Classic villains suck, actually
You know, those villains which are just one-dimensionally “pure evil”, especially the ones on classic Disney films.
Let’s start with redemption arcs. Depending on how they are implemented, I either love or hate them.
I love them if the characters have expressed remorse and endure proportionate consequences for their actions. I despise them them if we are expected to forgive them just for the sake of forgiving. Because I have experienced bullying myself, I certainly apply the same mindset to real life people.
Trying to understanding why people are the way they are, however, is not the same as giving them redemption arcs. Understanding them is not the same as forgiving them. If anything, I am one of those who believe knowing your enemies is half the battle. How can you defeat them when you know little about them?
Obviously, while such approach is useful in the real world, one can argue it is unnecessary for fictional characters, as they cannot tangibly harm us in any ways. Fair enough.
But, if a character can be psychoanalysed, I personally find them more human. It is much easier for me to relate them to real life people, including myself. Evil can exists among the mundane and no one can 100% guarantee we wouldn’t be led astray to the darkest of all paths.
The realness of the villains also amplify my fear and hatred of them, to the point where the emotions linger, even after I stop watching and reading them. I take the emotions far more personally.
Don’t get me wrong: I am not opposed to one-dimensional characters. Not only I can enjoy escapist and light-hearted entertainment, most of my media consumption consists of such content.
And I also think it understandable if people prefer them because those “grey” villains are thoughtlessly-written and we end up feeling too sorry for them.
But, to say those classic villains are compelling…
What’s so compelling about characters that fail to remind us about the real world? What’s so compelling about characters that fail to make us contemplate about ourselves and how we perceive each other?
What’s so compelling about characters that allow us to tune our brains off?
Why can’t people just simply enjoy escapist entertainment without pretending it is something more?
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I know the black mould inhaler has become a pariah in some circles (and rightfully so). But, I have to mention Harry Potter because it has good examples. Two characters, specifically: Voldemort and Dolores Umbridge. From my anecdotes (admittedly, I don’t have a more solid evidence), fans hate the latter more than they hate the former.
While genocidal fascists like Voldemort do exist in the real world, they are not the bad guys which the average person faces daily. It also doesn’t help he is written as a classic pure evil villain with a grotesque look, unintentionally insinuating he was never human in the first place. Despite his ideological similarities to Hitler, Voldemort still feels too distant from most people’s mundane reality. I don’t know how real-life people genocide survivors (is that even an appropriate term?) perceive him.
Meanwhile, Dolores Umbridge is the kind of person we have faced in our daily lives. I am confident all of us know multiple people who share at least some of her traits: authoritarian, physically abusive, prejudiced. In some cases, they are immoral enough to be ideologically indistinguishable from extremists, as proven in the last novel, in which she happily assists Voldemort’s regime. If you have never met such people, you are either one of them or living an extremely sheltered life.
I have never heard of people who are sincerely on Voldemort’s side, not even the alt-right, neo-nazis and any groups with fascistic tendencies. Maybe his admirers exist and I am just lucky to have never encountered them myself.
But, I have definitely encountered people who defend Umbridge. I found them in one Harry Potter fan group on Facebook.
They argue she is not evil, she is just a misunderstood person who is just “doing her job”. Obviously, it is stupid.
First, she joyfully enforces those unreasonable and hateful rules, both in Hogwarts AND ministry of magic under Voldermort’s rule; she does not care about order, she just loves being powerful and seeing other people suffer. Second, during her reign in Hogwarts, she is the one who make the rules, rules she makes as she wishes! If she is truly just doing her job, she wouldn’t find pleasure in it and she wouldn’t create those unreasonable and repressive rules herself.
Those admirers of hers are either bootlickers or aspiring to have their boots licked.
Both of Voldemort and Umbridge lack any redeeming qualities. But, only one of them provokes strong emotions among fans.
One is written as a mere embodiment of “pure evil”. Despite having coincidental similarities to real life fascists, he ends up feeling like a trope rather than a fleshed-out character.
The other one is specifically written to represent the horrible people we encounter in our mundane lives. Despite being fictional, she feels very real to most of us. Despite being based on one specific person Rowling encountered in the past, it feels like we have dealt with the likes of Umbridge before.
