Why People Love the Villain: a Synthesis Essay
Jasmine Brewton
ENC 1102
Fitzgerald
12 March 2013
Why People Love the Villain: A Synthesis Essay
The Joker, Batman's nemesis, is far from a golden example of good. In fact, he's more of a madman out to watch the world burn as he causes chaos, which he calls “justice”. And even though he is evil and madness incarnate, there's still a place for him in people's minds under the category of awesome. From the show Supernatural, the fallen angel, Lucifer enjoys torturing, killing and bringing on the apocalypse. Nonetheless, he's a major character and has a beloved place within the heart of the fandom. Both the Joker and Lucifer are villains that enjoy causing havoc. Yet fans still love them regardless of their evil ways. But why do people even care for the villain at all? There's a rather fitting quote written in an essay called“Why Vampires Never Die”by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan, which is printed in Patterns for College Writing: “Monsters, like angels, are invoked by our individual and collective needs” (362). This is to say that in our minds villains, like heroes, are in place because we need them to exist just as the hero exists. Our minds are changing in favor of the villain because we ourselves are changing and evolving. But are our moral lines shifting to the point where we like the villain over the good guy? Is the line between good and bad devolving to the point where we would more likely idolize the evil genius who puts us in harm’s way instead of the hero that pulls us from hell's flame? It could be that this current generation prefers to show“sympathy for the devil” (Kripke) because on some level, we can relate to the villain. We can see where he's coming from and how he may have been wronged. Another reason rises from how the villain engulfs the dark side that we often cannot show because it's unaccepted by what is supposed to be normal society. Everyday Joe may love the villain so much because we can somewhat sympathize with the
ENC 1102
Fitzgerald
12 March 2013
Why People Love the Villain: A Synthesis Essay
The Joker, Batman's nemesis, is far from a golden example of good. In fact, he's more of a madman out to watch the world burn as he causes chaos, which he calls “justice”. And even though he is evil and madness incarnate, there's still a place for him in people's minds under the category of awesome. From the show Supernatural, the fallen angel, Lucifer enjoys torturing, killing and bringing on the apocalypse. Nonetheless, he's a major character and has a beloved place within the heart of the fandom. Both the Joker and Lucifer are villains that enjoy causing havoc. Yet fans still love them regardless of their evil ways. But why do people even care for the villain at all? There's a rather fitting quote written in an essay called“Why Vampires Never Die”by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan, which is printed in Patterns for College Writing: “Monsters, like angels, are invoked by our individual and collective needs” (362). This is to say that in our minds villains, like heroes, are in place because we need them to exist just as the hero exists. Our minds are changing in favor of the villain because we ourselves are changing and evolving. But are our moral lines shifting to the point where we like the villain over the good guy? Is the line between good and bad devolving to the point where we would more likely idolize the evil genius who puts us in harm’s way instead of the hero that pulls us from hell's flame? It could be that this current generation prefers to show“sympathy for the devil” (Kripke) because on some level, we can relate to the villain. We can see where he's coming from and how he may have been wronged. Another reason rises from how the villain engulfs the dark side that we often cannot show because it's unaccepted by what is supposed to be normal society. Everyday Joe may love the villain so much because we can somewhat sympathize with the