[ SECRET POST #2518 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2518 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 03 pages, 060 secrets from Secret Submission Post #360.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

Re: Because that would mean humanizing the villains in their own lives

[sparklywalls]

I really enjoyed this comment as an explanation as to why people like the simple view. Personally, I enjoy the "grey area" interpretation of villainy but want to say something about this statement...

"because the alternative is to realize that every awful thing you hate about someone? You can do it too, and you can become what you hate."

I think some of our fascination with villains comes not only from this, but also the fact that there's a small (dark) part of us all that may worry that if circumstances were different or if we could get away with it (as a pretend world allows you to get away with a LOT) then we are capable of acting the same way...and not necessarily seeing anything wrong with it. Some villains try to justify their actions either to themselves, the hero, or the audience and sometimes it's hard not to go "actually, I sort of see their point"

Another thing that really weirds me out sometimes is that villains get categorised as "love to hate" - well isn't that a strange thing? You know they're meant to be hated but you love them? In real life a lot of fictional villains would definitely be universally loathed but fiction gives us this safety net where it's ok to enjoy them because it's not real...and sometimes I find that hard to deal with because of how the real world is...I don't think it makes me a bad person as I'd never agree with them in reality, but I've had arguments with other people over the years who don't understand why I enjoy "bad" characters as they think it means I want "bad" to win.

Re: Because that would mean humanizing the villains in their own lives

[(Anonymous)]

...I'm not exactly sure that's what 'love to hate' means. At the very least, it's not what I mean when I use the phrase. The balance between 'love to hate' and just full-on hate can be precarious at times, but it's nowhere near love in any circumstance.

Re: Because that would mean humanizing the villains in their own lives

[(Anonymous)]

I don't think that's exactly what people mean when they say "love to hate". I think of "love to hate" as being more of an enjoyment of hating the character, knowing you're supposed to hate the character, and sharing that hatred with others. In a weird way, it's a sort of bonding moment for different people to unite against a particular villain. You love to hate someone like Bellatrix Lestrange from Harry Potter - yes, she's compelling in a certain way, but she's also totally insane and destructive and hurts the 'good' characters. Thus, you enjoy the moments the heroes dominate her and you have a little emotional moment of celebration when she's finally killed by a beloved character on the 'good' side. Of course there are some fans who might find a way to actually love this character, and try to defend her behavior based on the poor behavior of certain other characters. But the majority of people see her as an inarguably villainnous character and enjoy watching her downfall. I'm sure there are a million other examples, like Charles Whitmore from LOST, Darth Vader (at least, before the prequel movies) or even someone like Gaston from Beauty and the Beast. You are introduced to them as a character you should hate, they give you more and more reasons to hate them - on many different social levels - and then you get to see them fall. The fall is the thing you wait for that whole time, the reward at the end of the story, and that's why you love to hate them... you're just waiting for the satisfaction of seeing that arrogance, selfishness and sadism destroyed.