Villains

Why so serious? Love them or hate them, we can't ignore that without them, whether fictional, political, or fantastical, there would be no story. So why is it that certain villains manage to steal the show more than others, and what is it about them that grapples us so? Villains often outshine heroes because they drive the story forward, challenging the hero's morality, and invite us to explore sides of ourselves that lie dormant unbeknownst to us.

Lady Macbeth is one of my personal favorite villains who has had more than thousands of thesis papers written on her I'm sure—but she laid the foundation for the symbol of a woman yearning for power beyond the capabilities society allows her to have. While there is no definitive connection between Cersei Lannister and Lady Macbeth—the differences between the two are slim to none. Cersei is also another infamous antagonist who manages to—as much as we hate to say it—fascinate us. Why is it that the complexity behind someone so horrible is always interesting to see? Villains often get layered backstories that manage to induce empathy and enrapture its audience pretty much every single time. Their motives and traumas that follow the birthing point are where the paths differ. Personally I actually found myself understanding villains much more after my wonderful dog had passed away. I don't get to have my beloved furry best friend and be happy. Why should you? Now thankfully I am not demented and am not gonna act on anything like that but once you endure the pain you can understand how another got to a different destination than you did when given the opportunity. Villains tend to also have the accessibility to do so much more harm than good. Yes, my dog passed away and I was extremely sad, but I am not an evil genius and comprehend the concepts of astrophysics in order to build a death ray. Nor do I have a cult-ish band of blind followers to break me out of prison and have an unlimited supply of guns for some reason. Does this contribute to the fascination? That villains get to do what we can't?

Villains allow themselves to be as chaotic, and unrestrained as they please and disrupt the story's order in whatever way they choose. They manage to mirror the darker parts of humanity that we can't help but be curious about. It's the whole reason President Snow from The Hunger Games got his own book—too many were curious about the man who saw zero problems with murdering 24 children every year. The book, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes was awesome though please go read it. Even smaller villains like Amy Dunne in Gone Girl who is, still to this day, up for debate when it comes to her classification as the villain of the novel and film. Evil or not....she was brilliant. It was her brilliance, charm, and honestly just sheer audacity that made her so intriguing to watch and can't help but root for sometimes. There are the more obvious forms of villains and then there are those who have endured traumatic pasts and see nothing beyond justice—they are blind to the negatives it will take to reach their goal. Anakin Skywalker is an infamous villain in this manner and once the volumes of his backstory were released you could not help but feel sympathetic towards him. And then there's Thanos from Marvel who is just an ass.

There are layers behind the villains and their reasons and then there are those who are automatically assumed to be the villain. I apologize that this blog post is more centered in movies but they are just better examples. Megamind for instance—assumed villain because of his alien status and the first ten minutes of the movie, but it manages to deliver a full 180° with him truly being a good guy and the one presumed superhero was actually evil. Also, I don't know if anyone here has ever seen Cruel Summer but it details an outcast girl named Jeanette who idolizes—borderline obsesses, albeit discreetly—a popular named Kate. And one day Kate goes missing and, give or take a few episodes and details, when Kate returns, Jeanette is blamed for her prolonged disappearance because she allegedly knew where Kate was. Despite reviews for the show, the original idea of it was said by the writer and I feel it is relevant for this post. It was meant to point out how quick society will be to blame an outsider liker Jeanette before she can even say her piece. The original message delivers well and it is true that in worlds both fictional and realistic, when someone of greater influence points the finger at you, suddenly everything you say falls on deaf ears.

The development from the old archetype of a villain—the mustache-twirling, cartoonish, purely bad guy—to the newer nuanced versions we have now is a whole new genre of backstory that WHEN DONE CORRECTLY, is intriguing in every way. Maleficent for instance—a timeless classic villain that was given a backstory film that gave you enough to understand and empathize with her in the original movie. Then there is Birds of Prey for Harley Quinn—a movie where genuinely nothing happens. While I will delve into another point, I do want to note that I think children's movies mainly need a martyr for a villain. Encanto for instance, there really isn't a big conflict other than the grandmother being unfair and unappreciative. Versus Mother Gothel in Tangled, Jafar in Aladdin, Ursula in The Little Mermaid, and every other Disney villain, they are martyr's willing to go to extreme lengths for their cause. This then follows into when backstories are not done correctly. I do feel that lately media literacy has died because for some reason now everyone needs a backstory, or separate movie for every character. Gladys from Weapons (banger movie please go see it) does not need a backstory. She is the antagonist and her goal is very clearly articulated in the film. The vampire from Sinners. ALSO DOES NOT NEED A BACKSTORY? Nosferatu? The backstory exists already? Literally just go read Dracula.

Heroes tend to have to play by the rules. Villain's don't. That alone tends to fascinate the audiences much more than we'd like to admit. Especially in fantastical settings where you get to see magic thrown in the mix. At their most prominent, villains tend to mirror emotions we have all seen and felt all to well—jealousy, loss, betrayal, heartbreak—emotions that drive us to maddening levels of pain we imagine acting on, yet don't. At least I THINK we don't. Sure we might egg someone's car now and then but that's mildly acceptable I think. Villains manage to demonstrate what might happen in a world where these emotions are left to fester and remain unchecked. I guess this is the most interesting thing about them—that the line between heroes and villains isn't as clearly drawn in the sand as we'd like to think.