Coming Soon to a Theater Near You: Epic Battles of Good vs. Evil
Monday, June 15, 2009 - FEATURES
[SP EXCLUSIVE: FILM PHLEGM]
It's summer, which means summer blockbusters, which means theatres will be overtaken by epic battles of GOOD vs. EVIL—good usually being depicted by some over-muscled, inhumanly beautiful person (or team) who radiates all that is noble and right; evil, meanwhile, is a) usually cooler and b) rather tormented. A quick look at three iconic bad guys, and you'll see the basic archetypes that exist. Between them, they raise interesting questions about the definition and origin of evil. I’ll get the reel lined up; you get the popcorn.
THE JOKER - Inherently Evil
If ever there was a gleefully, naturally evil character, Heath Ledger's Joker in The Dark Knight would've shot him—just for fun. This villain seemingly has no sad, personal story about a mommy who didn’t hug him enough (OK, technically, we get a few stories from him, but none seem true). Instead, we see the walking embodiment of unabashed bad behavior. He's man in his natural state (except for the make-up, perhaps): uninhibited, amoral, anarchistic and completely unapologetic. If, perhaps, he'd been born into the Wayne dynasty, he could be a shiny, well-dressed, upstanding citizen like Bruce Wayne—or even a crusader for good who just happens to dress like a bat to fight crime. Or could he? Maybe the Joker is a special breed of evil—an evil so inherent that even boarding school couldn't have helped him.
NERO - Inherently Good, Driven to Evil
(Spoiler Alert: If you haven't seen the new Star Trek movie yet, you might want to skip this.) In the latest sci-fi masterpiece, bad guy Nero is a simple miner working hard to support his beautiful pregnant wife. But when a star goes all supernova, seconds before Spock has a chance to turn the star into a black hole, the supenova destroys Nero's planet, Romulus. At that moment, Nero decides this occurrence is Spock's fault and embarks on a rather impressive destruction spree in the past, present, and future. These are actions Nero would likely never have even considered if his planet, people, and pregnant wife weren't obliterated. Talk about a bad day. Ultimately, however, his evil stems from experiencing severe hurt and anger, which he seeks to console in himself by making others feel the same.
DARTH VADER - Servant of Evil Forces
For you youngsters, Voldemort from the Harry Potter series also applies. Once you finish reading and discussing this, go watch the original Star Wars trilogy. GO! The Dark Side (or Dark Magic) runs much deeper than human bad behavior. This evil is a great cosmic force, engaged in an epic wrestling match with good, a battle that predates humanity and will continue well after we're fertilizer. Darth Vader and Voldemort are servants of this greater force, fighting the square-jawed powers of good while collecting new recruits for the bad. The seductive powers of The Dark Side (or Voldemort, or Satan, or whoever is in charge of evil) manages to tempt people, born evil or not, to sign up—and does so in ways that is beyond their control.
So which is it? Are humans born evil? Born good then corrupted? Or are there greater cosmic forces at play?
:: villians analyzed by @meggo
For the Freudians,
Id, Ego, Superego. It's as simple as that.
Everyone seeks to fill something in them, when you do something particularly mean you get a feeling, knowing you did something wrong, but enjoying it all the same, while compassion is the very opposite with similar rewards. You do something for someone and are rewarded with the good that comes of it. Each person balances these things, some better than others, which is true in every aspect of life, really.
we're a mixed bag, but it seems there's a dark streak in all of us if we're honest with ourselves. i do think it odd that you don't ever need to teach a kid to do wrong.
I think we are born as a big ball of moldable material.
No one Is born completely good or completely evil.
Experiences, Interactions, and Living Life are the determiners of what we grow up to be.
Human Beings are born neutral as far as the whole question of Good vs. Evil is conserned. This question of good and evil is just more of the human minds unwillingness to take reality just as it is. We are always trying to make our story more dramatic, more grandiose than it is. Never satisfied to be part of the grand scheme of things we want to be the center of attention, so we have to have heros and villians in order to make this happen.
One persons hero is another person's villian. The reality is always somewhere in between the two extremes. No one is absolutely right or absolutely wrong, it's just more "interesting" to pretend they are.
We are all good, but were born evil, and have to spend our lives making a million choices per day about which side of the line we want to stand on. It's pretty simple, and a fella named Andy Stanley said it best, "when faced with a difficult situation, just ask yourself, in light of your past experiences, your current circumstances, and your future hopes and dreams; what is the WISE thing to do?" Genius.
What I notice - what is jumping out here (and I haven't seen anyone else comment on it) - is that you are calling it Epic Battles of Good vs. Evil.... but the only thing you are interested in is the "evil". Is "Good" a monochromatic yawn?
Why are the bad guys always the most interesting? For that matter, why is it all bad GUYS? I think conditions of badness are interesting, but so are conditions of goodness - and the interplay between them. And why are there so few interesting female characters anywhere?
Born good, then corrupted to the dark side where there are no cookies, despite the t-shirts that say otherwise.
Also, may the Force be with you. (is there a Force? probably not but maybe in a galaxy far, far away...)
Why are these characters driven to be "evil"? There's really no point for them to have an insane power-grab, like in the case of Vader, except for the sake of a movie where the "good" side is supposed to win. It should be called Straw Man, not Star Wars.
It's simple entertainment, like a (football) soccer game. You need two teams. One you want to win, and one you want to lose. The one you want to win is your "good" team, etc.
Good and evil do not really exist. Evil is used to paint what someone doesn't want, and good is used to paint something that someone wants you to do. At least that's how the logic works around most moderns.
Just a point- a lot of people have been questioning the relevance of the film characters, and saying they don't represent or interpret life. Yet, characters in films are usually supposed to be human- the film experiences we remember most often involve characters who seem the most relatable or 'human' on screen. In order to have convincing characters, the best writers usually craft every detail of character's life, and create for them an entirely unique psyche. Characters- on page and on screen- are made in the image of people, and can often represent or be used to interpret aspects of the human condition.
- LIFE's BIG QUESTIONS
- ATTACK A CHALLENGE
Humans choose, in every way, what or who or how they will become as a person in this world. God allows this choice, yet many are uninformed of that choice, therefore, evilness/a.k.a. bad humans, fall into the trap set by eternal dastardly deviants.