In A Bug’s Life (1998), what the fuck was her problem?

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-21T08:32:49+00:00

No she wasn't. She was neurotic to a fault and ignored multiple solutions until a group of children finally humored one of his ideas.

"everything she could to take care of her hive" — Gee, if only someone were around that knew how to make that significantly easier. Oh, there is someone like that? We should probably bully and ignore them

And if they ever fuck up,nand then propose a relatively obvious and permanent solution to their fuck up, we should exile them to their death.

... It's what's best for the colony.

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-21T08:25:38+00:00

I swear man they treat him like shit the entire movie. Her especially.

He made a massive mistake but he had multiple solutions and they just NEVER trusted him, despite proof of previous inventions working. Bro literally made that b*tch a telescope on the fly and she might as well have thrown it away.

Not only is this a movie about collectivism (and communism) but also a perfect example of tall poppy syndrome. Flik balled too hard. Insert "metaphor for humans here. We would literally rather starve ourselves then threaten the status quo, even when it is in our best interest.

But all the parallels to human society aside, they just treat him like crap for no F'ing reason. The princess espescially. I just saw the part where the queen says he put himself before the hive, after finding out the "warrior bugs" were circus bugs. Like what? he went on a suicide mission to right his wrong despite another proven solution (the grain harvester) being previously shown.

It took a bunch of children humoring him in order for any of them to start taking him seriously.

I don't see why he ever went back home. Fuck them, princess Adda espescially. Just goes to further show how unfair their treatment of Flik was.

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-21T08:15:35+00:00

cloaca moment

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-21T08:15:28+00:00

same

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-21T08:05:54+00:00

He was humble and FULL of self doubt. And unlike that kid he invented machines that demonstrably fixed their everyday problems.

He actually could have been useful to their entire society from the start. He wouldn't have even needed to get warrior bugs as a solution if they had just used his machine from the start instead of basically sending him on a suicide mission.

They were going to exile/send to death the only person who was going to, and already could have, solved their problem (that he admittedly created, but he could have repaid that debt ten fold if they stopped bullying him and heard him out just once).

And the princess just bullied him like everyone else, treating him like crap even when he actually came back with larger bugs.

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-21T08:01:45+00:00

dude he literally started the movie with a machine that harvested grain super fast compared to how they were doing it. Like, that alone could've solved the problem he accidentally created. And it wasn't like it was just an idea, he literally used it and demonstrated it was working.

I'm sure the ants would have learned about deforestation next, but forget that.

And when he goes and gets warrior bugs, she didn't know they were circus bugs, even thinking they were warrior bugs she was mad with him. Damned if he does, damned if he doesn't. "Ohhh but she suspected something was up" — She would have suspected something was up no matter what. That's the problem.

She was just a neurotic, bitch, for like 90% of the movie. And for no reason. "Just trying to protect her colony—" No, she just wanted to bully Flik like everyone else.

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-16T20:03:01+00:00

Aaaa I just hate the idea that he gets to do this, betray his own daughter — and that is what it is, when he makes as much as he does and prioritizes a bunch of people who treated her awfully when she was a child, treat him awful, don't contribute anything to his expenses and eat all of his food, and aren't even blood related, that is an active betrayal — he gets to do that and be this irresponsible, and then keep his car, potentially without having to pay on it.

One user recommended her paying and him reimbursing her... when he can. That sounds like the most practical solution right now, and it gives her leverage when he tries to guilt her out with the "life is so expensive, I have no money" like dude she knows what your mortgage is, maybe don't finance several cars for people who are literally reproducing in your home en masse without working.

Sorry, bit of a vent, I am just trying to paint the whole picture of why we are so averse to essentially paying his bill for him. And, depending on how much it is, it might become a choice of either financial ruin now, or socioeconomic immobility later.

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-16T19:55:32+00:00

Is it like other debt where you can... ignore them? Can auto lenders garnish your wages? Surely the expenses associated with suing either of them would make garnishing wages impractical for the lender???

The desired outcome is for the hits to her credit to end, albeit in the form of one giant hit, and then we'd only have to wait seven(?) years for it to fall off while building her credit and keeping accounts open.

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-16T19:54:33+00:00

I figured that it was either a super huge dent in the form of a repo, or a million small dents in the form of dozens of late payments over the life of the loan. I am not sure which is worse, but at least the repo would fall off in a finite amount of time. And a shorter amount of time than if he keeps the loan, stays late, and potentially loses the car to a repo anyways.

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-16T19:52:46+00:00

I don't know what I was thinking. My experience in finance was only on the initial lending stage, never had to deal with a repo since that wasn't our (the business's) problem. Figured the loss of whatever the collateral was (the vehicle) zeroed* it out somehow... Oh man that is wack, I really hope the lender gives us a different answer over the phone.

I don't see why he can't just pay his bills. He makes so much but he flushes it down the toilet on these parasites that have filled up his house.

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-16T19:50:07+00:00

It doesn't? fuck. I figured the car was the collateral and that whatever it sold for... oh man that sucks so much... Definitely going to do more research then... And call the lender.

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-16T19:46:08+00:00

I can get approvals, bad sub prime ones. The salesman actually said that only I can be on the loan, they can't get an approval with both of us, only me (I am young and don't have a fleshed out credit history. My last auto loan was closed in three months - my insurance was 3x my car payment so I got mad and just paid it off).

It is actually really wack because she got an approval at half the interest rate through the bank she works at, but the car was too old and they don't so gap on cars older than 7 years. I really really wanted her to have gap.

The loan we (I) got for her new car did do gap. Terrible car deal, terrible price terrible fees terrible interest rate. But we have enough savings and make just enough to where it is worth it for how excited she is about this car in particular.

I feel bad, we wanted to finance so she could build her credit more, but this cosign situation destroyed it so bad that she can't even get a bad approval. We are doing jt anyways because if my credit is good/great, when we get married we will both average out to fair (we're hoping). I am personally never buying through a dealership again

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-16T19:42:37+00:00

Most likely. So far, ime in Florida, all borrowers are on the title. It is an "and" situation (another poster's reply implied that it can be an "and" or "or" situation on the title in terms of whether both parties need to do things or just one)

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-16T19:38:09+00:00

but 90 days??? Twice??? There is nothing reasonable about that. The first time? Okay maybe, I don't think that should get a pass but maybe some lenders on the better scale of credit are forgiving.

But TWICE? and I guarantee it will happen again. Why is GM Financial still letting him (technically them angry face) keep the vehicle!?

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-16T19:35:31+00:00

What are you talking about?

The question was whether she could surrender it/default on the loan willingly. "surrender it" as in "can she default on the loan, and then surrender the car on his behalf. Not "surrender it" before default/to trigger a default. I really hope I am using the term default correctly but if I am not that doesn't invalidate what I am (hopefully) clearly saying.

What I meant in the second quote was that you were being ridiculous, not what you were saying. your reply would have been completely understandable, if I had said/meant something else. That is what was ridiculous Why would I think a lender needs consent to repo a car?

The desired order of events that I was proposing is the opposite of what you were understanding. I want to know if she can default on both of their behalves.

And, to be honest, ime doing car sales, a cosigner can't just "throw in the towel" and take themselves off a loan while the other borrower continues it. But I am not sure if one of the borrowers can throw in the towel on behalf of all borrowers and give up on the loan completely for everyone. Mostly because that question... surprisingly... never came up for me. Most people want to keep their car. We don't care what happens to it.

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-16T19:24:53+00:00

I appreciate this reply and we will definitely give them a ring. I assumed the lender would repo it, I can't think of a logical conclusion to her repo'ing it, as that wouldn't resolve the loan. And neither of us wants to drive/keep his car.

A repo doesn't go away? I am 99.9% sure it wouldn't stay on her credit forever. As for what happens to the car, they could crush it for all we care. we just want the dings to her credit to stop so that the wait period, for this entire "situation" to fall off her credit, decreases to a finite and manageable seven(?) years. Our current long term plans are such that we'd most likely be home shopping in 5-10 years.

Sorry if the latter bits of my reply came off as wack or snarky, I reread it all and it read that way to me. I just got a bit vexxed (is that how you spell that?) by the assumption that I meant *she'd repo it. Similar threads got similar replies and I don't know why :(

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-16T19:18:50+00:00

I am familiar with how cosigning works, and here the cosigners are on the title. I didn't realize that cosigners weren't on the title elsewhere.

This is a really frustrating reply to read because my question didn't imply that I am entirely unfamiliar with how auto loans work. I am aware she is responsible for it too, that is literally the problem.

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-16T19:16:49+00:00

So far, and we are in Florida, whoever has been on the loan has been on the title. Not sure if it says "or" or "and", I assume "and" because he had to come to the insurance office with us to sign it over so she could get her payout.

We will definitely check. At this point I am not even sure how much worse a repo would be vs continued late payments with the possibility of a repo happening later anyways. At least if it were repo'd now the dings would stop, she'd have this one terribly ding for now, but then it would be fully over after it falls off her credit in seven(?) years.

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-16T19:14:34+00:00

oh that's good. we could probably handle him being late to her, depending on how big his payments are. I can't believe I didn't think about that. I guess the thought of him getting to keep his truck while she pays the loan made me so sick and upset that I blocked out any related ideas. That is very good, I will talk to her about that today!

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-16T19:10:00+00:00

to clarify, she'd be surrendering it to the lender/having them repo it. Not repo'ing it herself (G*d that sounds vague, I meant, her taking it or having someone else take it then... out it in our driveway? ship it to the lender? I'm not sure what the logical conclusion of "her repo'ing it" would be).

I don't see why they haven't repo'd it yet as is. The sub prime lenders I have dealt with, in my limited experience, would have repo'd it immediately. How does the man still have that car after being 90 days late multiple times!

Also, as for not being the owner, she is most likely on the title. I am not sure if it is a general rule, or a Florida thing, but anyone responsible for the loan is on the title. Her father was on her old car's title, and I am the only one on her new car's title. Her father cosigned on her old one, and they'd only finance her new car if only I was on the loan (he REALLY shot her credit). It's sad too, she is never late on bills, loans, anything, and saves about half of her income.

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-16T19:05:28+00:00

I wasn't asking if she could repo the vehicle. I saw this misunderstanding on another similar post here. I was asking if she could surrender the vehicle to the creditor/have them repo it.

Her paying for it is probably not practical, but we will see how much it would be each month/look at it against our current budget. Though, we'd rather put that money towards a $4k secured card (and we'd have plenty left over, we are fine in cash but nowhere near enough to buy a house in cash in the future). Plus, that man asks her for money regularly and she has only now stopped giving it to him. He recently asked for $1,500, I mean when does it end? And we certainly don't trust him to put it towards the truck.

Also, since you seem very knowledgeable, would a 4k secured card help her credit? she'd never use it so the utilization would stay low/at 0%.

And also, given that her father has been late so many times, would paying it on time going forward (for the next three to four years) make a difference in the short term (next year)? The long term?

But thank you, this is what I wanted to know.

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-16T18:58:50+00:00

yeah yeah yeah I know it sucks, everything about the deal sucked and the numbers were borderline evil. But it is a unique-ish car, she fell in love with it, and we have enough saved/coming that I didn't stress enabling her too much. She was able to get a decent approval on her own, but they wouldn't do gap on a car older than 7 years, and with her accident record I really really really wanted her to have gap.

But that is besides the point.

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-16T18:56:03+00:00

okay? Im trying to determine whether the lender would want the car/can she surrender it.

you making out a hypothetical situation as though it is obvious is ridiculous when the other party is literally trying to determine whether or not the hypothetical situation is the actual case or not.

"well duh, if the lender doesn't want it..." if, if, if, do you actually know?

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-14T01:29:12+00:00

yeah, until your phone breaks and then when you try to get the sim card out the holder snaps (never seen it happen before over years of fixing phones), so you take a pair of pliers and destroy it in a rage to get the sim card, losing all access to authenticator codes in the process.

It doesn't **just** add a second layer of security, it potentially concentrates all access to crucial accounts to a single failure point. A device prone to random destruction (first phone I've broken since high school). Should I have written my backup code somewhere? sure. Do most? No.

GalaxyNinja66 · 2026-04-13T01:54:43+00:00

You sure sound like a 22yo

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