Quote from: HuDaFuK on Oct 30, 2017, 08:41:55 AM
It has nothing to do with him being an unlikable character and everything to do with him being a shit character.
I'm loathe to use another example from Aliens, but Burke is an unlikeable character, yet he's infinitely more engaging than Captain GO AWAY I DON'T LIKE YOU.
I wouldn't say Burke is an unlikable character. You like him in the first half of the film, and hate him in the second half, once his involvement in the Hadley's Hope disaster is revealed. That minor nitpick aside, I do agree with your point.
Fifield's problem is that he's a cartoon; It's not so much about him being "likable", but rather about his character making sense. An over the top asshole who gets lost while being a map expert and who has tobacco in his respirator doesn't work in a gritty realistic Sci Fi film that makes an attempt at being smart by dealing (or at least trying to) with deep philosophical questions. He's a comic relief character in a film that shouldn't even have comic relief. Unlike Hudson, who is a cocky marine who completely freaks out in the moment of truth, which is such a common real life character trait it has become a cliche, and is featured in a film that doesn't even attempt to deal with philosophy.
Aliens knows what it is, and its characters make sense. Prometheus tries to be something it's not, and features cartoony characters.
