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“
No one ever takes a photograph of something they want to forget.
„
~ Seymour "Sy" Parrish
“
Sy Parrish: Are you a family man, Detective? Detective Van Der Zee: That's none of your business, Sy. Sy Parrish: You're right, it's not. But I can see by your response and the ring on your finger that you are. That makes you a fortunate man. I can also tell by the way you've treated me so far that you're a good man, a good husband and father. A man who appreciates his good fortune. You're not the type of father who would cheat on his wife, hurt his family, abuse their trust. [pause] You would never neglect or abuse your children. [chokes up] Make horrible demands of your children. You would never ask... You would never ask your children to do things... things that children shouldn't do. [crying] You would never take disgusting, sick, degrading pictures of your children doing these things![calms down a little] You would never treat your children like animals. Will Yorkin had it all and he threw it away. He is not a good father. Detective Van Der Zee: I...well, I think I understand now, Sy. Thank you for answering my questions so candidly. Sy Parrish: You're welcome.
„
~ Sy explaining his tragic and troubled motivations to Detective Van Der Zee.
Seymour "Sy" Parrish is the main protagonist of the 2002 psychological thriller film One Hour Photo.
And if these pictures have anything important to say to future generations, it's this: I was here. I existed. I was young, I was happy, and someone cared enough about me in this world to take my picture.
„
~ Sy Parrish
Not much is known about Sy's past. Sy claims to Jake Yorkin that he was an overweight child who was unpopular at school and not good at sports. He claims that he was sickly and broke his collarbone from falling out of a tree once and was always coming down with mono or hepatitis as a child. It is heavily implied at the end of the film that Sy's father sexually exploited him for child pornography. This could be the real cause of his collarbone injury and his numerous illnesses like mono or hepatitis, which are often transmitted sexually. This backstory would explain his desire to be a part of the Yorkins, whom he considers to be the perfect family. It is unclear what became of Sy's parents, although it's stated that his mother died, and it's unlikely his father is still alive. Sy presents a picture he purchased from a flea market as one of his mother since he did not have a real photo of his own mother, a strong indication that she was involved in his childhood abuse.
As an adult, likely in his late 40s, Sy is a photo technician who works in a mini lab he calibrated inside a (presumably) Los Angeles SavMart in the fictional Evans County. Sy had been working at SavMart since 1990 during the events of the film (which takes place in 2001), which was released in 2002. Sy claimed that he had not done any prints wrong in 11 years, and to have worked point of sale mini labs for twenty years total.
He leads a lonely life outside of the department store. His work is everything to him, as he has no one to go home to at the end of each day; he spends his time at home sitting alone and watching television, and his only companion is a hamster. His favorite customers are the Yorkin family and he has developed an obsession for them, idolizing their happiness and affluence and wanting to associate with them.
Sy takes great pride in his photo work, disgusted at lazy photo technicians who put out washed out or darkened prints, and was very careful to ensure that the color was as rich and as real as it could possibly be and took enough care to do people's photos as if they were his own, including those for the Yorkin family. He secretly makes copies of the Yorkin family pictures and puts them on the walls of his apartment, fantasizing about being a member of their family and sharing their love he thinks they feel.
Sy purchases a photo of a woman at a flea market later, and then tells Nina that this was his mother after following her to a store. The following day, the store manager Bill Owens completes an audit investigation on company expenditures. In the findings, he discovers that Sy has printed hundreds of prints more than have been ordered and paid for, spacing out on the job, taking unauthorized 90-minute lunch breaks, and giving away free merchandise, including a free camera for Jake’s birthday. Sy is fired, effective at the end of the workweek, leaving him devastated.
At home, Sy inspects some of his photos. He sees a picture of Will Yorkin’s graphic design firm employee photo and recognizes a woman who Sy is familiar with. Knowing her as Maya Burson (one of his customers), Sy returns to the SavMart store at 4 AM to check her pictures. In a bundle of holiday beach photos, he finds out Will Yorkin is having an extramarital affair. Emotionally surprised and shocked, his notions of their "perfect" family are shattered. Before Sy leaves for his last day at work, he replaces the photos in the envelope meant for Nina with the Maya's pictures, hoping it will break her and he husband up. However, once he waits outside their house in his car, he is enraged to see through the window that they are just having dinner like it never happened-implying she never confronted Will about the affair and most likely did not plan on it.
Sy later takes pictures of Bill's daughter, paparazzi style, as revenge for firing him, leading to a police investigation against him. Officers arrive at his apartment only to find that he’s gone. The officers also discovery his mural of photos, all of whom featuring Will are scratched off. This indicates Sy is going to kill him. Officers arrive at Nina and Will's home and inform Nina of the threatening news; they try desperately to call Will Yorkin back but to no avail.
Meanwhile Sy watches Will and Maya exit their design firm office, embracing each other as they drive off back to their hotel. Sy follows and enters the reception. He makes a fake phone call pretending to be room service in order to infiltrate their room. The deception is succeeds and Sy arrives at room 511, where Will and Maya are having sex. Sy knocks on the door, claiming to be with room service. Maya calls out requesting that the supposed clerk leave the meal on the floor outside the door, but Sy says she needs to sign for it. As soon as Maya unlocks the door, Sy forces his way inside, bashing her head against a steel bolt, hurting her forehead and knocking her off balance. A buck naked Will immediately gets up, shocked to see Sy in his room. Sy pulls out a knife and orders Maya to get on the bed. Will thinks this is a robbery, but Sy orders him to shut up and instructs him to close the drapes.
Sy threatens and grills Will and Maya to force the lovers to obey his orders or they will be stabbed. Sy orders them not to touch each other and pose in sexual positions while he takes pictures, shouting along the way.
After the disturbing confrontation, the police arrive, and he attempts to escape, but triggers an alarm; Van Der Zee chases him while Paul Outerbridge finds the traumatized couple. After the chase, Seymour is caught and arrested in the parking garage as he attempted to make a break for his car, with Sy saying he just "took pictures".
During the investigation, Van asks why he terrorized the Yorkins. Sy does not respond but says that he can tell that Van is a good man, and not the kind of father that would take "sick, degrading pictures of his children"; the implication is that Sy's own father exploited him for child pornography. With Van preparing to take his confession, Sy asks for the pictures he took at the hotel, which Van says are "evidence". The photos appear to only be shots of objects and interior furnishings of a hotel room.
The film's ending is of a picture of Sy with the Yorkin family, and it is left ambiguous whether it is real, or a figment of Sy's imagination.
Personality[]
Seymour Parrish suffers from delusions, such as his eyes bleeding profusely in the famous, disturbing nightmare scene. The possible meaning of this is that his eyes cannot cope with what they have seen.
“
The things you're most afraid of have already happened.
„
~ Sy quoting Deepak Chopra to Nina.
Sy Parrish is a middle-aged man who lives a lonely, monotonous, and monochromatic life. Despite essentially being the film's primary villain, Sy never hurts anyone. However, Sy does cross the line by stalking his boss's family after he is fired for stealing photos and by holding Will and Maya hostage at knife point and psychologically terrorizing them-also threatening death to Mr. Yorkin if he didn't do what he told him to. Sy's childhood was filled with sexual abuse, as his father forced him to perform in child pornography, something he would later call "sick" and "degrading", as well as "things that children shouldn't do". This harsh upbringing had a strong impact on Sy's life and contributed to Sy's passion for photo developing. It also sheds light on why he forced Will and Maya to pose for photos. All of that explains why he did the things that he did and makes him a tragic figure, as he only wanted someone to love him. The argument can be made that Sy was denied a childhood and was much like a child in a grown man's body.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Seymour Parrish walking outside the SavMart store.
The seemingly calm Seymour Sy Parrish.
Seymour Sy Parrish is but alone and without friends or family.
Seymour Parrish looks at his collection of photos mounted on the wall.
A police file of Seymour "Sy" Parrish.
Seymour "Sy" Parrish
A picture of Mr. Seymour Sy Parrish who worked as SavMart's photo technician since 1990.
Videos[]
Sy's Nightmare
Trivia[]
Seymour "Sy" Parrish is an employee at the store SavMart (a parody of Walmart and Save Mart Supermarkets).
The fictional store SavMart where Seymour Parrish works at, is a parody of superstores such as Wal-Mart and Save Mart Supermarkets.
Sy claimed to have calibrated the mini lab himself and mentioned that he made sure it was "the best in the state".
Sy is 5'9 and weighs 175 pounds according to his police file.
Jack Nicholson was considered to play this role but lost to Robin Williams. Coincidentally, Williams was considered for both Jack Torrance in The Shining and the Joker in Batman, roles in which Nicholson ended up being cast.
Robin Williams' performance as Sy was universally praised as one of the best of his career. He won a Saturn Award for Best Actor, in addition to being nominated for several other awards.
