The Bad Guys and Gals
Movie villians are always getting a raw deal, man.
“The more successful the villain, the more successful the picture”--Alfred Hitchcock
More often than not, I am host to movie nights at my home, and one viewing for the outstanding Swedish film “Let the Right One In” always stands out to me. Focusing on the friendship/love between a young boy and vampire, the film went over rather well with most of my friends, save for one who always has to wreck the consensus. To her, vampire's were villains to be hunted down rather than root for in the context of film. So why, she asked, was it so easy for my friends and myself to root for the vampire of “Let the Right One In”?
It's 2009 and vampires are cool. I still detest you, “Twilight”, but I LOVE you “True Blood”!
However, so I have an excuse to be long winded, I reflected on my own perceptions of villainous figures in film and TV. Ever since I was a child, I have always rooted for the villains in movies, something that tended to disturb my mother. I was the little boy who reveled in the destruction of the sand castle, decapitated Barbie dolls (thank you Mortal Combat!) and felt Hexus from “Ferngully” had the right idea and best song.
But like all morally “correct” members of society, I'm happy to see the hero come out on top. I guess.
However, I can't stand how villains are (for lack of a better pun) “vilified” in pop culture. If the heroes of most films had their way, they would be go about their lives with no call to action; imagine Luke Skywalker spending the entire runtime of “Star Wars” farming and looking with longing at the moons. Imagine a Harry Potter film where literally ALL of the movie was about Harry's classes and sexual escapades (because the last two did not have enough of that). Yes...I know. The idea is more horrifying than what Anthony Hopkins did to his guards in “Silence of the Lambs”. These scenarios are all you would have to watch were it not for the villain.
Attention World! It's not the hero who triggers the film! The villain is the figure that puts fuel to the fire under the hero's ass. The best villains often are three steps ahead of our intrepid heroes and what could be more badass than staying ahead of (or going against) the “social ideal”?
My favorite example of an exceptional villain would be The Joker, from Batman lore. As seen in “The Dark Knight”, the Joker is the one who calls the shots for the entirety of the film. He knows all the answers to Batman's questions and executes plans (and people) before Batman finishes gargling with rocks to get his Clint Eastwood/Tom Waits voice effect.
As a society, we often associate the title of “villain” with one archetype; the lurking, dark figure. In an attempt to round out the villain archetype, another category must be recognized: tragic villains.
Tragic villains often are appreciated in a different way by viewers. Darth Vader from the “Star Wars” movies has become one of the most recognized villains in film history and one of the best examples of a tragic villain. Audience members know that he was not born evil but turned to a darker life due to tragedy.
It was the basis of a tragic villain that I defended “Let the Right One In” to my instigating friend. Despite the fact that the vampire killed many people in the film (good for her), it is in the small inflections of the character and her relationship with an innocent boy (who could not kill as she could) that make her a tragic figure. She kills to survive in her given circumstances and not only is it tragic to watch, it is fascinating. Now if only it were legal.
Unlike my friend (and grandparents), I got off my high horse about “good values” in film a long time ago. Not only are villains the ones who push a film/TV show forward, they are the ones who break all of the rules of society. They answer to nobody, apologize to nobody and operate outside a system that stifles human freedom for one reason or another. Regardless of who you are, you can't deny the prospect of writing your own book of rules is appealing; villains do just that. Even if they don't succeed, their motivation, actions and personalities are a sensory drug to a viewer like me, only pulling me in deeper to what I hope is an already compelling work.
Posted by Max Alborn, Max Alborn on Nov 04, 2009 @ 12:00 am
