Expert Article
When Darkness Prevails
Why do we secretly root for villains in movies?
A hero would sacrifice you to save the world, but a villain would sacrifice the world to save you.
Power, greed, and jealousy are some of the most common reasons why people become villains, but what about the ones who chose madness due to a tragic gut-wrenching story? Imagine sitting alone surrounded by the ashes of everything you've ever loved. Filled with anger, despair, and helplessness, will you take the noble and heroic route or rip a page right of the villain's page book and make them pay?
Villains represent our inner selves and do what most of us wish to do, which is why we can’t help but relate to them. That is why we tend to like them more than the traditional cookie-cutter heroes we see displayed on our screens. The best villains will be the ones you sympathize with. The ones that make you think, what if the villain won just this once? And the hero lost. What would happen then? How would the story change? So if you find yourself rooting for a villain, whether you support their cause or simply want to see the hero lose, nothing is wrong with you. It is perfectly normal, and I am here to tell you why.
The Root of Evil
Villains are not born into their villainous ways despite what they might have you think. Instead, they are often a byproduct of their surroundings. Whether it was childhood trauma, societal rejection, or just wanting to watch the world burn, there is always something more looming below the surface. Their background story, also known as the villain's origin story, helps us understand who they really are. The majority of modern movie productions have made it a point to integrate and accentuate why the villain is the way they are in order to show us that they are not pure evil (Pamugari). Knowing they were not always evil helps us sympathize and sometimes even relate to them. Unlike heroes, villains are not portrayed as perfect figures. They make mistakes, they let anger win, and they reflect a part of who we are.
A great depiction of this is arguably one of the best villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Magneto. He suffered great childhood trauma, was rejected from society and watched his family and friends suffer and die. Making him one of the most sympathetic villains out there. Or, as some would call him, an anti-hero. As a child, he was imprisoned in a concentration camp where his family was killed before him; society rejected him and berated him for being different. He is not a clear-cut villain; he believes that the end justifies the means, which means he often endorses extreme measures (Mello). He walks a fine line between right and wrong, but after witnessing what life has handed him, as viewers, we can’t help but justify his behavior and root for his success.
It Takes Two
The good and the bad, the hero and the villain. While a villain does not necessarily need a hero to be villainous, and a hero does not need a villain to be righteous, the relationship between the two is often the best part. In a study, it was discovered that heroes were often seen as more heroic and righteous figures when they appeared after a villain, while they depicted villains to be more villainous when they appeared after a hero. (Gambini-Buffalo). They often make each other better. Two halves of the same coin. This is greatly illustrated by the Joker in The Dark Knight, "You just couldn't let me go, could you? This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object... You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And I won't kill you because you're just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever" (Robinson). You can only have a great hero with a villain who challenges their abilities. The Joker continuously berates and pushes Batman to the brink, yet Batman will never stray from his morals. This sometimes frustrates the Joker, but if you think about it, it is also why we find the story compelling to watch. The continuous back and forth is what keeps us entertained and interested.
A sharp contrast between a hero and a villain often helps us differentiate between the two. A villain is willing to go to extreme lengths to enact their revenge, while a hero has a set of rules and lines they will never cross. We know there is a 90% chance that a hero will win; it does not matter if the villain is the most powerful being in the universe and the hero is a human in a spandex suit. This is why we tend to root for the villain. Repetition is boring, and in a world where the heroes always win, we want to see the villain win, even if it's just once. It is in our nature to root for the underdog.
Wickedly Good
I often find myself rooting for the villain to prevail against the hero for many reasons. Sometimes the villain is just so charismatic, like Loki. I know he technically tried to ‘take over’ New York and wanted to rule the earth, but he had me rooting for him every time I saw him on the screen. I also find their extreme actions completely justified, like when Magneto hunted down the Nazi who killed his family and any Nazi he encountered. There are also times when I am watching a movie with friends and we all find ourselves rooting for the villain because we relate to them more than we do to the hero.
At the end of the day, whether it's their charismatic persona, extreme methods, or justified motives, sometimes a villain just steals the show, and we cannot help but want to watch them win. So the next time you find yourself rooting for the villain in a movie, just know that you are not alone.
Work Cited
Barone, Matt. “The Best Villains in Movie History.” Complex, Complex, 19 Jan. 2022, www.complex.com/pop-culture/best-villains-movie-history.
Gambini-Buffalo, Bert. “Why We Stay Loyal to Villains on Screen.” Futurity, 8 May 2017, www.futurity.org/villains-morality-1421932-2/.
Keen, Richard, et al. “Rooting for the Bad Guy: Psychological Perspectives.” Studies in Popular Culture, vol. 34, no. 2, 2012, pp. 129–48. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23416402.
Mello, Nicole. “X-Men: 5 Times Magneto Was Justified (& 5 Times He Went Too Far).” CBR, 14 Apr. 2021, www.cbr.com/xmen-magneto-justified-vs-not/#went-too-far-shooting-charles-in-the-spine-amp-abandoning-him-on-the-beach.
Melore, Chris. “Good to Be Bad? More People Often Find Themselves Rooting for Villains in Movies or TV Shows.” Study Finds, 21 Oct. 2022, studyfinds.org/rooting-for-movie-villains-tv/.
Pamugari, Dinar, and Anastasya Lavenia. “Why We Root for Villains in Movies.” Interest, www.cxomedia.id/art-and-culture/20220124115944-24-173394/why-we-root-for-villains-in-movies#:~:text=Studies%20have%20proven%20that%20it's,would%20also%20root%20for%20them.
Robinson, Abby. “Find Yourself Rooting for the Bad Guy? You're Not Alone.” Digital Spy, 8 Mar. 2019, www.digitalspy.com/tv/a26719474/why-do-we-love-villains-tv-movies-films/.
White, James. “The Best Movie Villains of All Time.” Empire, Empire, 23 Oct. 2022, www.empireonline.com/movies/features/best-movie-villains/.
When Darkness Prevails
Why do we secretly root for villains in movies?
A hero would sacrifice you to save the world, but a villain would sacrifice the world to save you.
Power, greed, and jealousy are some of the most common reasons why people become villains, but what about the ones who chose madness due to a tragic gut-wrenching story? Imagine sitting alone surrounded by the ashes of everything you've ever loved. Filled with anger, despair, and helplessness, will you take the noble and heroic route or rip a page right of the villain's page book and make them pay?
Villains represent our inner selves and do what most of us wish to do, which is why we can’t help but relate to them. That is why we tend to like them more than the traditional cookie-cutter heroes we see displayed on our screens. The best villains will be the ones you sympathize with. The ones that make you think, what if the villain won just this once? And the hero lost. What would happen then? How would the story change? So if you find yourself rooting for a villain, whether you support their cause or simply want to see the hero lose, nothing is wrong with you. It is perfectly normal, and I am here to tell you why.
The Root of Evil
Villains are not born into their villainous ways despite what they might have you think. Instead, they are often a byproduct of their surroundings. Whether it was childhood trauma, societal rejection, or just wanting to watch the world burn, there is always something more looming below the surface. Their background story, also known as the villain's origin story, helps us understand who they really are. The majority of modern movie productions have made it a point to integrate and accentuate why the villain is the way they are in order to show us that they are not pure evil (Pamugari). Knowing they were not always evil helps us sympathize and sometimes even relate to them. Unlike heroes, villains are not portrayed as perfect figures. They make mistakes, they let anger win, and they reflect a part of who we are.
A great depiction of this is arguably one of the best villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Magneto. He suffered great childhood trauma, was rejected from society and watched his family and friends suffer and die. Making him one of the most sympathetic villains out there. Or, as some would call him, an anti-hero. As a child, he was imprisoned in a concentration camp where his family was killed before him; society rejected him and berated him for being different. He is not a clear-cut villain; he believes that the end justifies the means, which means he often endorses extreme measures (Mello). He walks a fine line between right and wrong, but after witnessing what life has handed him, as viewers, we can’t help but justify his behavior and root for his success.
It Takes Two
The good and the bad, the hero and the villain. While a villain does not necessarily need a hero to be villainous, and a hero does not need a villain to be righteous, the relationship between the two is often the best part. In a study, it was discovered that heroes were often seen as more heroic and righteous figures when they appeared after a villain, while they depicted villains to be more villainous when they appeared after a hero. (Gambini-Buffalo). They often make each other better. Two halves of the same coin. This is greatly illustrated by the Joker in The Dark Knight, "You just couldn't let me go, could you? This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object... You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And I won't kill you because you're just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever" (Robinson). You can only have a great hero with a villain who challenges their abilities. The Joker continuously berates and pushes Batman to the brink, yet Batman will never stray from his morals. This sometimes frustrates the Joker, but if you think about it, it is also why we find the story compelling to watch. The continuous back and forth is what keeps us entertained and interested.
A sharp contrast between a hero and a villain often helps us differentiate between the two. A villain is willing to go to extreme lengths to enact their revenge, while a hero has a set of rules and lines they will never cross. We know there is a 90% chance that a hero will win; it does not matter if the villain is the most powerful being in the universe and the hero is a human in a spandex suit. This is why we tend to root for the villain. Repetition is boring, and in a world where the heroes always win, we want to see the villain win, even if it's just once. It is in our nature to root for the underdog.
Wickedly Good
I often find myself rooting for the villain to prevail against the hero for many reasons. Sometimes the villain is just so charismatic, like Loki. I know he technically tried to ‘take over’ New York and wanted to rule the earth, but he had me rooting for him every time I saw him on the screen. I also find their extreme actions completely justified, like when Magneto hunted down the Nazi who killed his family and any Nazi he encountered. There are also times when I am watching a movie with friends and we all find ourselves rooting for the villain because we relate to them more than we do to the hero.
At the end of the day, whether it's their charismatic persona, extreme methods, or justified motives, sometimes a villain just steals the show, and we cannot help but want to watch them win. So the next time you find yourself rooting for the villain in a movie, just know that you are not alone.
Work Cited
Barone, Matt. “The Best Villains in Movie History.” Complex, Complex, 19 Jan. 2022, www.complex.com/pop-culture/best-villains-movie-history.
Gambini-Buffalo, Bert. “Why We Stay Loyal to Villains on Screen.” Futurity, 8 May 2017, www.futurity.org/villains-morality-1421932-2/.
Keen, Richard, et al. “Rooting for the Bad Guy: Psychological Perspectives.” Studies in Popular Culture, vol. 34, no. 2, 2012, pp. 129–48. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23416402.
Mello, Nicole. “X-Men: 5 Times Magneto Was Justified (& 5 Times He Went Too Far).” CBR, 14 Apr. 2021, www.cbr.com/xmen-magneto-justified-vs-not/#went-too-far-shooting-charles-in-the-spine-amp-abandoning-him-on-the-beach.
Melore, Chris. “Good to Be Bad? More People Often Find Themselves Rooting for Villains in Movies or TV Shows.” Study Finds, 21 Oct. 2022, studyfinds.org/rooting-for-movie-villains-tv/.
Pamugari, Dinar, and Anastasya Lavenia. “Why We Root for Villains in Movies.” Interest, www.cxomedia.id/art-and-culture/20220124115944-24-173394/why-we-root-for-villains-in-movies#:~:text=Studies%20have%20proven%20that%20it's,would%20also%20root%20for%20them.
Robinson, Abby. “Find Yourself Rooting for the Bad Guy? You're Not Alone.” Digital Spy, 8 Mar. 2019, www.digitalspy.com/tv/a26719474/why-do-we-love-villains-tv-movies-films/.
White, James. “The Best Movie Villains of All Time.” Empire, Empire, 23 Oct. 2022, www.empireonline.com/movies/features/best-movie-villains/.
A hero would sacrifice you to save the world, but a villain would sacrifice the world to save you.
The Root of Evil
Villains are not born into their villainous ways despite what they might have you think. Instead, they are often a byproduct of their surroundings. Whether it was childhood trauma, societal rejection, or just wanting to watch the world burn, there is always something more looming below the surface. Their background story, also known as the villain's origin story, helps us understand who they really are. The majority of modern movie productions have made it a point to integrate and accentuate why the villain is the way they are in order to show us that they are not pure evil (Pamugari). Knowing they were not always evil helps us sympathize and sometimes even relate to them. Unlike heroes, villains are not portrayed as perfect figures. They make mistakes, they let anger win, and they reflect a part of who we are.
A great depiction of this is arguably one of the best villains in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Magneto. He suffered great childhood trauma, was rejected from society and watched his family and friends suffer and die. Making him one of the most sympathetic villains out there. Or, as some would call him, an anti-hero. As a child, he was imprisoned in a concentration camp where his family was killed before him; society rejected him and berated him for being different. He is not a clear-cut villain; he believes that the end justifies the means, which means he often endorses extreme measures (Mello). He walks a fine line between right and wrong, but after witnessing what life has handed him, as viewers, we can’t help but justify his behavior and root for his success.
It Takes Two
The good and the bad, the hero and the villain. While a villain does not necessarily need a hero to be villainous, and a hero does not need a villain to be righteous, the relationship between the two is often the best part. In a study, it was discovered that heroes were often seen as more heroic and righteous figures when they appeared after a villain, while they depicted villains to be more villainous when they appeared after a hero. (Gambini-Buffalo). They often make each other better. Two halves of the same coin. This is greatly illustrated by the Joker in The Dark Knight, "You just couldn't let me go, could you? This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object... You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness. And I won't kill you because you're just too much fun. I think you and I are destined to do this forever" (Robinson). You can only have a great hero with a villain who challenges their abilities. The Joker continuously berates and pushes Batman to the brink, yet Batman will never stray from his morals. This sometimes frustrates the Joker, but if you think about it, it is also why we find the story compelling to watch. The continuous back and forth is what keeps us entertained and interested.
A sharp contrast between a hero and a villain often helps us differentiate between the two. A villain is willing to go to extreme lengths to enact their revenge, while a hero has a set of rules and lines they will never cross. We know there is a 90% chance that a hero will win; it does not matter if the villain is the most powerful being in the universe and the hero is a human in a spandex suit. This is why we tend to root for the villain. Repetition is boring, and in a world where the heroes always win, we want to see the villain win, even if it's just once. It is in our nature to root for the underdog.
Wickedly Good
I often find myself rooting for the villain to prevail against the hero for many reasons. Sometimes the villain is just so charismatic, like Loki. I know he technically tried to ‘take over’ New York and wanted to rule the earth, but he had me rooting for him every time I saw him on the screen. I also find their extreme actions completely justified, like when Magneto hunted down the Nazi who killed his family and any Nazi he encountered. There are also times when I am watching a movie with friends and we all find ourselves rooting for the villain because we relate to them more than we do to the hero.
At the end of the day, whether it's their charismatic persona, extreme methods, or justified motives, sometimes a villain just steals the show, and we cannot help but want to watch them win. So the next time you find yourself rooting for the villain in a movie, just know that you are not alone.
Work Cited
Barone, Matt. “The Best Villains in Movie History.” Complex, Complex, 19 Jan. 2022, www.complex.com/pop-culture/best-villains-movie-history.
Gambini-Buffalo, Bert. “Why We Stay Loyal to Villains on Screen.” Futurity, 8 May 2017, www.futurity.org/villains-morality-1421932-2/.
Keen, Richard, et al. “Rooting for the Bad Guy: Psychological Perspectives.” Studies in Popular Culture, vol. 34, no. 2, 2012, pp. 129–48. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/23416402.
Mello, Nicole. “X-Men: 5 Times Magneto Was Justified (& 5 Times He Went Too Far).” CBR, 14 Apr. 2021, www.cbr.com/xmen-magneto-justified-vs-not/#went-too-far-shooting-charles-in-the-spine-amp-abandoning-him-on-the-beach.
Melore, Chris. “Good to Be Bad? More People Often Find Themselves Rooting for Villains in Movies or TV Shows.” Study Finds, 21 Oct. 2022, studyfinds.org/rooting-for-movie-villains-tv/.
Pamugari, Dinar, and Anastasya Lavenia. “Why We Root for Villains in Movies.” Interest, www.cxomedia.id/art-and-culture/20220124115944-24-173394/why-we-root-for-villains-in-movies#:~:text=Studies%20have%20proven%20that%20it's,would%20also%20root%20for%20them.
Robinson, Abby. “Find Yourself Rooting for the Bad Guy? You're Not Alone.” Digital Spy, 8 Mar. 2019, www.digitalspy.com/tv/a26719474/why-do-we-love-villains-tv-movies-films/.
White, James. “The Best Movie Villains of All Time.” Empire, Empire, 23 Oct. 2022, www.empireonline.com/movies/features/best-movie-villains/.
Jess!
ReplyDeleteI loved your title and opening line. I think they really encompass what you are about to talk about in your article... I also loved how your segue into the summary of what the reader will learn about in your article was very natural and not forced. While this topic is a good and interesting topic to read about (inherently interesting), I think you have done a great job writing it and engaging the reader so far. Good job!
I really liked this topic when you brought it up in class. I always think when I am watching movies what if the villain wins? I am interested to hear the rest of this article and understand the villain point of view more.
ReplyDeleteLove this topic. It is super interesting. I love movies as well so this is something that really catches my eyes! This made me think deeper about villains in movies and what goes in to making them good.
ReplyDelete