The Room Theory: Denny

[Nergol]

Oh, Denny, Denny, Denny boy....

So what the hell was up with Denny, anyway? I have a theory that's a little radical, and even a bit dark, but here it is:

My theory is that Denny was raised by a family, or more likely a single mother, who was an alcoholic and/or drug addict, and who was possibly even a prostitute to support herself. If Denny seems a little, well, retarded, I assert that what it really is is some kind of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or an effect of his mother doing drugs while pregnant with him, combined with his never having having developed appropriate social skills during his troubled childhood.

In other words, Denny had a childhood just a shade off of Rorschach's.

This all would explain a few things:

1) Denny's status as Johnny's ward: At some point, his drug-addled mother simply abandoned him and skipped town. Somehow he came to the attention of Johnny, who agreed to take him in. This also explains his extreme loyalty to Johnny, who literally kept him from dying in a gutter somewhere.

2) "I like to watch": In any childhood filled with inappropriate exposure to sexuality at too young an age (and one can easily imagine that if Denny's mother was indeed a prostitute, and not too careful about concealing things from her son), children can fail to develop boundaries between different kinds of love, and appropriate boundaries when it comes to sexuality. In other words, Denny doesn't quite "get" why, if he feels affection for Johnny and Lisa, he shouldn't join them in bed, because there are lines that were never quite clearly drawn in his mind as he was growing up. This would also explain his difficulty in sorting out appopriate feelings towards Lisa, who clearly wants a sort of motherly (and decidedly NOT romantic) relationship with him.

3) School: If Denny's apparent awkwardness is indeed attributable to FAS, drug abuse by his mother during pregnancy, and/or a traumatic childhood, it's entirely possible he could be quite smart, but left with certain cognitive and personality issues, which are what we see in the film. This would explain away the "He seems retarded, and yet he's going to college" thing.

4) Chris-R: Now, this really makes Chris-R make sense. If Denny found himself short on money, or wanting not to depend on Johnny so much, it's possible that he turned to Chris-R, who was one of his mother's old connections, to get some drugs to sell for some quick cash. Chris-R may have been a little easy on him at first (and maybe even extended him some credit), maybe due to his connection with his mother, or because he felt a little bad about his drug dealing contributing to Denny's bad upbringing. But when things went bad, business was business - and he came for his money. This would also explain Lisa's seemingly overly-hysterical reaction to the situation - she saw the possibility of him falling into his mother's self-destructive habits.

So... any thoughts on my theory from the assembled "Roomies"?

[emory]

You sure have a lot of theories. Did you get a PHd in Wiseaulogy?

[Fuzzy Necromancer]

It seems well-constructed and contributes a level of narrative coherence and character depth that had been sorely lacking during the film. =o

[Rattrap007]

I think we are giving Tommy Wiseau too much credit with this.. I don't think it is intentional but this does make for a great explanation..

[doggans]

Everything Denny does makes perfect sense if you assume there's a missing third act where he comes back as an axe murderer.

[Rattrap007]

Everything Denny does makes perfect sense if you assume there's a missing third act where he comes back as an axe murderer.

Shhh that's the spin off sequel

[larraque]

I have a theory. The Room is based on Real Life events, as witnessed through the eyes of Tommy Wiseau, when he was Denny's age.

Johnny - a banker, is actually a mafia banker. When Johnny didn't get the promotion at "the bank", Lisa decided to leave him, because Mark did get the promotion and Lisa craves the power.

The reason the story is so dis-jointed is because Denny/Tommy doesn't have a full understanding of what truly went down.

Denny/Tommy comes in after the 'party' to find Johnny had been shot and the apartment torn up. Without realizing the mafia connection, the betrayal scenario (Johnny tearing up his apartment and committing suicide) makes it all make sense.

If Johnny wasn't a mafia banker how else did Denny/Tommy have money to go to school and finance the making of The Room? And Tommy Wiseau idolizes Johnny throughout the movie - because that's how he felt of this man who was a father figure in his life. After Johnny's death, Tommy lost his connection with the mafia world and never completely figured it out.

[Doctor Who?]

Oh, Denny, Denny, Denny boy....

So what the hell was up with Denny, anyway? I have a theory that's a little radical, and even a bit dark, but here it is:

My theory is that Denny was raised by a family, or more likely a single mother, who was an alcoholic and/or drug addict, and who was possibly even a prostitute to support herself. If Denny seems a little, well, retarded, I assert that what it really is is some kind of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome or an effect of his mother doing drugs while pregnant with him, combined with his never having having developed appropriate social skills during his troubled childhood.

In other words, Denny had a childhood just a shade off of Rorschach's.

This all would explain a few things:

1) Denny's status as Johnny's ward: At some point, his drug-addled mother simply abandoned him and skipped town. Somehow he came to the attention of Johnny, who agreed to take him in. This also explains his extreme loyalty to Johnny, who literally kept him from dying in a gutter somewhere.

2) "I like to watch": In any childhood filled with inappropriate exposure to sexuality at too young an age (and one can easily imagine that if Denny's mother was indeed a prostitute, and not too careful about concealing things from her son), children can fail to develop boundaries between different kinds of love, and appropriate boundaries when it comes to sexuality. In other words, Denny doesn't quite "get" why, if he feels affection for Johnny and Lisa, he shouldn't join them in bed, because there are lines that were never quite clearly drawn in his mind as he was growing up. This would also explain his difficulty in sorting out appopriate feelings towards Lisa, who clearly wants a sort of motherly (and decidedly NOT romantic) relationship with him.

3) School: If Denny's apparent awkwardness is indeed attributable to FAS, drug abuse by his mother during pregnancy, and/or a traumatic childhood, it's entirely possible he could be quite smart, but left with certain cognitive and personality issues, which are what we see in the film. This would explain away the "He seems retarded, and yet he's going to college" thing.

4) Chris-R: Now, this really makes Chris-R make sense. If Denny found himself short on money, or wanting not to depend on Johnny so much, it's possible that he turned to Chris-R, who was one of his mother's old connections, to get some drugs to sell for some quick cash. Chris-R may have been a little easy on him at first (and maybe even extended him some credit), maybe due to his connection with his mother, or because he felt a little bad about his drug dealing contributing to Denny's bad upbringing. But when things went bad, business was business - and he came for his money. This would also explain Lisa's seemingly overly-hysterical reaction to the situation - she saw the possibility of him falling into his mother's self-destructive habits.

So... any thoughts on my theory from the assembled "Roomies"?

Wow,that is dark.