Who We Love to Hate and Hate to Love

DISSECTING VILLAINS IN FILM

Written by Cate Tarr, Arts Staff Writer Illustrated by Filip Jawdosiuk, Contributing Graphic Artist

The good, the bad and the evil—each divided into its own respective category, containing qualities as distinguishable as black and white. But what if I told you that evil can, at times, inform the good? That evil can wear the sheepskin of benevolence or even come from the same foundations of what we perceive as ever virtuous and true?

In film, characters are often placed into boxes that inform the viewer not only how to think of and define them, but also how to imagine their past and predict their future. Recalling my first encounters with villains as a child, I remember trembling at the sight of Maleficent and her deadly desires while conversely batting my eyes in awe of Aurora, the Sleeping Beauty.

But it is not Maleficent’s bitter desires that scare the audience, it’s the fact that she seems to know no limits. She’s a malevolent character who is not aware of her cruel status; rather, she is highly conscious of it and may even take pride in it. In knowing their own immorality, villains are terrifying because they are able to twist the narrative to justify their malicious actions.1

Often coinciding with political conversations of the time, many villains also actively contribute to harmful and unfounded stereotypes. One example of this issue can be seen in the first “Iron Man.” The film contains misleading stereotypes, such as the portrayal of an Afghan terrorist group called the Ten Rings, which actively reinforced anti-Arab sentiments in height of the war on terror.2 In the same vein, it is not uncommon in both animated children’s movies and films aimed at adults to encounter more people of color playing villains, or villains with a “foreign” accent, further reinforcing ideologies of nationalism and mindsets in which

¹ Lewis, “6 Ways to Write Truly Terrifying Villains,” 2020. ² Aidan Bryant, “Iran Man: A Case Study in Orientalism and Hegemony,” 2011. anything outside of one’s own experience is deemed wrong.

As the aftermath of WWII unraveled in America, for example, the media gave the public a surge of German villains; similarly, during the Cold War came an unusual onset of Russian adversaries.3 These trends are deeply harmful, as the media actively shapes our perceptions of the world and the individuals that live in it, even if we do not realize when a point of view is being formed.

Despite this, many villains are talked about fondly and are even considered relatable. In underscoring the phenomenon of a backstory and providing realistic reasons for how a person can turn evil, screenwriters are able to make villains human again by subverting outdated tropes in which characters are evil for the sake of evil.

Take Darth Vader: Adorned across the faces of children as young as one, the mask of Darth Vader can be seen on neighborhood streets each Halloween. Despite his reputation as a cruel Sith Lord, Darth Vader is beloved and even honored by fans.

“Star Wars” creators achieved this likeability by telling his story—one that explains to the audience how this seemingly harmless boy came to be the fearsome Darth Vader. Revealing to viewers that this precarious personality once took form as both a gallant Jedi Knight and an innocent young child, the audience can begin to understand not only what makes a character who they are, but can also even relate to the decisions that a character made to arrive there.4

Along those lines, when Todd Phillips and Scott Silver wrote “The Joker” in 2019, they were able to garner support and affection for a murderous character. They did so, mainly, by showcasing how he came to be the villain we all recognize from the “Batman” comics, shows and movies. In illuminating the disgusting treatment and complete apathy that society threw at Arthur Fleck due to his disorder and odd habits, Phillips and Scott move audiences to empathize with the Joker, despite his inhumane actions as he descends into madness.5

Villains are important because they exemplify how humans are never perfect and contain unseemly qualities and motivations, even in cinema. By recognizing a time when even the scariest villain once had good intentions, the audience can begin to understand where good and evil intertwine and intersect, especially in real life. Seeing this crossover can help point to ways in which we as individuals might be misinterpreting an opposing individual in our own lives—causing us to reflect not only on our own human nature but also the ways in which we perceive the actions of others. ■

⁴ Mathew Jackson, “The Entire Darth Vader Story finally explained” Loper, 2019. ⁵ Alex Abad-Santos, “The fight over Joker and the new movie’s ‘dangerous’ message, explained ” Vox, 2019. MARCH 2022