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Yet again, into the oft-explained.
4 years ago
General
Pardon to those who care to bother with my oft-times boring journals, but it seems yet again I fear I must tread upon well-trodden ground. Yet again, as happens every once in a while, I find I need to explain in detail something that should be painfully obvious, but in the current sociopolitical climate that we are surrounded in sadly seems to somehow find itself lost to obscurity.
This ground is the following: one can, thoroughly and completely, enjoy a fictional character who is a "bad guy". The antagonist is there to be, ideally, as compelling a character as any protagonist; to present to you, the reader or viewer, a view that one may even be sympathetic towards, and in doing so thus make their reason for being the antagonist feel real and present, to make sense, and to even make the moral standpoint they have seem compelling (even if wrong).
Enjoying such a character, participating in them, finding even partially something in them one agrees with, even if on the whole they're actions are disagreeable, doe NOT, I will say again, NOT in any way, manner, shape or form mean that YOU, the viewer/reader, in some way support the behavior shown (or indeed any depravities the character may commit) IN THE REAL WORLD!!!
I say this once again because, as seems to often be the case, one of the people I know, and, indirectly, myself, have come recently under fire from parties whom shall remain nameless for enjoying villain characters in stories and video. In such, the mere fact that we found these characters enjoyable, even in some cases having redeeming qualities, apparently means to many a person that of course WE, the viewers and readers, must somehow endorse, even outright desire, to be part of such villainy.
I can not stress it enough - fiction, ALL fiction, is there for storytelling. It is not a guide, not an instruction manual, not a list of how to perform morally reprehensible acts, nor is enjoying it, in all its' aspects, somehow some sort of indicator that the reader or viewer wants to be like that.
Reading about, viewing, and LIKING a villain does NOT make YOU a villain. It does not make the reader morally bankrupt, hateful, or in agreement with the villain's philosophy. It doesn't mean one IS or ENJOYS these things IRL, and it is, by no means or stretch of the imagination, some form of admission, guilty or otherwise, of being this kind of person, endorsing it in others, or the like.
One can like fiction for what it is. Most sane, stable folk can differentiate fantasy from reality. It seems that this fact is increasingly forgotten in this day and age.
And on this note, I'm done.
P.S. - No, I shall not, here or in private, name names. There are those who will understand this, there are many who will sympathize with this, and this is as pointed and specific as I shall go. Thank you all for respecting that aforehand.
Yours all,
Mika
This ground is the following: one can, thoroughly and completely, enjoy a fictional character who is a "bad guy". The antagonist is there to be, ideally, as compelling a character as any protagonist; to present to you, the reader or viewer, a view that one may even be sympathetic towards, and in doing so thus make their reason for being the antagonist feel real and present, to make sense, and to even make the moral standpoint they have seem compelling (even if wrong).
Enjoying such a character, participating in them, finding even partially something in them one agrees with, even if on the whole they're actions are disagreeable, doe NOT, I will say again, NOT in any way, manner, shape or form mean that YOU, the viewer/reader, in some way support the behavior shown (or indeed any depravities the character may commit) IN THE REAL WORLD!!!
I say this once again because, as seems to often be the case, one of the people I know, and, indirectly, myself, have come recently under fire from parties whom shall remain nameless for enjoying villain characters in stories and video. In such, the mere fact that we found these characters enjoyable, even in some cases having redeeming qualities, apparently means to many a person that of course WE, the viewers and readers, must somehow endorse, even outright desire, to be part of such villainy.
I can not stress it enough - fiction, ALL fiction, is there for storytelling. It is not a guide, not an instruction manual, not a list of how to perform morally reprehensible acts, nor is enjoying it, in all its' aspects, somehow some sort of indicator that the reader or viewer wants to be like that.
Reading about, viewing, and LIKING a villain does NOT make YOU a villain. It does not make the reader morally bankrupt, hateful, or in agreement with the villain's philosophy. It doesn't mean one IS or ENJOYS these things IRL, and it is, by no means or stretch of the imagination, some form of admission, guilty or otherwise, of being this kind of person, endorsing it in others, or the like.
One can like fiction for what it is. Most sane, stable folk can differentiate fantasy from reality. It seems that this fact is increasingly forgotten in this day and age.
And on this note, I'm done.
P.S. - No, I shall not, here or in private, name names. There are those who will understand this, there are many who will sympathize with this, and this is as pointed and specific as I shall go. Thank you all for respecting that aforehand.
Yours all,
Mika
~Wolve
I would even put it to you that the villain(s) in a story or other work of fiction, assuming the story has them, is the one thing that makes or breaks the story.
Case in point: the Borg in Star Trek.
In ST: The Next Generation, they were to be feared. In the two* encounters with them, the Enterprise had to rely on a literal deus Q machina to save their bacon when meeting one ship, or it took almost literally hacking into the collective through a backdoor after one ship wiped the floor with an admittedly hastily assembled fleet of about 40 ships.
In ST: Voyager however... they almost became a laughing stock due to poor script writing.
There are probably dozens of other examples that I could give, but I think this one brings my point across the best.
* I'm not counting the Hugh episode, heartwarming though it might have been, nor the rogue Borg double-episode
There are so many awesome CHARACTERS over the years...The tragedies of Gollum, Saruman, and Wyrm Tongue...(He did it for the glory of love! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQHhqDRn4_c)
And that's just onesource...
Personally I'm a fan of Sandor Clegane...(Team SanxSan!)
And there's so many diff ways to enjoy the villains...love to hate them, watch them get their comeuppance, root for their redemption...(Which is why Gollum is so poignant...)
Yeah the best villains ARE awesome characters of their own accord...