“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isaiah 5:20 ESV)
Hollywood, and those who share the mindset in other storytelling forms, seems to have done exactly that, and former actor and failed LA mayor candidate Spencer Pratt would know. He was the villain once, but in the era of deconstructing heroes and making villains “well rounded” and sympathetic while hurting and killing the masses may be working their way into the real world. Or so he claims, as reported by That Park Place. Seeing as even definitive kids show evil like Megatron and Skeletor have joined the Wicked Witch Of The West, Maleficent, and Cruella DeVille (her name is almost LITERALLY “cruel and evil”!!!!) in being shown to be the good guy the whole time, it’s hard to disagree with him even before he calls out real world murderers being given the same treatment by the general public.
The goal of the villain is to show the path you shouldn’t take, to be catharsis against the evils of the world, and represent the obstacles we face in life either metaphorically, spiritually, or in actuality. (Though I doubt many of us are going to face an evil magic user or space robot. A woman who wants to kill puppies, we shouldn’t rule out.) That’s hard to find now in the name of being more “mature” and the negative effects are hard to ignore in world both fictional and real.
BW Media Spotlight 