickie atttude towards Fox? It seemed so out of character for Earl. I could easily buy that perhaps Earl was just playing a good guy before, and thats why we suddenly see this attitude from him, but I really dont believe he had any reason for it. Just for "did you lose one?" Its not like Fox was accusing him or sabotaging him or really asking "too many" questions. What would Fox do even if for some reason he would want to spill the guts about it? Its even worse to fire him cause then he has every reason to go on and tell everyone

 

[TomPiltoff]

But I didnt get any evilness in him. We first see him when he tells Bruce that the company will be waiting for him. Then pushing for the company to go public in best interest for the company. And we know that manufacturing arms hasnt been done by WE only because of the moral code that Thomas Wayne believed in, even tho it was good for the company. And Earl was open about it and I never got any malevolance in the way he pushed for going public. Then he explained to Bruce that its already happening and sincerely (or so I felt) told him that this is his place and welcomed him

Dude isn't out right EVIL, but the movie gives clear signals that he isn't a 'good guy', at the very least. Going against the moral code of Batman's dad to sell weapons in the name of profit isn't something you write in to make a character look good.

that still didnt make Earl a bad guy in my eyes, just a guy whose more about financial good for the company rather than someone leading the company with morals

Yeah, that is a bad guy.

It still makes no sense. So why didnt he fire the guy who told him about loosing it?

Because presumably, as with the Gotham police force, there are people who keep their mouths shut in their own interest. Whoever told Earle about the loss was one of them.

Why not just tell Fox that they didnt lose it or that the reason is classified? Why fire him after only one matter of fact question?

Because, as the movie takes time to tell us, Fox is the kind of guy who asks questions and Earle doesn't like that. Fox isn't going to buy whatever BS Earle gives him. He was going to get to the bottom of why Earle wanted the emitter info no matter what.

And most importantly, why the sudden dickie atttude towards Fox? It seemed so out of character for Earl.

Just the opposite. Like I said, the movie makes it a point to tell us that Fox was once on the board of directors but had been relocated to a dead end by Earle.

 

[GothamAlleys]

Dude isn't out right EVIL, but the movie gives clear signals that he isn't a 'good guy', at the very least. Going against the moral code of Batman's dad to sell weapons in the name of profit isn't something you write in to make a character look good.

Not for me cause thats what every company's CEO in the world does. First of all, hes not after making a profit for himself but for the company, which is what every board and CEO does. Secondly, manufacturing weapons for military isnt anything morally wrong. Its for military, its not for the streets

Yeah, that is a bad guy.

Not at all. Life's not a fairy tale, people are CEOs to make money for the company and open up in markets that profit the company. If thats evil than capitalism is evil. And again, its weapons for US military, not streets, nothing morally wrong here

Because presumably, as with the Gotham police force, there are people who keep their mouths shut in their own interest. Whoever told Earle about the loss was one of them.

And knowing how Lucius is, it would be enough to explain to Lucius that first of all going to media telling that they lost a big weapon would be just not right and secondly it would cause panic. He could also say that theyre investigating and looking for it, only a day passed after all. Im sure he would understand those arguments instead of just becoming alienated and fired

Because, as the movie takes time to tell us, Fox is the kind of guy who asks questions and Earle doesn't like that. Fox isn't going to buy whatever BS Earle gives him. He was going to get to the bottom of why Earle wanted the emitter info no matter what.

And again, its even worse to fire him and make him an enemy. If he wants him to stay quiet, firing him is the worst thing he can do. Then Lucius has that much more reasons and an actual real motivation for going around telling about it