I learned an important thing in my undergrad English classes. As my class and I talked about our little rants about practically anything, I remember having a large discussion about villains.
I get a bit upset when films and books display the "bad guys" as horrible people. They expect the audience to recognize the villain and fall in love with the hero. As for me, I turn away from the hero and find myself more attracted to the villain. I felt as though I had a stronger connection with them.
As humans, we are naturally flawed. We are stubborn and bullheaded and many of us believe that we are doing the right thing, even when we're not. In our eyes, we believe that we are the good guys. We believe that we are making the right choices. We believe we are helping ourselves and sometimes even believe we are helping the world. Those villains believe the same thing.
If we really take a look at those "bad guys", we see that they're not all bad. I remember watching Daredevil on Netflix and watched Kingpin's story. I understood and even felt bad for him. Part of me really wanted him to achieve his dream. Because of how he grew up and the poor relationship he had with his father, his "evil actions" weren't evil to him. He wanted to save Hell's Kitchen. He wanted to be the hero, the good guy. He really believed that he wasn't the villain.
The Joker is probably one of my most favorite villains. I don't think he's meant to be a good guy, but part of me thinks so. He's psychotic, but he's realistic. In his insane mind, he wants to show Batman that they are the same. He wants to show him that people can become corrupt, manipulated, and even the hero can become the villain. In Batman: The Killing Joke, the audience gets to see his origin story. After struggling, wanting people to appreciate him, and losing his wife and child, he finally snaps and becomes insane. He wants to prove to Batman and to everyone else that any man can become chaotic.
In Netflix's Jessica Jones, we get the back story of Kilgrave. He seems horrible and sadistic by controlling people, but as the season goes on, we see he didn't understand what real love was. He was a scientific experiment made by his parents who felt unloved and was scared. He learned to use his gift to survive and even feel a false love from others. He wasn't a villain, but a man who didn't know right from wrong.
When Maleficent came out, people finally understood why she was so "evil". Her wings were taken from her by a man she fell in love with. She was hurt, scared, and felt betrayed. In her eyes, she believed she was right for putting a spell on Sleeping Beauty. We saw that she really cared for her. She wasn't this evil villain at all. She was a caring creature who only wanted what was hers. As we see it from her side, we realize she wasn't some horrible monster the way we saw it before.
I can go on and on, but that's not the point. I love villains because their corruption makes sense. They are heroes, but just misunderstood heroes. In reality, anybody could be a villain. If we switched the point of view of the characters and told the story from the villain's eyes, do they become the hero? Do we understand why they act off their reasons? Maybe. I believe so. I believe that there is no defined line between good or bad. It is not black or white but only grey. Everyone is a hero and everyone is a villain. That's why I love villains, because they connect to us more than the hero.
