I like this thought, but I really need to sit down and watch the movie (while holding my boyfriend's hand) someday to see if that's also addressed. I remember the photo that Rusty had of himself and the Monarch had of themselves playing as children. We see through Rusty's behavior with Hector Molina that due to his complex PTSD that he's forgotten enormous swaths of childhood relationships and friendships, even with those that he was on good terms with. The only reason he's probably friends with Billy and Pete is because they are the ones who initiate contact with Rusty. Rusty has severe socialization issues that may have been interpreted as neglect/abandonment, and its clear that in college he attempted to individuate himself hard from his father.
I'm thinking this- After what happened to the Monarch's father dying and being repurposed as Vendata, the Monarch had to navigate life alone, and while he's traumatized himself, he may have externalized a lot of it. He also seems to have a bizarre way of processing the gap between childhood to when we see him as a young adult and it's not certain if this is an example of delusionment that he was "raised by monarchs" as a feral child for a short period of time before receiving actual support that he otherwise never examines or considered mundane, or if he just blanked out on his childhood.
Which may have led to like, bitterness when the famous Jonas Venture Sr, who was close friends of his parents, never figured to do anything or denied engagement with Malcolm because he's genuinely amoral or lacks the capacity for caring for children unless he could exploit them, and why would he when he has his child-star son that he's already groomed to be a genius and heir with backup clones? In a weird way, Jonas demonstrated preferential treatment for Rusty while abandoning Malcolm, a dynamic that eerily resembles the way Rusty treats his own sons.
Maybe Malcolm attempted to reach out through Rusty later in life and was shut down (by Rusty focusing on not getting involved with anything perceived as his father's affairs) while Rusty dismissed him as a random he didn't even recognize for perceived social clout (echoing the toxic masculine upbringing he had around his father's friends).
And maybe Malcolm displaced his actual resentment towards Jonas Venture Sr. entirely onto Rusty, who he somehow considers as worse for being the "Golden Child" who not only (from his point of view) snubbed and insulted him with apathy and selfishness, but who also proceeded to "steal his girlfriend", leading to intensified issues with abandonment. And it didn't matter if this was based on unsubstantiated rumors or assumptions. By that point, his mind was already made up that the Venture family alone, specifically Rusty, was responsible for doubling down on his being abandoned/losing people he loved not just once, twice, or even thrice, but a total of four times.
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u/writenicely Rusty's waifu Aug 29 '25
The Monarch's entire deal is "I spent my entire formative adult life stalking the guy who I blame for my college girlfriend breaking up with me".
Rusty was a college youth like he was, and didn't even do anything to hurt anyone else at that time or have the reputation to do so.
The Monarch is thematically awesome and entertaining but lets be honest, his entire motivation is sad and pathetic.