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Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Examines The Villain

There is a persistent fallacy regarding the villain in cinema in particular, but literature and fiction in general, and that is that villains think they are doing the right thing. Many will tell you that the villain always thinks he's doing the right thing - he somehow justifies it or has some moral compass which makes him feel what he is doing is logical and reasonable. This is not true.

Now many may feel that these make the most interesting, or frightening, villains, but not all villains believe they are doing the right thing. For me, the most frightening villains are those amoral characters - those without limits, without morality, without any attempt at reason.

The other most frightening villains for me are those whose backs are to the wall - the ones who have no choice but to escalate their evil. Now, in these cases, they touch upon the whole "thinks he's doing the right thing" fallacy, but I don't believe these villains think they are doing the right thing; they are doing what they have to do - and that, they may believe: "I have no choice but to do this."

These are just some thoughts I had while reviewing some of the documentaries based on horror and remarks I wanted to make regarding some of the same old saws all these docs seem to contain.

© C Harris Lynn, 2011

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