Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with 'Disney', 'Pixar' or the films mentioned in this blog post ('Monsters University' and 'Monsters Inc.') nor do I own any characters, events or any of the film references mentioned in my blog.)
Is Sulley Dyslexic? Sulley is one of my favourite
‘Pixar’ characters (right after Woody), but more so since the release of
‘Monsters University’. I never picked up on it originally in ‘Monsters Inc.’,
but when I was watching ‘Monsters University’ for the first time (and countless
times since) it hit me: Sulley was demonstrating signs of dyslexia. After I
realised this, I discovered that this is also apparent in ‘Monsters Inc.’ too, it’s
just not as noticeable.
So starting with the prequel ‘Monsters University’,
the very first appearance of Sulley’s character shows Sulley turning up late to
class, acting the class clown and enjoying the attention that he gains from his
peers by acting up in class.
When Sulley first arrives to his class, he is already
late. His entrance interrupts the lesson, as he demonstrates his signature roar.
He is aware of his interruption to class as he states, “Oops. Sorry. I
heard someone say roar so, I just kinda went for it.” Following
on from this, Sulley then disrupts the
students in the class as he makes his way to his seat, acknowledging all of his
peers along the way to the only empty chair (“Ooh,
'scuse me. Sorry. Didn't mean to scare you there. Hey, how you doing?”).
Theses attention-seeking signs are all prime examples
of a dyslexic student. Why? Because they suffer academically (often with their
peers not knowing or not understanding their situation), so they make up for it
by goofing around to hide their fear. I know that not all dyslexic students are
like that (I wasn’t), but ADD can be a common condition linked with dyslexia –
a trait which Sulley strongly demonstrates.
My next piece of evidence follows on from the
previous example of Sulley’s entrance to the film. Having made his way through
all of the students to take his seat, Sulley then asks another student to
borrow a pencil (“Hey, bub, can I borrow a pencil? Forgot all my
stuff.”).
Not bringing any school related equipment to class
with him (no pen, pencil, notebook, textbook) demonstrates Sulley’s fear of
reading and of having his peers discover his struggles. It can also be linked
to a trait of ADD, as it also demonstrates attention-seeking qualities, which
can be seen where Sulley uses the tip of a pencil as a toothpick.
During the duration of the film, it becomes apartment to
the audience that Sulley is not doing well in his classes. His poor
concentration during lectures, irritation when classmates (Mike) continually
get answers correct and failing his tests all show that Sulley is struggling
academically.
As Sulley struggles to read and write, he probably
puts off studying. It would take Sulley a lot longer to read the same textbook
as Mike. This would be something that probably frustrates Sulley. Instead of
working harder to try and help himself, Sulley chooses to just not bother.
Studying for a lot longer than everyone else would also ruin his cool-guy image,
something which could be another reason behind why Sulley chooses not to.
Throughout the film Sulley is never seen reading. All
of the ‘Scare Games’ invitations/clues that team ‘Oozma Kappa’ receive are read
by Mike.
With the rivalry between Sulley and Mike over how to
lead the team, it seems odd that Sulley would let Mike read the
invitations/clues every time. He does not bicker with Mike over them or ask to
read one. He just lets Mike read them every time.
Another scene demonstrating Sulley’s struggles with
reading is when rival sorority ‘Roar Omega Roar’ post an embarrassing photograph
of ‘Oozma Kappa’ in the university’s newspaper.
Sulley is silent for the duration of the scene. Having
had an embarrassing photograph of himself displayed all over the university,
you would imagine that Sulley would have something to say about it – especially
when his cool-guy image was so important to him earlier on.
There is one scene where Sulley does appear to read.
During the last event of the ‘Scare Games’ before entering the ‘Scare Simulator’
each monster has to read the profile of the simulation-child that they are scaring
in order to know which scaring technique to use to scare the child the most.
Although the profile of the child that Sulley is scaring says they fear, “Thunder
and Lions,” which is Sulley’s signature, most scary roar, Sulley could just be
lucky. Throughout the film Sulley is noted for always using the same roar for
every situation.
This roar he uses throughout all of his tests in
class, regardless of what fear he has been assigned to scare. Sulley thinks
that he only needs one scare to frighten a child, as he believes that he is so
scary, yet it could also be that this is just the only scare that he knows well
as he has not studied the other techniques. Sulley may have just given his best
shot with his signature roar in the ‘Scare Simulator’ in hopes that it was
scary enough; the fact that the child was guaranteed to be scared of this type
of roar may just be coincidence.
Dyslexia does not just affect one’s ability to read or write. It can also make someone confuse their left and right. This could be the
reason as to how Sulley finds himself in Mike’s room instead of his own room when
he is hiding from ‘Fear Tech’ students after stealing their mascot, Archie the
pig.
Upon first entering Mike’s room it is apparent that
Sulley did not just choose a random window to climb through. He did, in fact,
think that he was in his own room. It is not until Mike questions him, “Why are you in my
room?” that
Sulley realises that he has made a mistake, “Your
room? This is my… This is not my room.” It is possible that Sulley had
confused the location of his room by getting his directions mixed up.
Now moving on to ‘Monsters Inc.’ Although it was not
obvious had ‘Monsters Inc.’ been a stand-alone film, after watching ‘Monsters
University’ there is a scene that not only adds to my theory of Sulley being
dyslexic, but it also makes more sense (to me) with my theory in place. When Mike is
going to be late to his dinner date with his girlfriend, Celia, because he
forgot to file his paperwork, I was always confused as to why Mike had to tell
Sulley which coloured papers went to which department. Why not just tell him
that the accountancy ones go to one monster, purchasing to another and the
others (possibly the profiles of the children) to Roz? Or why tell him at all?
Surely Sulley can just read the paperwork and will know which is accountancy,
purchasing etc. Why did Mike need to tell Sulley different colours?
Mike tells Sulley, “On my desk, Sulley. The pink copies go
to Accounting, the fuchsia ones go to Purchasing and goldenrod ones go to Roz…
leave the puce.” However, Mike’s plan to help Sulley out with the paperwork-sorting
backfires when Sulley gets the colours and destinations mixed up. Whilst looking
through Mike’s paperwork Sulley mutters to himself, “Pink
copies go to Accounting, the fuchsia ones go to Roz. No, the fuchsia ones go to
Purchasing. The goldenrod ones go to Roz. Man, I have no idea what puce is.”
Now this could just be a funny little scene or it could be Sulley dyslexically mixing his words up.
Similarly with mixing left and right up, it could be dyslexia that is causing
Sulley's confusion.
Okay, so that’s my theory. I know that it isn’t fact
and I know that not all dyslexic people have ADD, do bad academically or mix
their left and right up. Dyslexia can affect each individual differently. It
was just a little fun to come up with and it has made Sulley all the more
special to me.
- Josie -
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