Was Chairman Clench "Sinister"?

[NemoRocks78]

A lot of things about Alien Encounter that I have read, including on this site, state that either X-S Tech or Chairman Clench were sinister. I never really could see that they were sinister. All they were trying to do was give us a product demonstration! Sure, it was mean of S.I.R. to suspend Skippy indefinitely. But Chairman Clench just wanted to change everything so he could meet us in person and answer "each and every one of our questions."

 

[CTXRover]

Perhaps it was because of Clench's quote of "some think we are only interested in Earth for commerical reasons, for profit (pause), but I can assure you we only want to help less fortunate planets upgrade their technology, profit is simply a byproduct we've learned to live with...." or "a planet with so many *eager* customers is always worth our *greatest* effort (something along those lines, probably not exact wording :lol: ) Or perhaps it was Clench's quote that "If it can't be done with X-S, then it shouldn't be done at all...."

These are pretty "sinister" (if that is the right word) quotes that make it pretty clear that Clench and X-S think they are better than they are and that, although stated one way, made it pretty clear they just wanted the "profit" and were not so interested in helping us "upgrade our technologies". It was the way Clench said the above quotes I mentioned that make them sound "sinister".

 

[X2CommNavISTC]

Well I think CTX sumed it up.

But when I need my clench fix Ill just run over to Disney Quest and stand next to the line for XS's attraction over there and watch that video.

 

[Captain Cab]

So being a good businessman means that Chairman Clench is sinister? Yeah, right. All he wants to do is sell his company's technology to us people on Earth. So what if he wants to make a profit. That's how businesses stay in business. As long as they operate ethically they cannot be branded as sinister.

The only issue with XS-Tech is its employee, S.I.R. He goes beyond the whole ethics issue by basically intentionally killing a living creature during a product demonstration. So, should this one incident by an employee make the whole company and Chairman Clench be branded as sinister? I don't think so.

 

[illuminations25]

Yes, indeed Clench, S.I.R. and the entire company and attraction was intended to be sinister. That is why the role of S.I.R. was changed from Phil Hartman to Tim Curry. Many folks going in were not properly prepared for the "darkness" of the actual attraction inside. Hartman's "light and airy" portrayal of S.I.R. lead some parents to believe that the attraction was even suitable for younger Guests which indeed it was not.

Then we have the name of the company itself, "X-S Tech." Something done in excess is usually seen as bad or sinister. X-S Tech had taken over and was the leader in many futuristic technologies as witnessed in the pre-show.

Alas, yet another attraction that will now only exist in Yester World.

 

[Eljay]

Clench sinister? Of course! And I love him for it! (evil laugh...)

 

[Testtrack321]

Well, no he's not sinister if you just look at the preshow, but look at the main attraction. He wants the sell so much that he wants to put people's lives in harms way to do it.

 

[General Grizz]

Spinlok is much worse than Clench. But he and SIR are the worst. I see a lot of good in Clench.

 

[taholden]

"Well, no he's not sinister if you just look at the preshow, but look at the main attraction. He wants the sell so much that he wants to put people's lives in harms way to do it."

He wasn't putting anyones lives in danger. They were going to be transporting something into the room and he just decided to take it's place. He was putting himself in danger.

 

[disnyfan89]

Originally posted by illuminations25
Yes, indeed Clench, S.I.R. and the entire company and attraction was intended to be sinister.

Not every one was sinister!! Like every Disney attraction there has to be some kind of moral. Dr. Femus (SP?) was all good and only wanted the safety of the audience during the attraction!!

 

[Testtrack321]

Originally posted by taholden
"Well, no he's not sinister if you just look at the preshow, but look at the main attraction. He wants the sell so much that he wants to put people's lives in harms way to do it."

He wasn't putting anyones lives in danger. They were going to be transporting something into the room and he just decided to take it's place. He was putting himself in danger.

He knew the system wasn't 100% up and wanted the sell. That's also why he transfered himself there instead of an actuall person, he could sell more that way.

 

[meeko_33785]

I would agree that there seemed to be something darker about Clench. While his motives seemed to be fueled by greed and his scheemes usually were concocted for his own glory and riches, that doesn't seem to play a big part in his what I would define as his sinster nature. If that defines him as sinster, than perhaps Dr. Seeker at DINOSAUR could also be labeled as such. However, the difference is all in the attitude of the character. While Seeker is an excited, friendly character, Clench is more of a darker personality, the sort of guy you might expect to be in a bad monster movie or such. Becuase he is portrayed in a more villainous way, I see no problem in defining him as sinister in nature at least, if not in character as well.

 

[Mission: SPACE]

Oooh!!!

Finally a chance to use some of this stuff I've learned in AP English!!!



Here's how I see it:
As mentioned before, Clench makes a statement about how profit is a byproduct that he's learned to live with. This is not necessarily always a concept that carries a negative connotation, but the way he says it certainly does. He states it in a fast, mumbled way, giving the audience a sense of satire.

In the Skippy Demonstration Area, S.I.R.'s 'favorite feature is that the process can be suspended... indefinately.' This comment also carries a sinister tone to it. He doesn't say that this is a feature, but that it is his 'favorite feature.' This shows the shadiness of X-S.

Lastly, and definately the most blatent example of X-S's sinister side is Spinlok's disreguard to the human that is about to be whisked through the galaxy. Before the harnesses were lowered, the video showed Femus and Spinlok discussing how the system isn't capable of transporting such long distances safely and Femus points out that, 'Once again you (Spinlok) are putting sales before science.' Spinlok then states, 'Exactly. Someone's got to be a role model around here.' At this point he notices he's live, and severly changes his tone.


Sorry for the blabbering, but this finally gave me a chance to use the skills I've learned in skool. Wait, s-c-h-o-o-l.


:lookaroun

 

[Hochmania]

He put money ahead of people so that makes him bad.

 

[dxwwf3]

This is honestly one of the things that I loved about AE. Each person could take away from it what they wanted to. If they thought that Clench and XS-Tech was sinister because they tried to sell a flawed product that's fine. But if they just thought it was an egar company that just "had some bad luck" that's fine too.

I personally feel that XS-Tech was a greedy company that had a very greedly CEO. They wanted you to buy the teleporters at all cost. And they really didn't care who they put in harms way to do it (mainly Skippy and us). But I also think that Clench was sort of sinister in a way. That first preshow really hit this home for me.

But of course you can take from it what you want. I just think that AE was one of the best storylines Disney has ever created and I think that it didn't recieve enough credit for it's great storytelling.

 

[Maerj]

I found X-S Company in general to be sinister. They weren't outwardly evil, but there was something going on there. Its like they were up to something but weren't telling us. Just the way Clench said things, the way certain words were emphasized gave you the impression that not everything was what it seemed there. That's part of what made it so great!

 

[X2CommNavISTC]

Originally posted by dxwwf3
I personally feel that XS-Tech was a greedy company that had a very greedly CEO.

Hm...I seem to remember another company and a greedy CEO like that, though just who and what, I can't recall.
:lookaroun

 

[Walter]

Yes, Clench was sinister. That was one of the best things about AE, the realisticness of the company. It had an innocent exterior, yet a very sinister interior, and, if you analyze what is being fed to you, you can see right through that innocent exterior. AE was such a great attraction. Many people liked it just because of the effects of the main show, yet it was so much more than that. It is a portrayal of how greed has corrupted all of our lives. And, yes, S.I.R. and Spinlock were very sinister as well.

And, somebody made a comment about Dr. Seeker perhaps being sinister as well, and, yes, I believe so. His exterior is just a tad bit harder to see through. He is willing to put our unwilling lives on the line because he wants a dinosaur, for his own profit.

It's sad to write about AE in past tense.

 

[durhay]

Originally posted by Maerj
I found X-S Company in general to be sinister. They weren't outwardly evil, but there was something going on there. Its like they were up to something but weren't telling us. Just the way Clench said things, the way certain words were emphasized gave you the impression that not everything was what it seemed there. That's part of what made it so great!

I got that impression from my one and only experience at AE. I think it was the Phil Hartman version. I got the impression that they wanted to enslave Earth, not just make a profit. They used words that were close but not quite correct - what you'd expect from a non native-English speaker - but they did seem sinister. Like saying "Thank you for your submission" instead of "Thank you for your cooperation".

 

[Eljay]

Does anyone else recognize the actor that's playing Chairman Clench as the high school principal in Ferris Bueller's Day Off? That voice is so distinctive!